On 2010-03-11, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

Steve, I want to present a different direction. IMHO he should study for and
take the technician exam as soon as possible. (assuming he is in the US).
Then he should get a 2m HT and get on the local repeaters.

Being on the air is a good way to meet other hams, and find an elmer
(ham lingo for a mentor). Then he can move up in class, branch out into
other things, such as learning morse code, etc.

I'm beginning to agree with you, Geoffrey. I'm pretty far out there.
I'm within twenty miles of two small towns (2-4K pop), but 100 miles
from any real metro. So far, I've only located one local club and I'm
not really sure they are hams at all (repeater assn). I'm beginning
to think getting on-line and getting an affordable HT is the way to go,
if only to connect with some radio ppl. There's got to be some hams
somewhere around here. Lot of remote farms and homes, hereabouts.

Apparently, there's one ham near me, but he may be seasonal, this
being mainly a snowbird park. If I get on-line, I'd have a much better
chance of finding an elmer. So, I'm temporarily dismissing the
romantic aspects of ham radio and ordering/joining ARRL. I will go
ahead and build the code oscillator in this general manual. I have
most of the parts and a cheapo key and have downloaded a couple computer
code programs (G4fon, Just Learn Code, etc) and will plug along while
I fast-track the traditional get-a-license approach.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply, even if I'm in the
wrong group. It was all good info and much appreciated.

nb