Ham Clubs

Go find and join local ham clubs in your area. It may seem like a pain to give up an evening (especially if you need to take the night off work), but it will pay dividends.

It's a good way in increase your skills, gain some knowledge, meet local people with a lot more skills in the area than you.

A large part of ham is cutting edge aid first response. When power goes out and other forms of communication go down, Ham still works. They use these skills to facilitate rescue operations in bad times...all stuff we would like to get involved in.
****
-ham allowed to use while driving.
-Triangulation (foxhunt)
-make sure club repeaters on automatic backup.
- Make friend who can help you build up your rig, and install.
- Maybe sell you used equipment