so i passed my technician exam on the 14th after studying for like 3 weeks solid and honestly i was kind of nervous to actually key up on anything for a while. just sat there listening to the local 2m repeater for a few days trying to figure out how people talk on these things. finally worked up the nerve tuesday evening, threw out a quick call and this older guy came back to me right away and we talked for like 20 minutes about his setup and where i was transmitting from. i was using a cheap baofeng i got off amazon which i know everybody has opinions about but it was fine for my first contact. he gave me a solid signal report and walked me through the whole exchange. i dont even remember half of what i said i was so nervous but i logged it and everything. anyway just wanted to introduce myself, been lurking here forever and figured id finally post something. kb3... well my new callsign lol

welcome to the hobby man, that first qso feeling is something else isnt it. i still remember mine, i was so flustered i forgot to give my callsign twice and the guy on the other end had to ask me again. dont worry about the baofeng, everyody starts somewhere and for hitting a local repeater it does the job fine. once you get comfortable you'll probably want to upgrade to technician... wait you already have that. i mean you'll wanna look at getting your general so you can get on HF, thats where things really open up. stick around and ask questions, people here are pretty helpful

congrats, first qso is always a little weird but you get used to it fast. what repeater are you on