Greetings from Socal

[alphabravo36]

Look through any posts here by Historian also, lots of good info in them.

[Ale]

Sounds good, will do.

[Johnny Paratrooper]

Welcome to the party Brother!

[Ale]

Hell yeah, love listening to your stories JP! (and articles)

[Quietus]

I guess what I was really asking, I'll hit up the local HAM radio store and see about some basic intro materials I can start with and maybe one of the clubs here in SD to get started.

So you're just starting out, all right. And good on you for getting Scout's classes, the "operating in a denied environment" is a good start. You will need to get licensed in order to get much learning on the airwaves. Events won't wait around for a person to do conventional learning. You might consider cramming tests online, paying attention only to learning the test question and the correct answer for it. Much can be accomplished in a very short time if this approach is taken. eham.net did me well some years ago. Hammer the tests, get yourself exposed to the pool of questions, and learn only the correct answer.

I suggest that you not go into a testing room for the first time, without the expectation of walking out with a General ticket. Don't go in to get a Tech license. My take on the knowledge overlap between the Tech and General tests, is at about 40%. Others call that overlap as being higher. Point is, getting the General on your first go-around can be close to a gimme, provided that you cram just a bit harder.

Local HAM clubs may be a regression for you as far as mindset goes, then again it might go either way.

With you having gone to Scout's classes, you know the benefit of regional comms sans any use of repeaters. HF radio use gets you there. Get a General ticket quick, and in a comparatively easy way. Cram online tests.

And welcome to the forum.

[Ale]

Thank you for the advice Quietus. Taking his RTO courses again in November to help soak in some knowledge and have a better idea whats being talked about that go around.
I'll start looking into the tests. It looks like https://eham.net/exams does have some things I can get into.
Yeah, I was wondering about the HAM clubs if they would be worth my time. I heard about the ARRL handbook today which sounded like it may be a good reference.
Thank you!