so i passed my technician exam last tuesday and just got my callsign in the ULS yesterday. spent like an hour this morning just listening on the local 2m repeater before i finally worked up the nerve to key up. some guy named Ron came back to me right away and we talked for maybe 10 minutes about nothing in particular, weather, where i live, that kind of thing. felt kinda silly how nervous i was but honestly it was one of the coolest things ive done in a while. using an old baofeng uv-5r i borrowed from a friend until i figure out if i want to stick with this hobby. anyway just wanted to share since i dont really know anyone else who does this stuff

welcome to the hobby man, that first qso feeling is something else right. ron sounds like he was a good first contact, some repeaters you key up and get nothing or someone kinda rude about the audio quality on those baofengs lol. dont let that stop you if it happens. stick around on the repeater and you'll start recognizing the regulars pretty quick, most of them are pretty happy to chat with a new tech. what area are you in roughly?

ha i remeber my first qso i was shaking a little bit hitting the ptt. congrats on passing the exam, i just got mine about 2 months ago so i know exactly what that feels like. the baofeng will do fine to get started dont let anyone tell you otherwise, i ran mine for like 6 weeks before i upgraded. enjoy it