"We are told that to reposition the transmit switch away from the strip board is impossible/too difficult/too costly (take your pick which and I'm sure Take 3 will have something to say about it...). "
Nope, got nothing to say, other than all of the above. If you have a fully reliable mentor box then moving the PTT switch becomes redundant.
"Take3: I understand where you are coming from, and I must say I admire your unwavering loyalty to the NERC system"
Not unwavering loyalty, just trying to communicate to anyone who wants to listen how things are and what your support staff are trying to do to get things working how you want them. I consider that we are part of a team, trying to achieve the same goals (namely moving traffic safely and expeditiously). The 'enemy' is NATS senior management who require us to jump through a whole set of hoops before authorising the funds to let us work on the operational difficulties you're experiencing.
More update for you on the font issue. We had hoped to demo the new, improved fonts in early July. However we've encountered licensing problems with the Verdana font. So until they're resolved we've had to delay the demo until late August.