so i finally did it after putting off studying for like 6 months. passed the technician exam last tuesday and got my callsign a few days later. first thing i did was dig out this old baofeng uv-5r i bought ages ago and never programmed and tried to hit the local repeater.

well. it took me about 45 minutes to figure out the offset and tone and by the time i got on someone was already mid-conversation and i just kind of kerchunked accidentally and felt terrible. eventually i just waited for a gap and said my callsign and that i was new and this older guy came back to me right away, gave me a signal report and everything. we talked for maybe 10 minutes and he told me about the local club's monday night net.

anyway i dont really have a question i just wanted to tell someone because nobody in my family gets why im excited about this. anyone else remember their first qso being kind of a mess

haha yeah mine wasnt pretty either. i was so nervous i forgot to let go of the PTT when the other guy was talking and just kept stepping on him. he was very patient about it. that was probably 12 years ago now and i still cringe a little thinking about it. the kerchunk thing happens to everyone, dont sweat it. welcome to the hobby

congrats on the ticket. honestly the baofeng is fine to start with, just get yourself into that monday net as soon as you can, that's how I actually learned to not sound like an idiot on the air. the elmers at those things have seen it all and they genuinely like helping new people get their feet under them. also consider upgrading to general when you feel ready, opens up a lot more of the bands and HF is a whole different world compared to VHF repeater stuff.