Radioactive Guy

I got my Technician license in October 2017 - and I am working toward the General License exam this spring. I have been a radio enthusiast for decades since I got my first crystal radio as a kid. I graduated to pocket transistor radios when I was 9 - about the time they became popular. We never had a transceiver set in the house I grew up in, but I always wanted to have my own station. I was not that impressed with the CB radio craze, but didn't have a mentor to encourage my desire to get on the air. I did acquire a shortwave receiver and began listening to world radio stations 40 years ago.

When I retired I decided to pursue the radio hobby by getting licensed, and my first station is a Yaesu FT2900/e 2 meter mobile transceiver that I use as a base station radio. After a few months of listening to local 2 meter traffic I got my technician license and I get on the air on a regular basis. That just managed to whet my appetite for an HF transceiver, and I recently acquired an iCOM 746Pro, which I am in the planning phase of selecting an antenna and installing it on my house/lot. There are so many designs and options that it is taking me a while to decide what to erect - I want to limit the number of antennas outside, and I would like to cover all the bands I can with my iCOM - or at least as many as I can. I don't know what to expect or even if such an installation is possible. I expect that I will need a tuner no matter what type antenna I select, but trying to figure this all out to begin planning on how/what to build and just how much is truly practical.

I do not know what bands I want to use, which makes selecting the antenna a bit of a dodgy subject. In short, I need help in figuring this out and welcome any generous expertise you would be willing to share with me.

I look forward to participating on this forum and to the answers to my questions.

73!
Steve
KE8HXM