ok so i've been checking into the tuesday night 2m net for a few months now and i'm still not totally sure when i'm supposed to give my callsign. like i know you have to ID every 10 minutes and at the end of a transmission but what does that mean on a net where people are going back and forth pretty fast? sometimes i hear guys just say their call at the start and then have a whole conversation without IDing again and other times the net control is pretty strict about it.

also related — is it rude to just jump in with traffic if the net control hasnt specifically called for it? i did that once and got a kind of weird response from the NCS and i wasn't sure if i did something wrong or if he was just having a bad night. nobody said anything directly to me but it felt awkward. still learning all this stuff so any help is appreciated

the 10 minute rule is actually from part 97 and it's per transmission or series of transmissions — so technically if you're in a back and forth exchange you just need to make sure neither station goes more than 10 minutes without IDing. on a structured net though most NCS's want you to ID every time you key up just to keep things clean, especially if there are a lot of check-ins and people tuning in late who don't know who's on frequency.

as for jumping in with traffic — yeah that's generally a no-no on a formal net. you're supposed to check in first when NCS calls for check-ins, and then when they get around to you, you can indicate you have traffic. some nets have a specific time for that. the NCS might have just been caught off guard. i wouldnt worry too much about it, just check in normally next time and wait your turn. most people on those nets are pretty understanding with newer folks once they see you're trying to do it right.

yeah i had the same confusion when i started. honestly the best thing i did was just listen to the net for like two or three sessions before ever checking in — got a real feel for how that specific NCS likes to run things because every net is a little different even if the basic rules are the same. some are super formal and some are pretty laid back.