Nellie Ohr's ham radio license class is "Technician". She doesn't have voice privileges on HF (Shortwave). It has been implied that she's communicating in Russian with Steele in the UK in order to bypass NSA data collection. While hams have been known to transmit outside their permitted license class, it's not terribly common. Furthermore, Google Earth does not show any antennas on Nellie's house. HF antennas are physically large. We sometimes cram them into attics, but these don't work very well during dips in the sunspot cycles.

Perhaps she's a member of a radio club and was using a club station under the license if a club trustee and was able to communicate that way or she's using a remote system of some type.