Sorry I couldn't find a good rumor. :-) How about some nice happy news as a consolation prize? :-)
I've been thinking lots of well wishing thoughts directed at the fine folks at Yaesu. They really came through under tough circumstances.
On Thursday I received an Email from Universal Radio in Reynoldsburg Ohio with a UPS tracking number. My FT-817ND has shipped! It will be here on Monday. The FT-817ND is alive and well and back in production. 
I don't know about others, but I wanted
that specific radio for my portable. I wanted it precisely because it
is an older design. I have the benefit of learning from about a decade of posts with tips, techniques and tweaks. I can add filters and SDR. I just wanted a sling over the shoulder HF/VHF/UHF QRP shack in a box with batteries.
And to let you all know, I took your advice VERY seriously about being a new ham and not using a
QRP rig as my
only rig. Money is extremely tight, but I made it work and I chose the Alinco DX-SR8 as a 100 watt home base rig. It's still light enough to grab and run off with if I need to have higher power on HF on the go.
I got a T match tuner with cross needle Power/SWR for the Alinco, and an LDG surge supressor since it will probably be the first to graduate to an outside antenna from my tiny apartment.
For the FT-817ND I got a QRP SWR/Watt meter and a small and simple L match tuner to use with random wires while on the go, or experimental car antennas.
As soon as I can scrape up a few more dollars. I'll get the basic MFJ-207 HF analyzer to help pretune antennas without modestly large carriers wreaking havoc and causing unnecessary problems for my fellow hams. Life is tough enough. And I'll add an LDB surge supressor to the FT-817ND before I use an HF indoor antenna longer than a few meters. Better safe than sorry.
I also got the point from various threads here at eham very clearly that for an antenna to work well (and safely), especially a random wire, I need a good solid earth ground. I dug a big hole and sank a big spiral of heavy soft copper tubing that filled the hole. Then I am driving grounding rods pointing away from the hole and tying the grounding rods and the buried copper together and that will be my station ground. Should be OK for the 10 watts that I'll be using on the Alinco, and plenty good for the FT-817.
I figured for the next phase, as it was called "Antenna, Antenna, and Antenna" to work well, they need to have a good (or reasonably decent earth ground to work against and to prevent problems and even equipment failures from poor ground causing "RF hot" transceiver cases.
There will be a temporary in-room QRP antenna, but at least it will work against a decent ground!
Someday, I want to be able to purchase a Timewave ANC-4 noice canceller and/or an Inrad 2.0 KHz Collins Filter for the FT-817ND.
To do that, I'm going to have to try to sell my Icom IC-PCR1000 receiver with the UT-106 audio DSP option to Universal Radio as a used rig. Anyone have any idea what I might get for it there? I still have my trusty little Yaesu VR-500 to cover the high frequencies, although I need to find a replacement back cover and the little rubber covers for the Clone and Earphone ports. The case cracked from pressure from the alkaline batteries. No more alkalines, just NiCd or NiMh as they don't have the big buttons sticking out from the positive terminal that caused the stress that cracked the cover. Live and learn.
Then someday, (I can dream) a Timewave DX-599zx audio DSP, too. (Maybe. Someday. I dream.)
73
Jack - KK4 -HZP
