If you only get your tech license, I would encourage you to follow through with upgrading your ham license at least once (to general class). That's a good plan. The local comms that exist in VHF/UHF are fun, but the stuff below 50 MHz are where radio really comes into its own.

Communications on those bands are challenging. You have to understand antennas, how to aim them, and how to check and exploit current atmospheric conditions. It's a bit like sailing, in a sense. Equipment is expensive off the shelf, but building from scratch is entirely feasible. Past the science, though, this spectrum of radio frequency is unique in that it is the only human technology that allows for worldwide communication without use of external infrastructure. No satellites needed, no comm lines, nothing. The equipment is even feasible to run on solar power, as the energy requirements are modest. It offers a form of independence that can be found no where else.

It is no longer required, but if you have the ear for it consider learning morse code. If you don't have a look at small signal digital modes (FT8 and JS8 Call in particular).

What these transmission modes have in common is narrow bandwidth, and as a result energy efficiency. They let you reach the whole world using modest equipment, and in the case of CW morse code transmission, extremely simple equipment.

If you only get your tech license, I would encourage you to follow through with upgrading your ham license at least once (to general class). That's a good plan. The local comms that exist in VHF/UHF are fun, but the stuff below 50 MHz are where radio really comes into its own. Communications on those bands are challenging. You have to understand antennas, how to aim them, and how to check and exploit current atmospheric conditions. It's a bit like sailing, in a sense. Equipment is expensive off the shelf, but building from scratch is entirely feasible. Past the science, though, this spectrum of radio frequency is unique in that it is the only human technology that allows for worldwide communication without use of external infrastructure. No satellites needed, no comm lines, nothing. The equipment is even feasible to run on solar power, as the energy requirements are modest. It offers a form of independence that can be found no where else. It is no longer required, but if you have the ear for it consider learning morse code. If you don't have a look at small signal digital modes (FT8 and JS8 Call in particular). What these transmission modes have in common is narrow bandwidth, and as a result energy efficiency. They let you reach the whole world using modest equipment, and in the case of CW morse code transmission, extremely simple equipment.