so i just got my technician license back in october and ive been sitting on my baofeng for like two months just listening and being too scared to actually key up lol. yesterday i finally just did it on the local 2m repeater and some guy named Larry came back to me right away and we talked for like 15 minutes about antennas and he was super patient when i fumbled through my callsign twice.

anyway just wanted to share that. if anyone else is lurking and scared to transmit just do it, nobody bit my head off and everyone seemed genuinely happy to hear a new call. still cant believe i have an actual license after studying for like 3 weeks straight

congrats man, that first QSO nervousness is completely real. i remeber sitting with the mic for like 20 minutes before I finally keyed up on a net back in 2019. you get over it fast though once you realize most folks on the repeaters are just happy to have someone to talk to. welcome to the hobby, upgrade to general when you get a chance, HF opens up a whole different world

haha this is exactly me like 3 months ago. i kept telling myself i needed to practice more before transmitting but honestly you just gotta do it. Larry sounds like good people, the regulars on most local repeaters are usually pretty welcoming to new calls