[Azeem]

Thanks for the advice. I’ve only had it a year and I haven’t taken the exam (yet). I’ve studied all fall for it and plan to take it first chance next year. I’ve just been listening, especially when we had the tornado come within a few miles last month.

I was a cryptolinguist in the Air Force so I’ve worked on a lot of radios and listened to more (Russian radios suck).

[usconservative]

There's a ham radio guy on You Tube named Dave Tadlock who creates these wonderful video's of how to build basic antenna's out of almost nothing.

He has two video's demonstrating how to build basic 2 Meter antenna's using coat hangers, some 1x2" firring strips and some coax to build a 2 meter directional Yagi, and another building a 2 Meter omni directional using a coat hanger, SO-239 connector, a coffee can and some wire.

I built the 2 meter omni using a coathanger, wire, coffee can and some coax and put that up in my attic so I can be on 2M when a severe storm rolls through and I have to unplug the outdoor antenna's. That 2M "coffee can" works well enough I can hit repeaters within 20 miles of my house with no more than 5-10 watts.

Give the above site a try. Hopefully that gives you some ideas as to what's possible.