ok so i just got my technician license about three weeks ago and ive been trying to get on the local 2m repeater. i programmed my baofeng with the input/output frequencies from the repeater directory and i can hear people talking just fine but when i key up nobody seems to hear me or acknowledge me at all. i just say my callsign and say im monitoring and nothing. so i did some reading and i think maybe its a CTCSS issue? the repeater listing shows a tone of 100.0 hz but im not totally sure if thats the tone i need to transmit, receive, or both. i set my radio to transmit that tone and tried again and i think it worked once because someone said my signal was a little low but i was definitely getting into the repeater. anyway now im second guessing myself because sometimes it opens the squelch and sometimes it doesnt. also is there some kind of standard way you're supposed to identify yourself when joining a conversation? i dont want to step on anyone and i also dont want to just lurk forever without ever actually talking to anyone

yeah sounds like the CTCSS was your main issue and you've basically got it sorted. the tone in the listing is what you need to transmit to open the repeater's receiver — think of it like a key. you usually only need to set the transmit tone, not the receive side, unless you want to squelch out other stuff on your end which is a whole other thing. 100.0 hz is pretty common so that checks out.

as for etiquette, the most normal thing is to just wait for a pause in the conversation and say something like "[your callsign] monitoring" or if you want to join in just throw your call out there during a break. most people on repeaters are pretty welcoming especially if someone new shows up. the low signal thing is probably just the baofeng putting out less than it claims, or maybe you're on the edge of the coverage area. try a better antenna if you have one, even a slim jim or a j-pole indoors makes a big difference over that rubber duck.

i had the exact same problem when i started lol, spent like two days thinking my radio was broken. turned out i had the offset going the wrong direction on top of the tone issue. double check your offset is set to + or - correctly, the repeater directory should say which one. some areas are all minus and you just kind of assume but its worth verifying. once i fixed both things it just worked and i felt pretty dumb but whatever, we all start somewhere