So i checked into the county ARES net last night for maybe the third time ever and i think i did something wrong. When the net control called for check-ins i just gave my callsign but then i also started talking about why i was checking in and some background noise stuff before he acknowledged me. A couple people messaged me afterwards saying i should wait to be acknowledged first before saying anything beyond my callsign. Is that actually a hard rule or just a preference thing? I felt really dumb after and honestly almost dont want to go back on next week. I've been licensed about four months and still figuring out how all this works.

Oh dont even worry about it, everyone does stuff like that when they're new. The thing about waiting for acknowledgment is pretty standard net procedure though, yeah. The idea is that net control might have multiple stations calling at once and they need to manage who gets to talk and when, so if you just start rolling before they come back to you it can step on someone else or create confusion. But honestly on most local nets nobody's going to hold it against you, especially once they know you're still learning the ropes. The guys who messaged you were probably just trying to help rather than shame you. Just go back next week, give your call when they ask for check-ins, wait for net control to acknowledge you and then say your piece. You'll get the hang of it fast, it becomes second nature after a few times.

yeah same thing happened to me on a traffic net a while back, i started relaying a message before NCS finished writing down my call and it was kind of a mess lol. the waiting for acknowledgment thing is just how nets stay organized, especially when theres a lot of check-ins. some nets are more relaxed about it than others but ARES nets tend to be a bit more by-the-book since theyre basically practicing for actual emergency comms where discipline matters. dont let it keep you away though, showing up consistently is way more important than being perfect