Well, apparently I have yet to meet the ones you mention. One person DID direct me to a local Ham Club, and I might still go that route.
There have also been several links back up thread that I might be able to study as well.
When I was still driving commercial truck, there were a group of old pharts who called themselves “Knights of the Road”, like they were something noble - they generally wouldn’t take a leak on you if your pants were ablaze, and just as soon run you off the road as look at you. I guess Ham Radio has their version as well.
What can we recommend for a novice who, while never using amateur radio, does have knowledge of radio procedures from the service; and doesn’t have a car loan or more to spend?
Go to the local Ham club. Most clubs have regular meetings and at our club meetings guests are always welcomed with open arms. Start studying for your Technician license. The question pool for the exams is not secret and the answers to the questions are also available. Once you have you license you can start using the amateur bands that your technician license afford you the privileges to operate on. 6 meters, 2 meters, 70 centimeters, microwave bands including the Ham portions of the 2.4 GHz band where some router WiFi and ham allocations overlap. 6M, 2M and 70 Cm. (420 to 450mHZ) are the places for local comms out to 35 to 50 miles with proper antennas and transceivers. If you pursue the next level of license, General Class you will also gain privileges on 80 Meters, 40 Meters, 20 Meters, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters which open up for world wide communications. Also on 80 and 40 meters a propagation mode known as Near Vertically Incident Sky Wave (NVIS) allows comms from 0 to 400 miles with no skip over zone so it is very good for local to state wide comms. The Germans used this mode during WW2 to communicate between valleys separated by high mountains or other terrain obstacles.
You will decide what equipment, what brand, and what your budget will tolerate. For your base station you will need a 12 volt power source (deep cycle battery or 120 Volt AC to 12 Volt DC power supply that can supply at least 20 Amps rated as Intermittent Communication Service (ICS). I would suggest a dual band 2 meter/ 70 Centimeter transceiver capable of 50 watts on 2 meters and 35 watts on 70 Cm, 50 ohm coaxial cable with connectors and an omni-directional antenna with reasonable gain of 6 to 9 decibels over a dipole antenna. Mount the antenna as high as possible for the best distance coverage on simplex (radio to radio without using the local repeaters) and possible out to 80 or 100 miles using the installed Ham repeaters. Here in Texas there are several linked repeater systems that afford coverage over several hundred miles.Rough estimate of pricing would be $250 for the transceiver, $140 for the power supply, $150 for the antenna, and the coax about $100 but maybe more due to the price of copper. So ~$640 for a great base station. That will get you on the air. You can do it for less if you go with a single band 2 Meter radio and a monoband 2 Meter antenna.
You do the research and the shopping after you get your license which will give you a much more in depth knowledge of how radios and RF work in a practical sense
First get your license
Next begin your equipment shopping
Mean while observe what your new Ham friends use and how they use it
Talk to your new ham friends about what you want to do.
Join the local Ham emergency communications group; either the local clubs emergency communications committee or the local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) group.
You will learn the procedures, plans, frequencies, and operating protocols as you attend meetings and participate in emergency practice drills. Help at public service events such as providing comms for triathlons, marathons, bike races,etc. and you will gain valuable hands on practice.
There is more involved than picking up a microphone and pressing the pus to talk button to effectively communicate
Do a google search for Amateur Radio and Ham radio and American radio relay league to find the question pools and online practice tests.
Look up the meaning of the shorthand "73" It is worth the effort!
Your turn.
73,
Cal
PS
Places to shop on line for ham gear are AES and HRO use Google
Got to go boil some crawdads(mud bugs, crayfish)now. More tomorrow if you want to continue.
Any thoughts on pursuing you amateur license?