If you remember electromagnetics from your last physics class, with a little bit of studying it wouldn’t be hard to pass the entry level technician’s exam. It’s

If you remember electromagnetics from your last physics class, with a little bit of studying it wouldn’t be hard to pass the entry level technician’s exam. It’s a 35 question test from a public bank of 200, and you no longer need to do Morse code. Radios are also inexpensive these days, and a Bao-Feng for $50 will usually be strong enough to get you to a municipal repeater. In the Black Rock Desert, I was able to get about 1.5 kilometers between two of these little radios. You can’t legally broadcast from them without passing the exam, but anyone can listen (that’s the answer to one of the questions on the exam!)