Those are all HF radios, and not particularly obscure or sophisticated ones.
In addition to frequency, there is the issue of modulation, power, and tuning of the antenna. You can certainly have someone that knows what they're doing setup a station, and make it fairly turnkey (similar to how HF communications on an aircraft work), even then it can be more than just frequency. Also, if you're at the level of punching in frequencies on an HF radio, you have to contend with propagation.
In all but the most restricted HF radios, the interface can be intimidating to those without training. Maybe you have to accept that not everyone is as smart in gadgets as you are.. but many reasonably intelligent people will see a rig and their eyes will glaze over.
No I've used HF, VHF and UHF, voice and data, clear and encrypted, in war-zones and around the world. I've seen people sometimes have to do some innovative things with antenna geometry for special use-cases, but apart from that I usually just switch them on and push to talk.
> Maybe you have to accept that not everyone is as smart in gadgets as you are..
Ok. It sounds like you're mostly talking about military communications. For a very restricted set of short distance communication a pre-configured HF radio set with a pre-matched antenna may be pretty straightforward to use, but buying a brand new HF rig and getting it to communicate hundreds of miles is a lot more than just "switching them on". There's more to HF communications then you seem to realize. In the amateur service there are power restrictions, and modulation restrictions. If conditions are suboptimal there is then the issue of filtering or signal processing.
Yes, I am quite aware (I mentioned preconfigured radios and gave aircraft radios as an example).. American CB radios are HF, after all.
But the poster claimed they had "never seen an HF radio" that was more complicated then turning it on, which is a very limited view. Further, you will see more featureful ham radios placed into public safety use in the US. It is perhaps not the best idea.
https://www.universal-radio.com/used/sold050.html
Those are all HF radios, and not particularly obscure or sophisticated ones.
In addition to frequency, there is the issue of modulation, power, and tuning of the antenna. You can certainly have someone that knows what they're doing setup a station, and make it fairly turnkey (similar to how HF communications on an aircraft work), even then it can be more than just frequency. Also, if you're at the level of punching in frequencies on an HF radio, you have to contend with propagation.
In all but the most restricted HF radios, the interface can be intimidating to those without training. Maybe you have to accept that not everyone is as smart in gadgets as you are.. but many reasonably intelligent people will see a rig and their eyes will glaze over.