* https://hamstudy.org/ is the go-to place to study for your license, and it's free. Use it, love it, thank the devs after you get your license.
* Don't listen to the naysayers (which aren't as loud these days), a Baofeng radio is a perfectly acceptable first radio, and it's impossible to beat the price.
* If your interests tend towards the tinkering with electronics side, you can pick up inexpensive/generic RTL-SDR dongles cheaply (less than $10) and modify them to receive HF. Or use them as-is.
* For zero dollars, you can use someone else's web-connected SDR, such as https://websdr.org/
* Look around at the various digital modes (there are many, with FT8 and WSPR being the most popular at the moment), especially if you're into computers. Many allow a structured way to get familiar with things without worrying about messing up on the etiquette front.
* For an HF rig, the uBitx (https://ubitx.net/ & https://www.hfsignals.com/) is hard to beat, and they just introduced a new version (v6). $199 with a case ($150 without) will get you a full-band, all mode, dual VFO 10 watt radio. That's unbelievable value for an HF rig. Add an amp later on for more power.
* For HF especially focus on making/buying good antennas before you go spend a bunch of money on radios.
* https://hamstudy.org/ is the go-to place to study for your license, and it's free. Use it, love it, thank the devs after you get your license.
* Don't listen to the naysayers (which aren't as loud these days), a Baofeng radio is a perfectly acceptable first radio, and it's impossible to beat the price.
* If your interests tend towards the tinkering with electronics side, you can pick up inexpensive/generic RTL-SDR dongles cheaply (less than $10) and modify them to receive HF. Or use them as-is.
* For zero dollars, you can use someone else's web-connected SDR, such as https://websdr.org/
* Look around at the various digital modes (there are many, with FT8 and WSPR being the most popular at the moment), especially if you're into computers. Many allow a structured way to get familiar with things without worrying about messing up on the etiquette front.
* For an HF rig, the uBitx (https://ubitx.net/ & https://www.hfsignals.com/) is hard to beat, and they just introduced a new version (v6). $199 with a case ($150 without) will get you a full-band, all mode, dual VFO 10 watt radio. That's unbelievable value for an HF rig. Add an amp later on for more power.
* For HF especially focus on making/buying good antennas before you go spend a bunch of money on radios.