so i finally did it after like two years of telling myself i was gonna study for the exam. passed technician last tuesday and my HT showed up thursday and yesterday i just keyed up on the local 2m repeater and said my callsign and some guy came back to me immediately. honestly wasnt expecting it to work that fast lol. we talked for maybe 10 minutes, he was super patient with me fumbling around with the radio trying to remember proper procedure. im still not totally sure i did everything right but he seemed happy to chat. anyway just wanted to say hi to the forum, been lurking here for months reading everything i could find

welcome welcome, that first contact feeling is something else right. dont stress too much about procedure, most guys on the repeater are just happy to have someone new come on. you'll pick up the rhythm real quick just by listening for a while before you key up. whats your HT if you dont mind me asking

congrats on the license. I remember my first QSO, I was so nervous I forgot to give my callsign at the end and the other op had to ask me to ID lol. been licensed about 3 years now and i still get a little rush when i work someone new. stick with it, the rabbit hole goes real deep from here