Mike,
Excerpt from my friend who fixed this with assistance from Mitch. Thanks to both Tony, N6RO, and Mitch, DJ0QN!
From Tony:
The problem with the audio was due to the mic - when we swapped it out I was able to get rough modulation and then by putting the audio settings up to 2 (which I believe is the default) we got quite nice audio quality. I am fine tuning things now but wanted to say a quick word of thanks for your (Mitch) time today and confirm that your instincts were correct as we did discuss the mic as a possible root cause of the issue.
The problem with HRD being hung was a simple unplug/replug at the radio site. I am looking at ways to stabilize the software set up a little, but we are up and running finally and I expect Keith will have a lot of fun with the remote setup in the coming weeks.
Thanks again to one and all especially Mitch, Tony and Mike. Most of all for the forums patience and great advice.
Keith
AG6AZ