ok so i just got my technician license about three weeks ago and ive been trying to get on the local 2m repeater that the club runs. i programmed in the frequency and offset and everything but nobody can hear me or at least nobody responds. did some reading and apparently i need a CTCSS tone? the repeater directory listing shows 100.0 but i honestly have no idea if im supposed to transmit that tone, receive it, or both.

also i keyed up a couple times just to test and said my callsign but felt super awkward about it, like is that even allowed when nobody else is talking? i dont want to be rude or step on anyone. my radio is a baofeng uv-5r if that matters, been trying to figure out the menus for an hour now

hey welcome to the hobby, dont sweat it too much. so the CTCSS thing — most repeaters require you to transmit the tone, meaning your radio encodes it on your signal when you key up. the repeater hears that subaudible tone and knows to open up and retransmit you. some repeaters also have tone squelch on the output so you only hear traffic that has the matching tone, but thats less common and honestly not something you need to worry about starting out.

on your UV-5R go into the menu and look for T-CTCS (thats the transmit tone) and set that to 100.0. you dont need to mess with R-CTCS for now. and yeah, keying up to test and giving your callsign is totally normal, thats exactly what you should be doing. nobody minds that at all. if the repeater is active you might hear a courtesy beep or tail when you let go of PTT, that means you got in. good luck

the UV-5R menus are a nightmare honestly, i spent way too long on mine before i just downloaded CHIRP and programmed it from my laptop. way easier, you can see everything laid out and set the CTCSS tone without digging through 30 menus. just a thought if youre still fighting with it

also about the etiquette thing — totally fine to key up and say your call, thats literally how people find out youre there. some repeaters have nets on certain nights too so worth checking if the club has a schedule, easier to jump in when theres already a conversation going