I have a lot of different radios. It comes down to what you are looking for. For real comms, an HF rig is preferable. They are expensive. But, we have had many outages where fiber is cut to our island and cellular, landline, internet, and 911 is all down. I can then use an HF rig, laptop or android, and software called winlink, and email anyone. I have done this multiple times over the last year since we have had so many outages. But again, it is very expensive. An HF rig can reach further than a little handheld. A handheld isnt much use unless you have repeaters in your area. So, the answer is complicated and hard to answer in a nostr response 😉

No that’s a great start. Thank you. I’m going to dig into it a bit more when I get home and might come back with a specific question or two. Much respect 🫡

Feel free to contact me with questions. Check to see if you have a local group who manages a repeater. If there is a repeater, you can probably start with a cheapo Baofeng for around $40. I have a handful. great to have when doing work around the yard (call my wife on the radio asking for a tool or something), but better if you have a repeater where you can talk to others from further distances (because the repeater takes your signal and then boosts and sends out to a wider area). NOTE: to be legal, you need a license. Other hams might not like you if you transmit without a license. But it might be worth it just to meet others.

Much appreciated.

ham can be used for p2p or through relays / repeaters. aprs is typically done through a repeater, or digipeater. this is essentially a gateway to the internet that you can send and rx info from. data modes like email can also be sent and received p2p. nvk sent a bitcoin TX over hf ham radio across the country from Canada. I myself am working on a nostr over ham client, using HF frequency data bands to get notes, post to relays and eventually zap.

So cool. I need to get into it.

Its crazy how deep it goes, lol. I think bitcoin transactions, nostr, email, other data streams will be easily done on ham radio when needed. Another guy I know is working on a relay to take mesh network Lora radios onto ham radio. Basically taking local mesh traffic, decrypt if needed, and send long range around country or world, and even back to a localized mesh. Very cool.

What setup do you recommend I start with? I do live in a very populated area so I am sure there are repeaters in my range. Also, how would I find this out?

You have to get a license and study for the test. It's easy I thought. Check out

HamStudy.org: Cutting edge amateur radio study tools

Free ham radio flash cards, practice tests, and question pools as well as introduction to ham radio and explanations for questions.

and just look around. Lots of beginner YouTube videos too Start with a cheap handheld dual band radio. I like yaesu