want to setup a base, some questions

[beebuzzbee]

I would pay the extra $15 get the Imax 2k, there is a noticeable advantage 5/8 wave has over the 1/2 wave.
Mount it as high as you can, you will be talking loud and hear better, too.

[Midlander]

You might be limited in the amount of room you have, but you should really try hard to mount it as high as you can. You will be glad you did.

[coondog]

yes,go with the I-MAX and try and get it up as high as possible.for ground i run heavy gauge wire down to a 8ft copper pole and pound that in to the point where only about 3 inches stick up.hopefully you won"t hit a rock 6ft down and have to start over

[linx]

Sounds like you've got a good beginner lay out going. You should have everything you need to get started, and after you get addicted, you can always upgrade. None of that stuff you mentioned really goes down in value, so you seem setup to me.

[Slim Jim]

sounds like a good setup to me! If you don't want to run coax for two different antennas, you may consider a coax switch box to bounce back and forth from the "ratchet-jawing" cobra to the WX cobra and just keep them both on your A-99. I'm not sure how many continuous amps the Astron 25 is rated for, but I would think that 20-22 amps would be able to pull your 2-pill and radio at the same time. The radio shouldn't pull more than maybe 2 or 3 amps by itself. Like I said, it sounds like you've got yourself a good, solid plan. Have fun with it!

P.S. That little radio cabinet is da stuff! Where'd you find it?