Actually the testing session, not each test, is ~$14, you can take all three levels, Technician, General and Extra in the same session as long as you keep passing. I have a radio background, CAP as a teen, operator and technician in the military, so passed (with a few hours study to get HAM regs, frequencies, etc. the Technician and General in the same $14 session. Took the Extra, without studying for it, and missed passing by 3 questions. A few more hours of study, on the commute to work, and the next month passed the Extra.

I don't have to learn code, but can and will. There are a lot of HAMs out there talking on CW (carrier wave).

If all you need is local and emergency communication, a Technician license is fine. Even a Technician license opens up a broad world of communications. Even satellite with a 5 watt hand-held (HT), the right antenna and some readily available information on when and what direction to look for the bird.

Having an HT in my EDC has been very useful. Catch the NOAA broadcasts. I've monitored Skywarn during severe weather warnings and knew to leave work and get home ahead of the weather. I've used it to listen to the chatter on CB channel 19 and take an alternate route ahead of traffic tie-up on rural highways. And just for entertainment on a long commute.

An Amateur Radio band, broad-band receiver, HT is just a very useful piece of EDC, every-day-use, gear. And most have a number of emergency/survival features like dedicate NOAA channels, emergency/home channel at the push of a button, ability to connect to APRS (transmit location data in conjunction with a GPS). Mine has a feature that maintains contact with similarly equipped stations and alerts if you go out of range....

Doug
AC8BY