Im a new ham radio operator, I just purchased a mobile rig. How do I fit in?
Congratulations on your new license! Don’t be discouraged. I’ll try and help you out with a few pointers. First, you don’t call CQ on a repeater. Just throw your call sign out there followed by a “listening” or “monitoring”. If that doesn’t work, just listen for others. Use your own judgment and listen to the conversation. If you feel that you could contribute to the conversation and they sound like the type of people who wouldn’t mind, when one person lets off the key, say “break” or more formally just give your call sign. Tell them you’re new and provide some input to the convo, or just say that you’ve never talked to anyone on the repeater and just wondered if they could tell you how your signal sounds through the machine. I know I wouldn’t mind if someone did that in the middle of my QSO. It’s happened several times over the years and I’m glad to help a new ham out, as are most others. We’ll get good round tables going and talk for hours. I realize that might be a little uncomforta
