Quoted:
HF is a ton of fun. I've had my General ticket a few years now and have made contacts all over. Have worked around 30 States and many countries, Canada, maybe a dozen in Europe, but also a couple in South America.

I got my first rig at a local club auction. Fortunately, in my area 2m is pretty active with several repeaters and clubs. Always someone to talk to and learn from. Learned alot using that rig, and eventually upgraded to a more modern unit acquired through eBay. It was manufactured in the early 2003, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles a modern rig would have, but works great for me and requires no computer support to work.

Couple of things to note based on my experience getting started:

Your HF radio is only one part of the equation.  Your antenna is equally as important to get the most out of your radio. In most cases a simple length of wire or a dipole antenna will work great. In my case, I use a vertical antenna with a large radial/ground plane field. I also have a multi band dipole for field operations and a portable mast to elevate it.

You may also need a tuner to match your antenna and radio. This will prevent you from burning up your transmitter, but may not necessarily make your signal better. Most modern rigs will have a built in tuner, but it doesn't replace having a well matched antenna to the particular frequency you're operating on.

Don't forget coax. The cable connection from your radio to the antenna could be the most important part of your system.

You'll also need a good power supply. To my knowledge there are very few HF radios that plug into the wall. Most will need DC current to operate. Make sure you get one that has enough amps to operate your radio at full power and makes "clean", DC power. Not all power supplies are created equal, some will introduce noise into your system and make it harder to operate efficiently. Large car type batteries or deep cycle marine batteries work as well, but operating your HF radio at full power will drain one pretty quick. Solar or plug in charging methods are a necessity when operating for any length of time in this mode.

Lastly is you. There is a bit of a learning curve regarding successful HF communications. The Technician ticket is a great place to start, getting you familiar with the terminology, equipment and operation of your radios. VHF/UHF is alot of fun. You can meet and learn from some great people, and yes, sometimes there are the stereotypical old men on there.

All in with my mobile rigs, base stations and field station, I'm probably between $2500 and $3000. Keep in mind though, that you can get into the UHF/VHF game for less than $400 all in and be on the air with a real good, somewhat bullet proof setup. HF is somewhat more expensive, but with some patience, you could probably get into it for between $1000-$1500.

Lastly, if you just want to listen, check broadcastify.com for police/fire/ems frequencies in your area and get a scanner that covers those frequencies. Just about all scanners will also cover the ham bands. May be a good way to get your feet wet and see if the radio hobby is for you.

Happy to answer any questions with my limited knowledge. The ham radio forum here is filled with some real smart and helpful people.

KC1***

Quoted:
HF is a ton of fun. I've had my General ticket a few years now and have made contacts all over. Have worked around 30 States and many countries, Canada, maybe a dozen in Europe, but also a couple in South America.

I got my first rig at a local club auction. Fortunately, in my area 2m is pretty active with several repeaters and clubs. Always someone to talk to and learn from. Learned alot using that rig, and eventually upgraded to a more modern unit acquired through eBay. It was manufactured in the early 2003, so it doesn't have all the bells and whistles a modern rig would have, but works great for me and requires no computer support to work.

Couple of things to note based on my experience getting started:

Your HF radio is only one part of the equation.  Your antenna is equally as important to get the most out of your radio. In most cases a simple length of wire or a dipole antenna will work great. In my case, I use a vertical antenna with a large radial/ground plane field. I also have a multi band dipole for field operations and a portable mast to elevate it.

You may also need a tuner to match your antenna and radio. This will prevent you from burning up your transmitter, but may not necessarily make your signal better. Most modern rigs will have a built in tuner, but it doesn't replace having a well matched antenna to the particular frequency you're operating on.

Don't forget coax. The cable connection from your radio to the antenna could be the most important part of your system.

You'll also need a good power supply. To my knowledge there are very few HF radios that plug into the wall. Most will need DC current to operate. Make sure you get one that has enough amps to operate your radio at full power and makes "clean", DC power. Not all power supplies are created equal, some will introduce noise into your system and make it harder to operate efficiently. Large car type batteries or deep cycle marine batteries work as well, but operating your HF radio at full power will drain one pretty quick. Solar or plug in charging methods are a necessity when operating for any length of time in this mode.

