so i finally did it after putting it off for like 8 months, passed the technician exam yesterday with a 32/35 which i was pretty happy with. got my callsign this morning (well, found it in the ULS database, still waiting on the paper) and just kind of sitting here staring at my baofeng not sure what to do next lol

i found a local repeater that seems active, heard a few guys ragchewing on it this afternoon but i chickened out and didnt key up. i know the basics, id say my callsign, say im new, etc but theres something about actually doing it that feels way harder than i expected. anyone else feel like this at first or am i just being weird about it

totally normal man, i sat there with my hand on the PTT for probably 20 minutes the first time before i actually keyed up. worst that can happen is someone corrects you on procedure and honestly most hams are pretty cool about it especially if you say youre new. just wait for a pause and throw your call out there, something like your callsign then "monitoring" and see who comes back. you got this

lol i did the exact same thing with my baofeng. ended up making my first contact like three days after i got my call because i kept finding excuses not to. eventually just did it during a net and the net control was super helpful. congrats on passing btw 32/35 is solid