So, I haven't done any STFs yet. I would like to know if there is required gear before starting the normal version ones. I've read forum guides so that I won't be completely clueless going in.

My problem is that I don't know very much about gear yet (or where you can get it). I saved up enough dilithium to buy a purple mark XI DHC, but other than that I'm just running in quest/random drops.

Is this enough to start STFs? Can I buy something better, and if so what vendors sell them?