Hi Ed,

Thank you for the reply, and comments.

On 2008-02-05, Ed_G wrote:
I made the same decision between those two radios over a year ago
and have no regrets in chosing the FT-450.. The receiver is
definitaly superior to the Rx in the Ft-897. The IF DSP features are
well worth it. I use mine primarily as the HF station in my motorhome,
as well as a backup to my IC-746 in the home station.

One question: what are the menuing systems like? I have no real problem with
getting to grips with menus, but some reviews seemed highly critical of them.

From POV of something like filtering, how easy are they to use?

In addition to the hundreds of reviews already suggested to you,
you can also check out the Yahoo Groups for each of those models of
radios you are looking at.

Yep, I am a member of both the FT-450 and FT-897 Yahoo groups.

I was looking for another opinion on either/both radios.

Are there anythings you hate/love about the radio?

What antenna are you using with it?

Did you spring for the DTMF microphone? If so did it make frequency entry
easier?

Also, did you get any other options (ATU, etc?)

thanks for your comments and help.
b