I got a technician's license last year. But since hand held Ham radios are so cheap these days, it's a great idea to buy one and learn how to use the national simplex frequencies and your local repeaters. In the case of a real emergency, the FCC allows you to use a Ham radio without a license.
The BaoFeng UV-82 is a great starting point for less than $30.
> In the case of a real emergency, the FCC allows you to use a Ham radio without a license.
That's like saying, "In the case of a real emergency, the police allow you to smash in a store window." It's technically true, but it shows a lack of wisdom to offer a statement like that to people who don't know what they're doing, such people who buy a radio and don't have the knowledge required to obtain the relevant FCC license.
In the case of a real emergency, the last thing I want is the ham bands filled with unlicensed operators attempting to use their radios.
In the case of a real emergency, the FCC allows you to use a Ham radio without a license.
Those radios don’t work like they do on TV and in movies. You don’t just pick up the microphone, start talking, and miraculously raise someone. You need to know how to use the myriad of settings. If you don’t know how to use it, you’re just going to waste time and battery. If you do know how to use it, you’re just a little study time away from getting a license, so you might as well get a license. Because you’ll need a license to use the radio to practice. I’ve got a General license, and if I didn’t regularly use my radios, I’d be befuddled in a real emergency. Baofeng’s are cheap, but they are about the most user-unfriendly radios out there, and you’ll need to practice using them.
I would agree that the US tech exam is easier than manually programming those radios by far. Chirp makes them easier. But I'd say maybe getting the tech license is just about as easy as messing with Chirp.
> In the case of a real emergency, the FCC allows you to use a Ham radio without a license.
While that's close there's an important distinction that it's only in the case where you have no other viable options for communications and life or property is in danger[1].
However if you don't have a license you can't practice so it's really better to spend the tiny effort to get licensed :).
For the most part you can listen to anything. There are exceptions for things like cell phones, but since analog cell phones are dead you are unlikely to stumble on something you can't listen to.
Be careful though, some cheap radios make it easy to accidentally transmit. A tiny burst of static when you turn it on is a transmission for which you need a license - and some radios are almost that easy to transmit.
Best is to get a license, then when your cheap radio sends a message at least you are legal to do that. Or get an expensive radio that doesn't have those quirks.
The BaoFeng UV-82 is a great starting point for less than $30.