Alright as far as local comms - something to keep in mind is that the higher the frequency, the more direct/line of sight the signal propagates. For example, you can use a 30 dollar Baofeng UV5R handheld from amazon to work satellites directly (not necessarily easily though, a decent amount of skill is involved) all on 5 watts. (the uv5r is the AK47 of radios. It's cheap and durable. It aint pretty and the quality sucks, but it just works) However if you're in a valley, and your buddy is in the next valley over, you're going to have a tough time communicating without hiking up the mountain OR using a repeater on the mountain between you. With UHF or VHF (really anything higher than 30 mhz) - Height is might. Height helps on HF as well, but it's much more crucial as you increase frequency.
For very long distance comms HF (high frequency) is king. This is where you get into the fun of choosing frequencies based on how ionized the sun has made the atmosphere at that point in time etc. (CB is also HF by the way). HF propagates as a ground wave, following the terrain a bit (see knifes edge diffraction as well) as well as 'skipping' off of the atmosphere.
You're going to want to get your license - it's an easy test and it's worth studying up on things. You don't want to give yourself RF burn because you didn't know that you should calculate exposure limits do you?
Don't get too focused on the radio - Antennas are like 80% of how well you can hear and be heard. They're also fun to make and DIY is a big part of ham radio. The lower the frequency, the longer the wave length, the bigger the antenna you'll need. How big? There's a formula for that.
Typically I only run 2m/144-148 mhz in my vehicles. I've got a 60 watt mobile rig hooked up to a ~5 foot magmount antenna. I have had conversations 100 miles apart thru repeaters with very good quality while travelling. At home I've got an older all band radio that will do 10m(30 mhz) to 80m(3.5mhz). I've got that hooked up to a coax cable that connects to a couple of pieces of speaker wire about 20ft long each. From my location in the North East I've heard as far away as New Zealand and been heard as far away as southern Brazil. Most of my radios I buy from older hams in my local club, or on the swap nets on the weekend.
TLDR: Get a license. Get a UV5R. Get a magmount for the UV5R if you want to use it in a car. Get a ~50 watt mobile rig used (they also make great base stations for those frequencies, just get a powersupply). Get into HF if you can pass at least the general test. Try to buy used from your local Old Men. They're usually happy to give you a great deal and they've probably got a new radio they want to put the money towards hihi
I'm on my way out the door right now but if you describe your local geography and needs I can give you better recommendations. This hobby has a million directions you can go with it. UV5R is a great handheld/portable. Anything Yaesu/Kenwood is likely to be pretty solid as far as mobile rigs and HF rigs.
OH i forgot to mention - Local comms can also be done thru NVIS - Near Vertical Incidence Skywave - Very handy if you have a lot of unfavorable geography but want local comms as well. You're basically trying to send a HF signal nearly vertical to bounce off the atmosphere and come back down covering your area
Alright as far as local comms - something to keep in mind is that the higher the frequency, the more direct/line of sight the signal propagates. For example, you can use a 30 dollar Baofeng UV5R handheld from amazon to work satellites directly (not necessarily easily though, a decent amount of skill is involved) all on 5 watts. (the uv5r is the AK47 of radios. It's cheap and durable. It aint pretty and the quality sucks, but it just works) However if you're in a valley, and your buddy is in the next valley over, you're going to have a tough time communicating without hiking up the mountain OR using a repeater on the mountain between you. With UHF or VHF (really anything higher than 30 mhz) - Height is might. Height helps on HF as well, but it's much more crucial as you increase frequency.
For very long distance comms HF (high frequency) is king. This is where you get into the fun of choosing frequencies based on how ionized the sun has made the atmosphere at that point in time etc. (CB is also HF by the way). HF propagates as a ground wave, following the terrain a bit (see knifes edge diffraction as well) as well as 'skipping' off of the atmosphere.
You're going to want to get your license - it's an easy test and it's worth studying up on things. You don't want to give yourself RF burn because you didn't know that you should calculate exposure limits do you?
Don't get too focused on the radio - Antennas are like 80% of how well you can hear and be heard. They're also fun to make and DIY is a big part of ham radio. The lower the frequency, the longer the wave length, the bigger the antenna you'll need. How big? There's a formula for that.
Typically I only run 2m/144-148 mhz in my vehicles. I've got a 60 watt mobile rig hooked up to a ~5 foot magmount antenna. I have had conversations 100 miles apart thru repeaters with very good quality while travelling. At home I've got an older all band radio that will do 10m(30 mhz) to 80m(3.5mhz). I've got that hooked up to a coax cable that connects to a couple of pieces of speaker wire about 20ft long each. From my location in the North East I've heard as far away as New Zealand and been heard as far away as southern Brazil. Most of my radios I buy from older hams in my local club, or on the swap nets on the weekend.
TLDR: Get a license. Get a UV5R. Get a magmount for the UV5R if you want to use it in a car. Get a ~50 watt mobile rig used (they also make great base stations for those frequencies, just get a powersupply). Get into HF if you can pass at least the general test. Try to buy used from your local Old Men. They're usually happy to give you a great deal and they've probably got a new radio they want to put the money towards hihi
I'm on my way out the door right now but if you describe your local geography and needs I can give you better recommendations. This hobby has a million directions you can go with it. UV5R is a great handheld/portable. Anything Yaesu/Kenwood is likely to be pretty solid as far as mobile rigs and HF rigs.