[thecabal]

I strongly disagree with operating unlicensed. The licensing process is not very difficult if you have a desire to really learn about amateur radio. Plus, we don't know if things will get so bad that our licenses don't matter. I'm all for you buying a receiver so you can listen to the bands to hear what goes on. If you would like to know more, check out the American Amateur Radio League. I'll be glad to help you (or anyone else here) if you would like more information.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

thecabal, the time it would take to get licensed is what will turn me away from pursuing a ham operator's license. I am not worried about anything else. For example, if I could get it in a month or two, fine. If not, then it is too drawn out as far as time for my purposes. I wanted to operate a ham for communication monitoring purposes only -- to know what's going on and to inform others. I do not wish to work alongside civil and gov. authorities in an emergency, however. In a pinch, yes, but that would not be my goal. The communications monitoring aspect is key for me. I guess I can get that with my scanner.