Lastly is you. There is a bit of a learning curve regarding successful HF communications. The Technician ticket is a great place to start, getting you familiar with the terminology, equipment and operation of your radios. VHF/UHF is alot of fun. You can meet and learn from some great people, and yes, sometimes there are the stereotypical old men on there.

All in with my mobile rigs, base stations and field station, I'm probably between $2500 and $3000. Keep in mind though, that you can get into the UHF/VHF game for less than $400 all in and be on the air with a real good, somewhat bullet proof setup. HF is somewhat more expensive, but with some patience, you could probably get into it for between $1000-$1500.

Lastly, if you just want to listen, check broadcastify.com for police/fire/ems frequencies in your area and get a scanner that covers those frequencies. Just about all scanners will also cover the ham bands. May be a good way to get your feet wet and see if the radio hobby is for you.

Happy to answer any questions with my limited knowledge. The ham radio forum here is filled with some real smart and helpful people.

KC1***

Quoted:

Absolutely this.  This isn't the thread for $2500-3000 entry fees and serious time investments to do HAM "for fun."  People are linking to threads about getting licensing; are you kidding me?  The entire purpose of this thread is for setting up backup communications for when the Internet becomes too censored to actually transmit and receive any information.  Under those foundational assumptions, HAM licenses will be irrelevant and revoked without recourse anyway, and all of our transmissions will be illegal.  If they weren't, we wouldn't need any of this.  We're seeing "digital Kristallnacht" unfold before our eyes tonight, and this is the thread to figure out what we actually need to do to avoid being completely in the dark under tyranny and [at least fourth generation] civil war.

I don't know about everyone else, but my brain is not working properly for geeking out learning something complicated at the moment.  I can't even concentrate on my own work, which is something I'm supposed to already be competent at.  I don't have time to learn a new hobby or anything beyond the absolute basics that I need to know today before making a purchase, and I don't have money to buy something extravagent unless I truly need to prioritize it as a necessity.  You can call this laziness, but at this point it's triage.

What do people actually need?  We have someone here talking about 70 foot antennas for transmitting properly, and 25 foot antennas to just get by.  Seriously?  Can we get by with some particular type of wire (what type) running up a tall tree (and ending in what, for transmission?), or are we supposed to erect a giant pole outside our house?  That's an absurd entry barrier for most, in which case it's far more practical to only receive continentally and transmit locally with a group (e.g. American Pioneer Corps) who actually have the capacity to transmit continentally.  Now, maybe I'm wrong here, and there's a really good reason why everyone needs to invest their life savings into putting the Eiffel Tower in their back yard.  If that's actually necessary then fine, and let's all get on the same page...otherwise, let's reel the scope creep in a little!

Transceivers:
Yaesu FT-818ND FT-818 6W HF/VHF/UHF All Mode Mobile Transceiver, $619, posted by ben: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C2CRSZ8?tag=arfcom00-20
ICOM IC-7300, ~$1200, no link; Amazon has multiple results, bundles, etc.
ICOM 718, no link
Yaesu FT-857D, no link; Amazon's results come up with other models like the FT-891 FT891 ($700) and ben's recommendation

In practical terms, what's the reason to get a $1200 one instead of a $619 one?  ben mentioned he'd be giving a higher powered recommendation shortly.  Are the price tiers about wattage and transmission range?  What accessories do we actually need, and why, and is there a package where we can just "buy and forget, until we actually have time and cognitive capacity to learn this stuff?"

Receivers:
Eton Elite, $400: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BVSCY8G?tag=arfcom00-20
Eton Grundig Satellit 750 Ultimate, $1050: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014T7W8Y?tag=arfcom00-20

In practical terms, what does the Eton Elite receiver get me over just having a transceiver?  What does the absurdly expensive version gain over the reasonably priced version?

Quoted:


I don't have the budget to do this right or even half-assed. Will the handheld County Com serve the purpose?

My brother lives 40 miles away in city,  I'm rural town. Would uhf/vhf allow us to communicate?

Quoted:
Licensed since 1984 General class here.
Everyone needs to be licensed soon.