so i just got my tech license about three weeks ago and ive been lurking on 2m with my baofeng trying to get the nerve to actually key up on the local repeater. last night i finally just did it, said my callsign and someone actually came back to me. guy named bill was super patient and we had a solid 10 minute QSO about nothing really, just signal reports and weather but honestly i was shaking the whole time lol. anyway just wanted to say hi to everyone here, been reading these forums for months trying to learn stuff before i even got my ticket. im KD9 something something, still not used to saying it out loud

haha that first QSO feeling is real, i remember mine like it was yesterday and that was probably 15 years ago. dont worry you'll get used to your call pretty quick, after a few weeks it just comes out automatic. welcome to the hobby, stick with it and you'll be chasing DX before you know it

welcome welcome. yeah the baofeng on a local repeater is a totally fine way to start, dont let anyone give you grief about the radio. i did the same thing when i first got my ticket. bill sounds like a good guy, theres usually at least one or two people on every repeater who make a point of welcoming newcomers. once you get comfortable on 2m you might wanna look into HF, completely different world but super addicting