so i finally did it, been lurking on this hobby for like two years watching youtube videos and reading stuff online and i just pulled the trigger and studied for the technician exam and passed it last tuesday. got my callsign showing up in the FCC database on friday which felt weirdly exciting for just being a number in a database lol

anyway borrowed a baofeng from my neighbor who used to be into this and figured out how to program the local repeater into it and today someone was just chatting on there and i keyed up and said my callsign and that i was new and the guy spent like 45 minutes talking me through everything. checked into a local net for the first time too which was nerve wracking honestly, i kept second guessing when to talk

just wanted to share i guess, feels like a big deal even though i know its really not compared to what you guys do with HF and all that. any tips for someone just starting out on 2m?

congrats man, that first QSO feeling is real. dont let anyone tell you 2m is boring or whatever, i worked that band for years before i ever touched HF and honestly the local community you build on the repeaters is worth it. find out if there's a local club near you, most of them have elmers who will let you sit in and watch them operate which is how i learned way more than any book taught me

the net thing gets easier fast btw, after like 3 or 4 times you wont even think about it

welcome to the hobby, im only about 8 months in myself so still pretty new too. one thing i wish someone told me earlier is to just listen a lot before jumping in, you pick up so much just from hearing how other people handle things on the air. also if you can swing it even a cheap mag mount antenna for the car makes the baofeng way more useful than just the rubber duck