so ive been licensed for about 3 months now (tech class) and ive been listening to the local repeater a lot but i still feel really nervous about actually transmitting. like i hear people having conversations and im not sure if its rude to just key up and say hi or if you have to wait for a specific moment. one time i tried to break in and i said my callsign but nobody responded and i wasnt sure if they heard me or if they were just ignoring me or if i did something wrong.

also the local club has a net on wednesday nights and ive checked into it a few times but i still get confused about when the net control says stuff like "is there any traffic" or "any stations with priority business" — like what does that actually mean in practice? do i just say my callsign if i want to say something or what

sorry if this is a dumb question im still figuring all this out

not a dumb question at all, this stuff genuinely trips people up because nobody really explains it clearly. for breaking into a qso on a repeater, the standard thing is to wait for a pause between exchanges and then just say your callsign once — not "break break" unless its actually urgent, just your call. most folks will hear it and acknowledge you, they'll say something like "kd9whatever go ahead" and then you're in. if nobody responds it usually just means they didnt catch it, maybe try again at the next pause. dont take it personally.

for the net, "any traffic" means does anyone have a message to pass, like a formal radiogram or something. most casual nets you can ignore that part unless you actually have something. "any stations with priority business" is similar — its for stuff that needs to be handled sooner rather than later. if you just want to check in and chat, you just wait for net control to ask for general check-ins and then give your call when they ask. each net runs a little differently so after a few weeks youll get the rhythm of that specific one.

yeah what the previous guy said is pretty much spot on. i was in the same boat when i first got my ticket and honestly just listening for a few weeks before jumping in helped a ton. one thing i noticed is some repeaters have a bit of a "regular crew" vibe and they might not be super obvious about welcoming new folks in, but that doesnt mean they dont want you there. just keep trying. the wednesday night nets are usually the friendliest place to start imo because net control kind of manages everything so theres less guesswork about when to talk.