I'd suggest the AR7030. It is nearly as compact as the black boxes, but
you can operate it without a computer if you want. It comes with a
remote control full of buttons that I leave stashed in a closet. Once
you understand the 7030 menu structure, you don't need all those
buttons.

Thanks for the suggestion and I'll look into that receiver. I have
closed out no options.

At the moment I'm looking at the Yaesu FT897D transceiver. If I decide
to go for my ham ticket it would provide me some flexibility, and if
not I understand it's a great semi wide band receiver. I'm also
looking at the Yaesu VR 500 with the DSP-l module.

As I said thanks for the suggestions. More are welcome g

davidN