so i passed my technician exam on the 14th and been spending the past week just listening around on my baofeng trying to figure out what the heck is going on lol. finally worked up the nerve to key up on the local repeater yesterday afternoon and a guy came back to me right away, we talked for maybe 10 minutes about nothing in particular, he was just really welcoming and patient with me when i forgot my callsign mid-transmission which was embarrassing.

anyway just wanted to say hi to everyone here, ive been lurking this forum for like 2 months while studying and you all helped me more than you know. now i gotta figure out what to do next i guess, everyones telling me to get a better radio but honestly the baofeng seems fine for now while im still figuring things out

congrats and welcome. that feeling when someone actually comes back to you the first time is something you dont really forget. dont worry about the callsign thing, everyone fumbles it at first, ive heard guys whove been licensed 20 years still occasionally blank on it when theyre tired.

the baofeng is totally fine to start on, dont let anyone pressure you into buying gear before youre ready. get comfortable on the repeater first, maybe look into what linked repeater systems are in your area if you want to reach a bit further. and if theres a local club, seriously worth showing up even once just to put faces to callsigns.

ha i did the exact same thing with forgetting my callsign, like three times in my first week. welcome to the hobby man, it gets way less awkward pretty quick