"Wireless communication is the pulse of modern civilization." - Guglielmo Marconi
The electromagnetic spectrum is an amazing thing. Technology utilizing the radio portion of the spectrum has gotten amazing as well, with the advent of Software Defined Radio (SDR) available for the masses. One can now "tap into" large portions of that relatively inexpensively, opening up a whole world of listening and experimentation.
My initial goals are to better understand how radios work, antenna theory, etc. I've particular interest in this from a security perspective, so understanding how the Confidentiality, Availability, and Integrity (the so-called CIA Triad) apply is key.
To that end, I'm starting with a wide-band quality SDR receiver, and will procure HF, VHF, and UHF antennas to facilitate listening to as much of the spectrum as I can. Once I have a better handle on this, I'll procure a higher-end SDR transceiver with the intent of experimenting with transmission on a small scale.
I'm also interested in what automation opportunities exist, and will explore products with robust APIs available.