Hi all! KO6BPN here, but I go by Nikki. I’m a night shift nurse three nights at a week at a local hospital and needed to add a hobby, so here is HAM to the rescue! I have a few UV-5Rs and a couple of GMRS UV-5Gs, have a couple of QRZ-1 Explorers on the way, and am looking to pick up a Yaesu FT-65R. I have no clue how to even start shopping to set up a good base station at home, so I can’t wait to learn from this forum!
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Hello @N6IKI and welcome! 
One question, is the station you want to set up in your house for VHF and UHF or for HF?
Alfredo WP3C
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Honestly, aside from HTs, I don’t know where to go from here. As a technician, I can access the 10m band… but I’d like to get my general in a few months. So, no idea?
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Hello, I ask you, do you live in a house or apartment? If the answer is house, do you have restrictions on installing antennas there? I can give you options on installing something simple for HF. 73’
Alfredo WP3C
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We’re working on a couple of videos for new HF hams that will help with radio suggestions. We have done the “Top 5 Handheld” videos, maybe we need to do a top 5 mobile video as well.
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I would love a video to help me choose my first mobile!
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Check out the Yaesu FT991A. Great radio.
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What is the difference between a mobile and a portable radio?
This was the best resource I found published and it wasn’t all that helpful as it was a little out of date.
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I live in a house with an overly aggressive HOA… so a stealth antenna would be great. I’m having an issue transmitting to a repeater that I can hear a lot of the nets for.
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I just looked it up on HRO. As a complete newb that doesn’t know what to buy, with an adult income, I just want to buy the setup that will do for my first few years of everything. What power source, antenna, cables, etc, should I buy?
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Hi @N6IKI
The people I know, has the HOA restrictions and operate HF use the flagpole antenna or a Magnetic Loop. There are also other antennas like a Buddipole that you can put in your garden and then remove. The good thing about Magnetic Loop is that you can also move it wherever you want. Here are the links. 73
https://greylineperformance.com/
https://preciserf.com/
https://www.buddipole.com/
Alfredo WP3C
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