so i passed my technician exam last thursday and spent most of the weekend just listening on the local repeater trying to figure out what was going on. finally worked up the nerve to key up yesterday afternoon and this guy KD9 something responded right away and we talked for like 20 minutes about nothing really, just weather and how long he'd been licensed. felt pretty surreal honestly. i have a baofeng uv-5r that i know people hate but it was like $25 and i just wanted to see if i liked the hobby before spending real money. anyway just wanted to say hi i guess, ive been lurking this forum for a few months while studying

welcome welcome, your first qso is something you dont really forget. i still remember mine and that was like 15 years ago, i was shaking a little which is embarrassing to admit now lol. dont worry about the baofeng thing, everyone starts somewhere and honestly for local repeater work it does the job fine. once you get the itch to work HF you'll end up down a whole rabbit hole of antennas and radios but theres no rush. stick around the repeater and see if theres a local club doing anything, meeting elmers in person makes a huge difference when youre just getting started

yeah the first qso hits different, good stuff. i had mine on a similar radio actually. whats your call?