Just passed my Technician license yesterday and waiting on the FCC to do their thing. (Revised: my license has been jssued. My call sign is KF0JLM) I am excited to enter into this new hobby and eventually volunteer opportunity. Researching to buy my 1st rig and am looking at the Icom IC-7300 and Yaesu FT-991A. With wildfires becoming more of a threat in Colorado, I want to setup gear that will work as my base station and that I can also bug out with.
Looking forward to being a part of the ARC community.
Welcome Tom! I’m new to this as well, so I can’t offer much help, except to say that the Yaesu is a very high rated rig and my brother swear by it. I almost bought one when I was setting up my station because of that. Your post is a month old, so I’m assuming you have since purchased one. Let me know what you got and how you like it. Your profile says Central Colorado, are you in the FairPlay area? I live in the High Plains of Northern Colorado.
Yep, I bought a Yaesu FT-991A and really like it. Paired with a MFJ switching power supply. I also got a Chameleon MPAS 2.0 antenna system. It works great on HF in an inverted V setup up, but no luck with V/UHF. So, I bought a Diamond Antenna Discone D300N antenna in hopes being able to pick up V/UHF, but no luck. Guess I am too remote. So, no comms with anyone in Colorado. I pick up a lot of stations from the West Coast, mid-west and the eastern US, plus from around the world.
I live in southern Park County, about an hour south of Fairplay.