Hi LG, amateur radio is really truely a great hobby.
Initially, you won't be able to transmit with anything you have built yourself, as the foundation licence only lets you transmit with 10W and on commercial equipment (we wouldn't want some harmonics to stop your neighbours watching XFactor now, would we
). However, by all means, experiment with receivers.
What I think might interest you is an area called QRP, which is basically using as little power as possible to reach as far as possible (0.25W to Australia sound good?
). This can involve some really precise construction, for example trimming your aerial mm by mm to get it perfectly resonant. Do you dare to trim another mm, or will you 'ruin' it is terrible exciting and fun.
At least, it is for the cool kids.
I hear you're moving soon, don't despair, this is your chance to make sure the back garden is on a hill and is nice and big (perfect for big aerials
).
Hope you pass, let us know how you do!