so i passed my technician exam on the 14th and been lurking on the local repeater for like 5 days trying to work up the nerve to key up. finally did it yesterday evening, just said my callsign and that i was new and someone came back to me from Boise which is like 340 miles from here. we only talked for maybe 3 minutes but i was shaking the whole time lol. anyway just wanted to share that somewhere because none of my friends care about this stuff and my wife just smiled and nodded when i told her

that first QSO feeling is real man, i remember mine like it was yesterday and that was 2003. dont let the nervousness go away too fast, its kind of what keeps you sharp on the mic. welcome to the hobby, youll be ragchewing for hours before you know it

haha my wife does the exact same thing. congrats on the ticket, whats your radio setup if you dont mind me asking? i started on a baofeng which probably everyone says dont do that but honestly it got me on the air and thats what matters