Do it, it opens up a whole new world.
And by the way, not all but much of the news you’re getting on the Internet is brought to you by the same phoney people bringing you CNN, Fox etc...It’s orchestrated, rehearsed, controlled and tainted. You’re not dealing with work a day, real people in that phoney medium.
BTW, I love it when people compare amateur radio/shortwave to computers and the Internet...It’s two totally different things...The Internet costs money to use, you’re subjected to substantial monthly bills, more and more government control in the future, network infrastructure break downs, hacks, power outages, and most of the time you’re connected via a leash or pay wire...It’s all cool when it works and ya keep paying your bills.
And if your part of the news, in a region affected by some catastrophic event, your Internet/cell will be worthless and dead.
With Amateur radio you can cruise the radio bands, talk to a guy on his small boat in the south Pacific, off the coast of Tahiti describing his little dog and his surrounding, talk to a farmer in Ohio, or a guy flying a twin engine aircraft over Alaska or a student in the Ukraine ...All done with simple basic radios and homemade antennas. Takes a bit of learning and study but that’s all part of it.
With our standard of living going southbound and people reverting back to simpler things, going back the basics, watch for things like amateur radio making a big come back...Simply because the old technology works, it’s basic,
nearly free to operate, not to mention interesting and lots of fun.
Ya won’t believe some of the people, round table discussions, etc.
And remember, even with a 10k radio station, it’s junk without an efficient antenna, put up correctly, even a wire, is all important. A simple wire antenna, nearly invisible, put up right, will talk and hear the world.
But doesn’t the government have to license and approve you? Why?