so i've been studying for about 6 weeks and finally passed my technician exam yesterday morning, went home and borrowed my dad's baofeng to listen around on the local 2m repeater and ended up actually keying up and talking to a guy named Ron who was super patient with me while i fumbled through my callsign like three times lol. he walked me through the whole thing and gave me a signal report and everything. i know baofengs get a lot of grief on here but honestly it worked fine for a first contact, already looking at a proper radio though maybe the FT-65 or something in that range. anyway just wanted to say hi and that this hobby is already way more fun than i expected

congrats on passing and the first QSO, thats always a memorable one. Ron sounds like a good elmer. dont stress about the baofeng stuff, yeah they have issues but for getting started on local repeaters they do the job. just make sure you programmed the tones right or you'll be stepping on people without knowing it, happens to a lot of new hams. welcome to the hobby

ha i remeber my first qso i was shaking the whole time and completely forgot to give my callsign at the end so the other guy had to ask me again. been licensed 4 years now and i still get a little nervous calling into a new repeater for the first time. the FT-65 is a solid step up from the baofeng btw, good choice if thats the direction your going