I was first licensed in England as G8BAG, which was only 5 watts and UHF (430 mHz upwards). As a communications engineer with the Royal Air Force in the UK, I was trained in airfield communications. In civilian life, I was the area engineer for Securicor Ltd, in charge of installation and maintenance for the north of England. I was later a communications engineer for British Gas, working mostly on multiplexed UHF communications systems.
In the UK, amateur radio law was changed allowing me to be a full “A” class licensee on all bands and I ran the area dealership for Yaesu and Kenwood amateur radio equipment. At home, I was very active on the amateur bands, especially on satellite communications and EME on VHF and UHF. My part-time work involved training prospective amateurs for the RSGB to take their foundation licenses.
Many transmitters and receivers were constructed over the years and it is only in the past 20 years that I have used Yaesu and Kenwood equipment.
Now living in Georgia, my equipment is simple. A Yaesu FT736R for 2m, 6m, and 70cm and a Yaesu FT757GX for HF which is always tuned to 10m.
Antennas are also simple. A 1/2 wave home-made vertical for 10m and a 3 element cubical quad for 2m along with a 1/2 wave vertical for 6m.