First off congrats on your ticket!!! And like said, at least go for the General while things are fresh in your mind. As far as radios go the options are endless as your wallet is!! The Icom 7000, Kenwood 480sat/HX, Yaseu ft857, or many other radios for that matter, pick your flavor and go with it!! What it ends up with is all matter of opinion. Get what YOU like. Take your time and look around. There is also the option of getting something like the Icom 7300, and then get a separate VHF/UHF radio. But it all boils down to how much you want to spend. After the radio remember you have to have a good antenna or antennas, to support all this as well. I am no expert, but at least know it's not as easy as some would have you think. Takes time if you truly want to do things correctly. Setting up a base station that is. But like I said. I am far from an expert and darn sure am not claiming to be at all!! 99.9% of these guys know way way more than I do. But at least I do know that it is not as simple as some make it out to be when setting up a good base station. JMHO's.
73 and God Bless.
The problem is - he doesn't know ANYTHING about transceivers, or anything that you are talking about. There is nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with asking for help! I myself resent the fact that I wasted so much money on FM only - VHF / UHF equipment - that is mostly useless in my area. For me - if you want to work anything more than local on VHF / UHF, or operate contests - it is a must to have equipment that can be operated Single Side Band.
The Kenwood TS 480 is actually 3 different models. A 100 watt model, a 200 watt model and a model with built in antenna tuner unit - ATU. There is only so much room inside of the box, and so you must choose which is best for you.
My opinion is - why stop at General?
Once you get on a roll, keep going until you have your amateur extra.
I can list a dozen reasons for not stopping.
Everything from the desire to give back to amateur radio - becoming a VE.
Using your license, being a trustee of a club call sign, the privileges of the club call sign is regulated by the class of the license holder of the trustee.
Not having to worry about operating in a portion of the band plan appropriated for Advanced and Amateur Extra class license holders..
Sometimes rare DX operates in the Amateur Extra Portion of the band plan, just due to the fact that it is quieter there. Not as many morons as the General Class License bands.
Since there isn't any skills required to be a ham anymore, unless mastering digital modes - which is nothing more then learning how to interface your transceiver with a computer sound card. Getting an Amateur Extra Class License is only way to advance the art of amateur radio - without having to build anything or buy anything.
There is only so much to be learned by building a J Pole antenna or talking on satellites. Moonbounce is cost prohibitive and probably out of reach of 90% of everyone licensed just due to the size of the antenna needed and the amount of land needed to operate those antennas.
Most people would love to have a 40 or even a 20 meter beam antenna.
But most people will not invest the money to dig the hole, put up the tower, buy a decent rotor and antenna - even if their locality allows them to do so!
For HF, if you're on a second (or higher floor), it would be interesting to see if you could put up a wire antenna from your balcony and run it out to the property behind your apartment. If you're tight with the apartment manager/maintenance guy, you might get lucky and be able to mount your antenna on the roof of the apartment.... it never hurts to ask. An end fed half wave or random wire might do the trick for the HF bands, and depending on where you can mount the antenna, could be a flat top, or a sloper. A 10 meter dipole is extremely cheap to make, and will get you on the air quickly for SSB with your current license. Best of luck, and keep on studying!
