I've been a ham since 07, had the bug in the early 80s and studied but was unable to get to an FCC test site. I joined the military in the 80s as a weather forecaster retired just a few years ago. Now I work a new job and get to dabble in weather, radios, and computers. couldn't ask for anything better except the YL. Present station is a Yaesu 897D into a inverted V G5RV that I just recently put up at about 30 feet oriented with main lobes pointed at rougly 40 and 220 degrees. I've worked JAs, KL and KH, CE, and IRs among others from this position with nothing more than compromised wire antennas. Most of those antennas were made out of speaker wire that you can get from Walmart or K-mart for 6 bucks for a 100ft roll. I recently got the G5RV and am trying it out. Other radios in the shack are Icom ID-880H (D-Star), Yaesu FT-2900 (2M), IC-37A (1.25M), and a Kenwood TM-221 for packet. In the mobile I have a Yaesu 857D into a set of hamsticks and a Diamond 2/.7M antenna. Hope to hear from you somewhere out on the bands.