ok so ive been checking into the local 2m net for a few months now and i think i mostly know whats going on but theres still stuff that trips me up. like last week the net control was moving really fast and i wasnt sure if i needed to give my call sign every single time i transmitted or just at the start and end of my check-in. i gave it every time and felt like i was slowing things down but also i didnt want to break any rules.

also whats the deal with doubling? twice now ive started to transmit and someone else was already there and we stepped on each other. do you just wait and try again or is there some way to tell when the frequency is actually clear? i always listen first but sometimes people come out of nowhere. feel like im still missing something obvious here

you're not doing anything wrong, honestly the ID thing trips up a lot of newer folks. FCC rules say you have to ID at least every ten minutes during a communication and at the end, so you dont need to throw your callsign in every single transmission if you're going back and forth quickly. on a fast-moving net, most people just ID when they first check in and then again at the end when they sign off. net control will usually tell you if they need more than that.

as for doubling, yeah it happens to everyone. if you realize you doubled with someone, just wait for them to finish, then say your call and that you had doubled with the other station and go ahead with what you needed to say. net control usually appreciates you acknowledging it rather than just barreling through. the trick with listening is to give it a good two or three seconds after you think the frequency is clear before you key up, especially on a repeater because sometimes the tail takes a second to drop. sounds like you're paying attention though, youll get the hang of it pretty quick

yeah the doubling thing used to get me too. on the repeater i use there's kind of an audible tail beep when someone unkeys and i learned to wait for that before transmitting. not all repeaters do that but if yours does, definitely use it. and honestly dont stress too much about slowing the net down, net control would way rather you do it right than rush and cause confusion