so ive been licensed about 8 months now and i finally started checking into the regional 2m net on thursday nights, the one that runs around 8pm local. mostly just been listening but last week i actually checked in and gave my callsign and location and it went fine, net control was super patient with me fumbling through it.

my question is kind of dumb maybe but when do you actually say you have traffic vs just checking in for the roster? like i dont have anything to pass most weeks, im just checking in to be counted and practice. do i just say no traffic or is there a specific way to phrase it? also the net control asked if i was a short timer and i wasnt sure what that meant, had to look it up after. felt a little embarrassed but oh well.

also on a different note, has anyone done one of those special event stations? i saw there was one coming up for some anniversary of a local club and i was wondering if its worth trying to make contact with them just to get the certificate or whatever they send out. never done that before either.

short timer just means you need to leave the net early, so net control knows to call on you sooner in the rotation instead of making you wait around. nothing embarrassing about not knowing, honestly half the stuff in net procedures is unwritten and you just pick it up over time.

for check-ins with no traffic most nets just want you to say something like "[callsign], no traffic, just checking in" or whatever the net control asks for. every net does it a little different so just listen to how other people phrase it for a few weeks and you'll get the pattern. some nets are pretty formal about it and others are really relaxed, sounds like yours might be on the friendlier side which is great for getting started.

and yes absolutely do the special event station contact. some of them send out really nice QSL cards and certificates and its just a fun reason to get on the air. check the ARRL special event page, they list most of them with frequencies and times. the operators at those events are usually happy to work anybody who calls in, thats kind of the whole point.

yeah the short timer thing got me too when i first started lol. i actually said "i dont know what that means" on the air and everyone was really nice about it, net control just explained it real quick and moved on. no big deal.

special event stations are genuinely fun, i worked one last summer for a state park anniversary and they sent a really cool card like 6 weeks later. just make sure you log the date and frequency and their callsign so you can confirm the contact on lotw or whatever if they upload it. some of them do, some dont, just depends on the club running it.