so i finally did it after like two years of telling myself i was gonna get my license. passed the technician exam last thursday at a local club session and my callsign showed up in the ULS database two days later which was honestly way faster than i expected.

anyway i borrowed a baofeng from my buddy who got me into this whole thing and yesterday i just keyed up on a local repeater and said my callsign and asked if anyone was around. felt super awkward honestly, like way more nervous than i thought id be. but this guy came back to me immediately and we talked for maybe 15 minutes about... honestly i dont even remember, antennas i think and where i was located. he was really patient and explained a bunch of stuff i didnt fully understand yet.

not sure what radio to get next, the baofeng works but everyone seems to have opinions about it lol. just wanted to share because im pretty pumped about it

congrats man, that first contact feeling is something else isnt it. i still remember mine, i was shaking a little bit which seems ridiculous now but it felt like a big deal at the time. the repeater crowd is usually pretty welcoming to new folks, you lucked out if someone actually stuck around and chatted for 15 minutes.

on the radio question, depends what you want to do i guess. if youre just gonna do local repeater stuff for a while the baofeng is honestly fine, people give it grief but it works. when you start wanting to do more youll know and by then youll have a better idea what to get. no rush on that part.

welcome to the hobby. i passed my tech about 8 months ago and went through the exact same thing with the baofeng and the first repeater contact nerves. study for your general when you get a chance, HF is a whole different world and worth it