It's frustrating how a cheap VHF handheld is often recommended as a "first radio". What you can do with one is quite limited, and for most practical purposes you'll be tethered to a repeater.
I would always recommend a cheap, probably second hand, desktop HF radio to start with. You will be forced to learn how to make a simple antenna, how to cope with impedance matching, and in the process of using it you will learn about HF propagation, and the reward is that you get to communicate across the world, not just across your town. It's a much better, and much more educational place to start.
I would always recommend a cheap, probably second hand, desktop HF radio to start with. You will be forced to learn how to make a simple antenna, how to cope with impedance matching, and in the process of using it you will learn about HF propagation, and the reward is that you get to communicate across the world, not just across your town. It's a much better, and much more educational place to start.