Thank you for the reply. I have been doing some research into these radios for a possible purchase. I am leaning toward the sbitx at the present.? As a past Radio Shack repair tech, I am very familiar with service of electronics. If I do purchase one of these, I am hoping repair will never be needed. But the fact that the schematics are available and a very straightforward design make them very appealing, compared to many other radios I have found. They seem to be very easily modifiable for any new things I might wish to add. My biggest challenge will be to learn the coding to modify software to implement any modifications! If I get one, I will want to make a battery pack and perhaps an antenna tuner for camping or even while sitting in the front yard supervising grandchildren. It seems a better choice than playing games on a cell phone.
Scotty
Scotty R