so i passed my technician exam on the 14th and just got my callsign showing up in the ULS a few days ago. been sitting on my baofeng for like two weeks just listening to the local repeater too scared to key up lol. finally yesterday i just did it, introduced myself during the morning net and this older guy came back to me and we actually talked for like 10 minutes about antennas and stuff. i was shaking the whole time which is embarrassing to admit but whatever. anyway just wanted to say hi to everyone here, been lurking this forum for months while i was studying. 73 de KD9whatever (still not used to saying my own call)

haha the shaky first QSO is a total rite of passage man, dont even worry about it. i fumbled my callsign like three times on my first contact and the guy on the other end just laughed and said welcome to the hobby. you'll be ragchewing for hours before you know it. whats your general plan, you gonna stick with VHF for a while or try to get your general and get on HF?

welcome welcome. i got my ticket about 8 months ago and honestly the first few weeks on the repeater were the best part, everyone was super patient with me even when i forgot to ID or whatever. stick with it, it gets way more comfortable fast. also dont let anyone make you feel bad about the baofeng, i ran mine for like 4 months before upgrading and worked plenty of people on it