so ive been licensed for about 8 months now (general) and i feel pretty comfortable on the radio at this point but honestly i still get a little nervous just randomly calling CQ and hoping someone answers. feels awkward when nobody comes back lol. a buddy at my local club mentioned that nets are actually a great way to just get comfortable talking on the air because theres like a structure to it and you know when your turn is coming. that actually makes a lot of sense to me.

anyway im wondering if anyone has recommendations for nets that are just... fun? not emergency prep stuff necessarily, just casual conversation or something. i have HF (a kenwood ts-590s that i got used) and i can do 2m/70cm on a baofeng which i know everyone has opinions about but it works fine for local stuff. im in the midwest if that matters. would love to hear what nets people actually enjoy checking into regularly rather than just doing it out of obligation

oh man the Echolink nets are actually underrated for this exact thing if you havent tried those yet. but if you want straight HF, the 75 meter morning nets can be a blast depending on your mood — fair warning though 75m gets... colorful sometimes haha. for something more structured and friendly id honestly point you toward the OMISS nets, they do 10-80m at various times and the net control operators are usually real patient with newer folks. you just wait for NCS to call for check-ins, give your callsign phonetically, and thats literally it. easy as it gets.

also keep an eye on the ARRL website, they have a net directory that you can search by band and time. i used that thing constantly when i was first getting comfortable on HF. once you check into a few you realize its honestly not nerve-wracking at all, most net control guys are happy to hear a new callsign

the 40m sideband nets are where i started too, same situation as you. i was terrified of just calling CQ cold. one thing i didnt realize at first — you can just listen to a net a few times before you ever check in, nobody knows your just sitting there. helped me figure out the rythm of it before i jumped in. theres also a bunch of state QSO parties coming up this fall which arent really nets but they have that same kind of structured feel where people are expecting contacts and its way less awkward than cold calling. just a thought