ok so ive been checking into our local 2m net for a few months now and i keep second-guessing myself on when im supposed to give my full callsign vs just saying my call at check-in. like the net control asked me to relay a message to another station last week and i wasnt sure if i needed to ID again after that or if the check-in at the start covered it. i just said my call anyway but felt kinda awkward about it.

also is there a rule about how often you have to ID during a longer exchange on the net? i know the 10 minute rule exists but on a busy net with lots of traffic does that still apply the same way? feel like ive heard different things from different people at the club.

sorry if this is a dumb question, still pretty new to all this

not a dumb question at all, honestly this trips up a lot of people especially when nets have their own little local customs on top of the FCC rules.

the actual rule is you have to ID at the end of your transmission or series of transmissions and at least every 10 minutes during a contact. so if you're going back and forth with someone relaying a message and it stretches out, yeah you'd want to drop your callsign in there somewhere around the 10 minute mark. but on most local 2m nets the exchanges are short enough that it's usually fine to just ID at the very end when you're done.

the check-in ID at the start of the net doesn't really count as your ID for subsequent transmissions, so you were right to say your call again when you relayed that message. that's just good practice. net control will appreciate it too because it helps them keep track of who's doing what especially if there's a lot of traffic moving around.

some nets are pretty informal about it and some are more by the book, just kind of feel it out. your instinct to ID again was the right one.

yeah i had the same confusion when i started checking into nets. what helped me was just listening to how the more experienced guys handled it for a few weeks before i started participating. most of the time on a typical club net the whole thing is short enough that IDing at check-in and then again if you make any transmissions after that keeps you covered.

one thing i'll add is dont stress too much about it on a casual local net, net control usually knows everyones voice and call anyway. now if you're ever doing formal traffic handling with NTS or something like that the procedures get a bit more specific but for a weekly 2m ragchew net you're probably fine just using common sense and keeping your call in there when it makes sense.