Brett,
Much to chew on - preferably, I'd like to go with routine HF on the first rig and work myself up from there - of course, after I achieve the next grade of license, as much of HF spectrum isn't Technician-friendly.
Does the standard HT rubber ducky give alright results (provided consideration such as being outside and in a decently clear area)?
Eventual things on the checklist are to get an HF rig and more band privileges; get a mobile rig (FT-817 or such) and setup for hiking and exploring and what-not.
I also (one of these days) plan on re-appropriating an old Sony Watchman to see if I can get onto the ATV frequencies that overlap into its tuner passband. Might be cool to check out.
Tube rigs are completely fine with me; in fact - the TS-520 and that era were ones I looked at initially, but steals like that one are more the exception than the rule. If you come across another one like that, for that price - definitely let me know. I'd like to have something that I know has had some miles on it but can last for many more.
Tubes are originally how I got into electronics the summer before senior year of high school. Granted, I completely ignored impedance matching (thought it was irrelevant) while trying to make a guitar preamp and the project was a bust; but I've always found tubes more interesting per se from transistors because, well, they glow. I had the thought long before I got my license that I wanted to build a 4-1000A linear. That hasn't materialized yet, but is on a long list of wants.
A few questions -
What's a contest rig? From my point of view, clearly expensive. But what differentiates them from a normal HF rig?
Also, are the Q-codes used in normal voice transmit (are they spoken aloud)?
Much, much to learn.
73,
Eli