some guy came back immediately, we talked for like 20 minutes, he's been licensed since the 80s and was super patient with me when i forgot proper procedure a couple times. honestly did not expect it to be that easy to just... talk to someone. anyway just wanted to share cause im pretty pumped about it

• Used 25 watts
• Wire antenna in the attic
• Propagation was decent around 1400Z

my first actual QSO was kind of a disaster lol. i keyed up on the local 2m repeater and completely forgot to say my callsign at the end, the control op had to remind me. then the second time i forgot to wait for the courtesy tone and stepped on someone. so yeah its going great. but i did manage to have a real actual conversation with a guy about 40 miles away and it was pretty cool even if it was just about the weather.

anyway just wanted to introduce myself, probably gonna ask a lot of dumb questions on here so sorry in advance

finally keyed up saturday afternoon and managed to work a couple guys from my county, nothing fancy just signal reports and names and stuff but it felt pretty cool. one of them gave me a really long winded explanation of his antenna setup which i mostly didnt understand yet but i nodded along lol. anyway just wanted to say hi to the forum, been lurking here for about a month reading threads while i was studying

anyway i just wanted to say hi to everyone here, ive been lurking this forum for a few months while i was studying and you all helped me a lot without even knowing it. now i gotta figure out what radio to actually buy because i cant borrow my friends forever

made my first real contact last night on the local 2m repeater, just a quick check-in with the weekly net. the net control guy was super patient with me stumbling through my callsign. i wrote it down on a sticky note so i wouldnt mess it up but of course i still fumbled it a bit. anyway just wanted to introduce myself and say this community has been really helpful even just reading old threads.

made my first real QSO this morning on the 147.xxx repeater in my area, just a quick check-in with the morning net. the net control guy was super patient when i fumbled through my callsign phonetics. anyway just wanted to introduce myself, been lurking here for months reading old threads and finally feel like i belong a little bit

the guy was super patient though and we talked for maybe 5 minutes about nothing really, just signal reports and weather. i was sweating the whole time. anyway just wanted to share because this forum helped me study and i figured id post here now that im actually licensed. KD9 something something, you'll see me around

anyway yesterday i finally just keyed up on the local 2m repeater and said my call and some guy came back immediately and we talked for like 10 minutes about nothing, weather, what radio i was using, whatever. totally normal conversation but i was shaking the whole time lol. he gave me a signal report and everything felt so official.

i dont know why i waited so long. anyone else remember their first time actually transmitting? did you freeze up or was it just me

the guy was super patient though and we chatted for maybe 10 minutes about nothing really, he asked where i was located and what radio i was using and told me a little about the club they have on thursdays. im using a baofeng uv-5r i know i know everyone has opinions about those but it got me on the air so whatever

anyway just wanted to share because i feel like i actually did the thing finally. been reading forums and watching youtube for months and it feels different when theres a real person on the other end

anyway today i worked up the nerve to key up on the 147.something repeater in my area and just said i was a new ham checking in. immediately got like 4 or 5 people come back to me welcoming me and one guy stayed on for almost 20 minutes just chatting and answering my dumb questions. i honestly wasnt expecting it to be that friendly. kinda blew me away honestly.

so yeah just wanted to share that. if anyones on the fence about actually using their license after they get it, just do it. worst case nobody answers.

anyway today i made my first real contact on the local 2m repeater, talked to some guy named Larry for maybe 10 minutes about nothing in particular, just signal reports and weather basically but man it felt so much cooler than i expected. kept fumbling with the PTT button and i think i was stepping on his transmission a couple times but he was really patient about it. forgot to say my callsign like twice which was embarrassing but whatever, got through it.

just wanted to share i guess. anyone else remember their first QSO being kind of awkward and exciting at the same time

anyway i finally keyed up this morning and just said my callsign and that i was a new ham checking in. a guy named Walt came back to me right away and we had a solid 10 minute QSO about nothing in particular, he asked where i was operating from and what radio i had. i have a baofeng uv-5r which i know isnt the fanciest thing but it got the job done. Walt said he remembered his first QSO and seemed genuinely happy to talk. felt good honestly. just wanted to share because i dont really know anyone else who does this hobby and had nobody to tell lol

feels good to finally be on the air instead of just listening

finally just said my call sign and that i was a new ham looking for a contact and this older guy came back to me right away, walked me through everything super patiently. we talked for maybe 10 minutes about where i lived and how long i'd been studying. it was nothing fancy but i was shaking the whole time for some reason. anyway just wanted to introduce myself, im KD9 something something i always forget the last two letters lol