ok so ive been licensed for about three months now (tech class) and i finally got my baofeng programmed with the local 2m repeater frequency. my elmer helped me set up the offset and everything but when i try to key up i can hear other people talking on it just fine but nobody ever seems to hear me. or at least i never get a response.

i looked it up online and i think the issue might be the CTCSS tone? the repeater directory listing just says 100.0 and im not totally sure if thats what i need to put in as my transmit tone or if thats what the repeater is sending out and i need to set my radio to squelch on that. or both? i honestly got confused reading about it. my radio has settings for both encode and decode and i dont know which one actually matters for getting into the repeater.

also kind of a separate thing but is there like an etiquette thing i should know about before jumping on a busy repeater? i dont want to step on anyone or do something embarrassing. ive been listening for a couple weeks and it seems like people just call their callsign and say listening but im not sure if thats the right way to do it or if thats specific to this particular group.

the CTCSS thing trips up almost everyone at first so dont feel bad. the short version is that the tone listed in the directory is almost always what you need to set as your ENCODE tone - that's what your radio transmits so the repeater knows to open up and repeat your signal. the DECODE side (sometimes called tone squelch on your radio) is totally optional and just means your speaker stays quiet until someone transmits that tone back at you. most people dont bother with decode on a repeater they actively want to monitor.

so just make sure your encode tone is set to 100.0 Hz and your transmit offset is right for your area (usually -600 kHz for 2m but check what the repeater listing says) and you should get in fine. if you key up and hear the repeater tail - that little blip or beep after you unkey - then you made it in.

as for etiquette, yeah just saying your callsign and "monitoring" is totally normal. wait for a pause in conversation, dont double with anyone, and if the repeater has a specific club that runs it, sometimes they have their own customs. just listen for a while first like you've been doing, you're already doing the right thing.

yeah what he said about the encode tone is right. i made the same mistake when i started, had the tone set on decode only and wondered why i couldn't get in for like two weeks lol. felt pretty dumb when i figured it out.

one thing i'd add - some repeaters around here have gotten pretty tight about tones because of interference issues, so even being slightly off can cause problems. the baofeng should be fine though as long as you programmed the right frequency. 100.0 is one of the more common ones so youre probably good. just key up and say your callsign, worst that happens is silence and you try again.