okay so i just got my technician license last month and ive been trying to get on the local 2m repeater but nobody ever seems to hear me. i finally found out theres a CTCSS tone required which i guess i had turned off this whole time, oops. anyway i set it to 100hz like the directory says but now i have a different problem which is that i can hear everyone fine but when i try to transmit it opens the repeater (i can hear the tail) but nobody responds and i dont know if im just not being heard or if everyones just busy or ignoring me.

also i noticed there's another repeater on 146.940 that seems to be linked to something because sometimes i hear people talking about being in totally different states. is that an IRLP thing or echolink or what? is there like a different etiquette for linked repeaters vs regular local ones? i dont want to step on anyone or do something embarrassing

radio is a kenwood TH-D74 if that matters, been programming it through chirp

the CTCSS thing is almost certainly your issue from before, glad you sorted that part out. for the not getting responses bit — a few things. first when you key up are you waiting about a second after pressing PTT before you start talking? the radio needs a moment to open the squelch on the other end and if you start talking right away the first part of your audio gets clipped and people just hear like half your callsign and give up trying to figure out who it is. happens to everyone at first.

also just try a short call like your callsign and say youre a new ham looking to make a contact, most people on local repeaters are pretty welcoming. might just be bad timing if the repeater is quiet during the day or whatever.

for the linked repeater question — yeah that sounds like it could be IRLP or maybe part of a network like the WIRES-X or AllStar stuff. the etiquette is basically the same as any repeater honestly, just be aware theres potentially a lot more people listening and the roundtables can go on longer so find a good pause before you jump in. some linked systems also have their own CTCSS or you might need to send a DTMF code to connect to a node, depends on how the trustee has it set up. worth just listening for a while before transmitting to get a feel for how that particular group operates.

oh man i went through the exact same thing when i first got licensed, had no idea CTCSS was even a thing until someone at the club meeting told me. felt pretty dumb but honestly the repeater directory doesnt always make it super obvious.

the linked repeater on 940 in my area is on echolink i think, or maybe allstar, i always mix those two up. but yeah theres usually a little pause between transmissions on those because of the audio routing delay so dont jump in too fast or youll walk on whoever is finishing up. i did that once and felt terrible about it lol