so i finally worked up the nerve to check into the tuesday evening 2m net on our local repeater, been licensed for about 4 months now and ive been just listening for like three of those months trying to get the hang of how it all flows. anyway i checked in fine, gave my callsign when the NCS asked, all good. but then later in the net when they opened it up for comments and announcements i kind of jumped in a little too early i think, like i unkeyed and then just started talking and i think someone else was already mid-transmission or just starting one. there was this awkward doubling thing and the net control guy just kind of repeated "any further comments" and moved on.

nobody said anything to me directly and the net kept going fine but i felt really bad about it. is there like a standard way you're supposed to wait before transmitting so you dont step on people? i know you're supposed to leave a pause but how long is long enough i guess is my question. and is it considered rude if it happens by accident, like will people think im just not paying attention?

oh dont stress about it at all, that happens to literally everyone especially early on and honestly even experienced ops do it sometimes when propagation is being weird or the repeater has a slow tail. the thing that helps me is after you hear someone unkey, count to about two full seconds before you start — like actually count it in your head, one-one-thousand two-one-thousand — and that usually gives enough space. some repeaters have a longer hang time than others so what works on one might be a hair too short on another.

the fact that NCS just moved on is actually a good sign, he wasnt making a big deal of it. net controls have seen everything. if you were causing real problems somebody wouldve said something or he wouldve addressed it. you're doing fine, the fact that you were even nervous about it means you're paying attention to the right things. just keep checking in, it gets more natural pretty fast.

yeah i was terrified my first few nets too lol. i actually kept a notepad next to the radio with like a little cheat sheet of what to say just so i wouldnt freeze up. the doubling thing is just kind of part of it, no big deal. welcome to actually getting on the air though, way better than just listening forever