been listening more lately and seems like some guys use alpha bravo charlie for everything while others never bother. my call has some tricky letters in it and im never sure if i should spell it out phonetically or just say it normal. what do you all do?

I pretty much always use phonetics for my call sign especially when band conditions are rough or theres QRM. For regular conversation though i dont bother unless the other station asks for a repeat. If youve got letters like M and N or B and D in your call definitely use phonetics - those get mixed up all the time

Yeah i learned this the hard way when some guy kept copying my call wrong because i have both F and S in it and they sound similar with static. Now i always use foxtrot and sierra for those letters at least. Some of the old timers on 40m use different phonetics though like nancy instead of november which throws me off