so ive been licensed for about 3 weeks now, tech class, and i kept putting off actually transmitting because honestly i was nervous about sounding dumb on the air. my elmer kept telling me just do it already but i kept making excuses.

anyway yesterday i finally just keyed up on the local 2m repeater and said my call and some guy came back immediately and we talked for like 10 minutes about nothing, weather, what radio i was using, whatever. totally normal conversation but i was shaking the whole time lol. he gave me a signal report and everything felt so official.

i dont know why i waited so long. anyone else remember their first time actually transmitting? did you freeze up or was it just me

oh man yes absolutely froze. i think i said my callsign wrong the first time and had to correct myself which made it worse. the other guy was super nice about it though, most hams are pretty patient with new folks. it gets way more natural after a few times, now i barely think about it. welcome to the hobby

same thing happened to me last year. i actually sat by the radio for like an hour before i keyed up the first time. and then after it was over i just sat there kind of stunned that it actually worked. the nervousness never fully goes away for me tbh, i still get a little jittery calling CQ on HF but its a different kind of nervous now, more excited i guess