so i passed my technician exam back in early march and just been sitting on my baofeng listening to the local repeater for like three weeks now, too nervous to actually key up. today i finally just did it, called out on the 147.195 repeater and this guy named Gary came back to me right away. we talked for maybe 10 minutes about my antenna setup and he gave me some tips about the local club. honestly my voice was shaking a little lol. anyway just wanted to share because ive been lurking here forever and you guys kind of helped me get through the exam studying so thanks

haha that first key-up nervousness is so real, i remeber sitting there with my finger on the PTT for like 20 minutes before i finally just said my callsign. Gary sounds like a good elmer. welcome to the hobby man, it just gets easier from here, before long youll be the one answering the nervous new guys on the repeater

congrats on the first QSO. the baofeng is fine to start but once you get comfortable on the local repeater you should look into getting your general and trying HF, completely different experience talking to someone across the country or even DX. anyway good start, 73