so i finally did it after putting it off for like two years, passed my technician exam at the library yesterday and im just sitting here waiting for my callsign to show up in the ULS. figured id post here since ive been lurking forever and never actually said anything.

im KD9 something once it shows up lol. got a baofeng to start out with because thats what everyone says to do i guess, already programmed a few local repeaters in. havent actually talked to anyone yet though, kinda nervous about that part honestly. anyway curious how long it took you guys to make your first actual contact, and like what was it even like the first time you keyed up

welcome welcome. my first qso was a complete disaster, i keyed up on a local repeater and totally blanked on my callsign mid-transmission. just dead air for like 3 seconds while i stared at the license printout i had taped to my desk. the guy on the other end was really cool about it though and we ended up talking for like 20 minutes about nothing in particular.

dont sweat the baofeng thing either, yeah they get made fun of but it works fine to get started. just watch your power levels near the repeater if youre close to it. your callsign should hit ULS in a day or two, sometimes faster. just keep refreshing lol

got my ticket about 8 months ago, first qso was on 2m simplex with my neighbor who also just got licensed, so that was kind of cheating i think haha. first time on a repeater i was shaking a little which is dumb but whatever. it gets normal pretty fast.