Hi;
Like any hobby lots depends on what you immediately plan to do. If you
want to work some local two meters with a hand held radio some of the
newer hand helds have lots of very low cost options. If you want to
work 100 countries and have a "big signal" then the price goes up.
Might not be a bad idea to start small and work your way up rather than
spending lots of cash on something that you are a bit disappointed with.
--
richard