so i passed my technician exam about three weeks ago and have just been kind of lurking on local repeaters too scared to key up. but last night i just did it, called out on the 147.315 and some guy came back to me right away. we only talked for like 4 minutes but honestly it was the coolest thing. i was shaking a little which is embarrassing to admit but whatever. he gave me a 59 and said my audio sounded good which was a relief because ive been paranoid my cheap baofeng was gonna sound terrible. anyway just wanted to share because nobody in my house really gets why this is exciting

haha the shaky first QSO is a right of passage man, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. i remember mine, i said my callsign wrong twice and then forgot to say over and just held the mic in silence for like 3 seconds. the guy on the other end was super patient about it. you got the hard part done, it gets way easier from here. get yourself on HF when you upgrade and youll really get hooked

congrats. the baofeng thing is always a worry but most of the time they sound fine on a decent repeater. what part of the country are you in? some areas have really active nets for new hams which can be a good way to get comfortable talking without it feeling like you're just bothering people randomly