Beachbum wrote:
At the risk of exposing my newbness...

At the risk of showing unbounded enthusiasm that there's someone who is
looking into entering this fine hobby . . . WELCOME!

I am considering a tech license and note references to "permission"
levels for various bands, as well as indications of certain operating
modes for particular freqs/bands (I have not bought a manual yet, still
trying to determine what level of total investment will be necessary for
my desired use).

I suggest the ARRL web site. Specifically to address this question, see
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/bands.html where you can
access various sizes of a graphic that will show you which bands are
available and what kind of operating (phone, code, etc.) is allowed on
each. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the trees when what you are
looking for is the forest. If you poke around on the site, you'll find
more general information that will give you background on the hobby and
explain what the various frequency bands are good for.

Based on admittedly cursory review thusfar, it appears
voice comms have limited availability for a tech ticket. IF that is the
case, my primary interest is in emergency voice comms during regional
events...will I need to upgrade to a general license for effective use?

The short answer to this question is, no.

The Technician class license has full privileges, including voice, on
frequencies that are dubbed VHF and UHF. At these frequencies,
communication is "limited" to line-of-sight. However, hams have built
repeaters, which generally are on some high place and are line-of-sight
to a large area. The bottom line is that the Tech privileges allow you
to communicate over most large urban areas.

This is the mode of ham radio that is used for the vast majority of
communication during disaster events and public service events. When
you see a ham talking into a handi-talkie, he's using one of the
frequency bands that the Technician license includes. For short- to
medium-range tactical communications, this is the equipment of choice
and most of the participants hold the Technician class license.

The lower frequency allocations, which are not available to the
Technician license, are useful for longer-range communications. At
these frequencies, the radio waves bounce back from the upper layers of
the atmosphere, making it possible to communicate around the world.
It's quite rewarding to contact someone on the other side of the earth,
using just your own equipment. As you can see, there are many aspects
of the hobby, and once you get into it you may decide that you want to
move into areas other than regional events. Or not . . . it's your choice.

73, Steve KB9X
("73" means "Best regards", and that's my callsign)

On Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:11:49 EST, Steve Bonine wrote:

The Technician class license has full privileges, including voice, on
frequencies that are dubbed VHF and UHF.

And much higher frequencies, including microwaves.

At these frequencies,
communication is "limited" to line-of-sight. However, hams have built
repeaters, which generally are on some high place and are line-of-sight
to a large area. The bottom line is that the Tech privileges allow you
to communicate over most large urban areas.

Some hams have added other radio equipment to link together several
repeaters to cover large areas. One linked system in the western USA
is the Intermountain Intertie http://utahvhfs.org/snowlink.html which
covers much of central and southern Idaho, southwestern Wyoming,
northern Utah, western and southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona,
and northeastern and southeastern Nevada.

The ultimate repeaters, range-wise, are the satellites which hams have
placed in orbit. See http://www.amsat.org/ It is possible to
communicate using these satellites with a hand-held 5-watt radio and a
hand-held directional antenna.

Amateur radio equipment is standard on the International Space Station
(ISS). Most of the astronauts are licensed hams, and in their spare
time they will get on the radio to have fun.

The satellites and the ISS all use VHF and UHF frequencies which a
Technician license covers.

The ultimate long-distance path is bouncing your signals off the moon
and back to earth. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EME_%28communications%29
The Technician license covers this.

Dick, AC7EL