ok so i just got my technician license about three weeks ago and ive been trying to get on the local 2m repeater but nobody seems to hear me or if they do they dont respond. i programmed in the frequency and offset correctly i think but im not sure about the tone. the repeater directory listed it as 100.0 hz CTCSS and i put that in as the transmit tone on my baofeng but still nothing. or well sometimes the repeater opens up when i key it which i guess means it hears me but then silence.

so my question is do i need to set the tone on receive too or just transmit? and also is there like an unwritten rule about how long you should wait before calling out on a repeater? i dont wanna step on anyone or come across as rude. i read somewhere you should just say your callsign and say listening or something but i wasnt sure if thats still a thing people actually do

you've pretty much got it right actually — CTCSS on transmit is what opens the repeater, you dont need to set it on receive unless you want to squelch out other traffic on your end which is a personal preference thing. if the repeater is opening (you hear the tail or a kerchunk) then it's hearing you fine.

the no-response thing is honestly just... timing. a lot of repeaters are pretty quiet during the day and people only really monitor. what i'd do is just call out during a commute window, like early morning or late afternoon, say your callsign and say you're monitoring or just listening around. something like "[callsign] listening" is totally normal and people will come back to you if they're around. don't be discouraged, some repeaters have a small regular crowd and it takes a bit before someone catches you.

also double check your offset is going the right direction, some radios default to minus and some repeaters are plus depending on the band segment. worth a look if you haven't already.

yeah same thing happened to me when i first started lol, was convinced my radio was broken for like two days. turned out my offset was wrong. the repeater was hearing me but i wasnt getting the output because i was listening on the wrong frequency basically. rookie mistake but easy to do with the baofeng menus being what they are.

the etiquette stuff is pretty relaxed on most local repeaters from what ive seen, just dont kerchunk it over and over and dont talk over someone elses conversation and youre probably fine. most hams are pretty welcoming to new people honestly