ok so i just got my technician license like three weeks ago and ive been trying to get into the local 146.940 repeater but nobody ever seems to hear me. i can hear other people just fine, they come in clear and everything, but when i key up nobody responds and i never hear my own audio come back through.

my buddy at the club said i probably need to set a CTCSS tone but i honestly dont fully understand what that is or how to figure out which one to use. i looked it up and i get that its like a sub-audible tone that opens the repeater but how do i find out what tone that specific repeater needs? is there a database or something? and do i just program it into my radio as the transmit tone or both transmit and receive?

also kind of a separate thing — when i do eventually get on there, is there like a standard way to announce yourself or check in or whatever? i dont want to step on anyone or do something rude without knowing it. the guys at the elmer session mentioned something about waiting for a pause before keying up but i wasnt totally sure what they meant by that.

welcome to the hobby, youre definitely on the right track asking this stuff early. so CTCSS (some people call it PL tone, which is a Motorola trademark that just kind of stuck) is basically a continuous low frequency tone your radio sends along with your voice when you transmit. the repeater's receiver filters for that specific tone and wont open up unless it hears it — keeps random interference and other signals from keying the machine up accidentally.

for finding the right tone, the repeater directory on repeaterbook.com is usually pretty solid, just search your area and it should show the input/output frequencies and the required PL tone right there. you only need to set it on your transmit side, not receive, unless the repeater is also sending a tone back and you specifically want your radio to squelch on that — most people dont bother with the receive CTCSS setting.

as for etiquette, yeah your elmer was right. after someone finishes a transmission there's usually a short pause — like a beat or two — before the next person keys up. that gap lets the repeater's courtesy tone beep (lots of machines have that) and it also lets someone break in if they need to. just listen for a while before jumping in, get a feel for how that particular repeater runs, they all have their own little culture sort of.

repeaterbook is what everyone uses, seconding that. also some repeater clubs have their own website with all the info, worth googling the call sign of the repeater trustee if you can find it from the FCC database.

one thing i'd add — if you're not sure if you're actually hitting the repeater, try this: key up, say your callsign, then just listen for the courtesy beep or tail. if you hear the repeater's squelch tail or a beep after you unkey, you got in. if you get nothing you either dont have the tone right or youre just not making it in from where you are. happened to me for like two days when i first started, turned out i had the offset backwards lol.