PILOT BECOMES CONFUSED DEPARTING ABQ TO THE NORTH WHEN GIVEN DIRECT NELGE ON THE SAF 232 DEGREE RADIAL.

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RECEIVED CLRNC PRIOR TO TAXI. DEP INCLUDED USE OF AIRWAYS; RATHER THAN THE PUBLISHED SID; FOR WHICH I HAD PREPARED. IN MY HASTE TO DEPART; I REVIEWED THE CHART AND MADE MENTAL NOTES ABOUT THE RTE. I HAD CONCERNS REGARDING BUILDING SEVERE TSTMS N OF THE ARPT. THE DEP CLRNC APPEARED TO TAKE ME THAT DIRECTION. DEPARTED UNDER IFR FLT PLAN IN VMC FROM ABQ ARPT. INITIAL CLBOUT WAS NORMAL; AND APCH ASSIGNED ME 11000 FT FOR THE INITIAL CLB. THE MEA FOR THE ASSIGNED VICTOR AIRWAY WAS 9000 FT; THERE WAS SOME COM BACK AND FORTH REGARDING THAT ALT AND I WAS ASSIGNED AND ACCEPTED THE CLRNC TO CLB TO 13000 FT. MY INITIAL VECTOR WAS TO THE N. I REQUESTED VECTORS DIRECT TCC; BUT WAS INFORMED THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I REACHED 13000 FT. DEP CTL THEN ASSIGNED ME 'TURN R DIRECT TO NELGE INTXN ON COURSE...IT'S ON THE SANTA FE 232 DEG RADIAL' AND IMMEDIATELY SHIPPED ME TO ZAB CTLR. I TUNED AND CHKED IN. WHEN I HEARD HIM SAY '232;' I AUTOMATICALLY TUNED 232 IN THE MAIN VOR RECEIVER; WHEN I SHOULD HAVE TUNED 052. THIS RESULTED IN MOMENTARY; BUT ACUTE LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS; BECAUSE IN MY CONFUSION I INCORRECTLY ASSUMED I WAS HEADING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION (ACFT IN POSITIVE CTL AT ALL TIME). I BEGAN A TURN TO THE R; BUT THEN REALIZED THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING INCORRECT ABOUT THE SITUATION AND ROLLED OUT; HOWEVER; I HAD TURNED THROUGH THE RADIAL AND DRIFTED R OF COURSE. I HAD THE TERRAIN IN SIGHT AND WAS WELL ABOVE BY THIS TIME (ABOUT 12000 FT) AND THE LOOMING TSTM AHEAD OF ME TO THE N WAS CAUSING ME ALARM AND MAKING ME QUITE CONCERNED THAT I NEEDED A TURN TO THE E AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. REQUESTED VECTORS DIRECT TCC VORTAC AND WAS CLRED DIRECT UPON REACHING 13000 FT. I DECIDED THAT I WAS SAFE AND TOOK A MOMENT TO TAKE STOCK AND REVIEW THE SITUATION AND GET BACK ON COURSE. TOO LATE. THEN WAS QUERIED WHETHER OR NOT I HAD TERRAIN IN SIGHT. I REPLIED IN THE AFFIRMATIVE. I WAS THEN CLRED DIRECT TCC AND THE FLT PROCEEDED AND CONCLUDED NORMALLY. I SHOULD HAVE: 1) ASKED FOR CLARIFICATION OF THE DEP PROC AS ASSIGNED. 2) ASKED FOR CLARIFICATION OR ASSISTANCE WHEN IT BECAME APPARENT THAT I DID NOT HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON MY NAV ORIENTATION. 3) I SHOULD HAVE DONE A MORE THOROUGH JOB OF SETTING UP MY NAV INSTS BEFORE DEPARTING. I HAD ONLY PREPARED 1 RADIO RECEIVER WITH PRESET FREQS. I COULD HAVE HAD THE NEXT RADIAL TUNED IN AHEAD OF TIME IN NAV #2. 4) I SHOULD HAVE ASKED WHETHER OR NOT THE TSTMS WERE BEING TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN ASSIGNING ME NORTHERLY VECTORS. 5) HAD BETTER SITUATIONAL AWARENESS IN GENERAL. THE PROB WAS CAUSED BY MY LACK OF MENTAL PREPARATION BEFORE DEP; MY HASTE AND CONCERN WITH THE TSTM'S PROX; WHICH OVERRODE MY PREVIOUS CALM MIND AS WELL AS MY LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE ARPT AND DEP ENVIRONMENT; RESULTING IN MY CONFUSION AND LACK OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. ADDITIONALLY; I DID NOT ADEQUATELY COM MY SITUATION TO THE CTLRS. THERE WAS; I BELIEVE; A GENERAL LACK OF EFFECTIVE COM BTWN CTLRS AND PLT. I WAS NOT SURE WHAT THEY WANTED ME TO DO AND I DON'T THINK THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT I WAS ASKING FOR. I WILL DO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE UNDER MY CTL TO DO IN THE FUTURE; ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FREQ OF CFIT INCIDENTS AND FAA'S CONCERN ABOUT SAME. I WILL REVIEW CFIT INFO; INCLUDING WEB-BASED TRAINING AND RE-FLY THE SCENARIO IN A FLT SIMULATOR TO REINFORCE LESSONS LEARNED.