so i finally did it after putting it off for like two years. studied for about three weeks using hamstudy.org and passed with an 87 on my first try. went to a VE session at the local club which was a little awkward because i didnt really know anyone but the guys were all super nice about it.

anyway got my callsign assigned four days later and immediately panicked because i had no idea what to do next. ended up just listening on the local 2m repeater for a few days before i got brave enough to say anything. my first QSO was with a guy about 20 miles away, just a quick signal report exchange but honestly i was shaking a little haha. he gave me a 5 by 9 and told me welcome to the hobby which felt really good.

still figuring out what direction i want to go with all this. HF is obviously the dream but that feels like a whole other mountain to climb. anyone else remember what those first few weeks were like?

congrats man, that first contact really does feel like something even if its just a quick 59 and good day. i remember mine, i was so worried about messing up the phonetics that i just blanked on my own callsign for a second. the guy on the other end was patient though.

dont wait too long on HF by the way. i told myself the same thing, that it was this big complicated thing, but honestly once you get even a cheap used radio and a wire antenna up you'll wonder why you waited. the general exam is not that bad either, lot of overlap with tech material.

welcome to the rabbit hole lol. im about 8 months in now and still feel like a total newbie half the time. HF is great when it works and frustrating when propagation decides to just not cooperate. but yeah just jump in when you're ready, everyone starts somewhere