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I've been a licensed ham since 1954 and am still very active. If you want to select some equipment, eham.com is a good way to find what users think of the radio. Use your search engine and, for example, type in "ic-718 review" or the name of some other radio and chances are good there will be a review on eham.

Also, you do NOT have to spend a lot of money to have a good radio. I have an "expensive" radio that's very good, but I also have a $50 radio, QCX from QRP Labs (QRP-LABS.com) that is Morse code only putting out 5 watts. It's what is called a "low power" radio (QRP means low power). I've used it to contact operators all over the US and a lot of hams in Europe using a home-built antenna that cost about $15 to build. I have more fun with it than the expensive radio because I built it myself and I like the challenge.

If you want to use voice (call SSB), the Xiegu G90 is a good little radio. It has 20W of power, and I've worked into Europe with it using another cheap antenna. It can be purchased for about $425.

I was recently shamed into upgrading my license to Amateur Extra and I used hamtestonline.com. While it was easier since I knew most of regulations already, two weeks of hour-long study sessions and I passed the first time. It is a very effective way to study for the test.