You need to get that lightning arrester grounded. Do you have a fuse between the power supply and the radio? Have fun on the air.
I have a four position antenna switch which I will be using to switch between different radios. I have a Yaesu FT-817 VHF/HF, Kenwood TS-440 HF and I am building a digital kit for WSJT-X and other digital modes. The 817 has two antenna connectors, one for VHF which is connected to a 1/4 wave ground plane VHF antenna in the back yard and the second antenna connecter is going to the antenna switch which is connected to my home built EFHW HF antenna.
I am going to pound my ground rod tomorrow and build a ground bus to tie all the gear to then to the rod. It is a top priority for me for sure. All 4 pieces will be grounded.
I have a jenky mast built but I just have the discone for now. I want a real tower in its place so I can get up over 50 feet. We have a lot of tall trees around and a 90 foot hill to our south so I want a good bit of elevation for my antennas. I need to figure out a HF antenna at some point so I can at least receive.
I'm really reading and ingesting info as fast as possible. I want to find my niche, there are so many aspects of amateur radio and I like to try everything so I want to try focusing for once on just one area. I'm going to being doing POTA for sure as I climb and hike then I really like DX but need to learn a lot more. POTA is the most accessible for me being in the pacific northwest.