Way to go Mike! Welcome to the hobby! This is a great time to get into ham radio. The sunspot cycle is on the upswing and propagation is improving. In fact, I just talked to Austrailia on 20 meters. As a technician, you have privileges on 6 meters and 10 meters, so if you find an HF rig and build (or buy) an antenna, you could make some long distance contacts. And in an emergency, you could operate on any band to call for help.
Do you plan on upgrading to general? That gets you on all the bands and almost guarantees your ability to make contacts from the boondocks (so far I have always been able to make contacts when I hang an antenna while camping).
Again congrats!
73,
Joel KE8MJL
