so i just got my technician ticket about six weeks ago and ive been listening to the local 2m net on tuesday nights for a while now trying to get a feel for how it all works before actually jumping in. last week i finally worked up the nerve to check in and honestly it went okay but i definitely fumbled through it a bit.

my main thing is i never really know when its okay to just jump in and say something versus waiting for the net control to call for you. like there were a few times where i thought someone was done talking and i started to key up and then they kept going and i ended up stepping on them i think. is that just something you get a feel for over time or is there like a general rule im missing. also do most nets expect you to say your full callsign every single time or is it okay to just use your last two letters after youve already checked in once

sorry if this is a super basic question, just dont want to be that guy who annoys everyone on the repeater

dont worry about it at all, everyone steps on someone when theyre starting out, even guys who have been at it for years still do it occasionally. the pause thing is just experience honestly, different repeaters have different delays too and if youve got a long tail on the machine you can get fooled into thinking someone stopped when they havent.

as for the callsign question it really depends on the net and the net control. most formal nets want full calls every transmission just for the log, but a lot of the casual ragchew style nets are more relaxed about it. best thing you can do is just listen to what everyone else is doing on that particular net and follow their lead. if youre ever not sure just use the full call, nobody ever got in trouble for being too proper about it. and seriously keep checking in, the more you do it the more natural it feels.

oh man i went through the exact same thing when i first started checking into nets, felt like everyone could tell i had no idea what i was doing lol. one thing that helped me was actually asking the net control after the net closed if i was doing anything wrong. most net controls are super happy to give you a quick pointer and it doesnt slow down the net. mine actually spent like 20 minutes on the air with me after one night just walking me through stuff, really nice guy.