Thank you for sharing this in such an honest and transparent way. I am embarrassed to say I got my license in 2014 and have been so socially awkward and afraid of making a fool of myself that I have not yet made my first contact. Your candidness has encouraged me to try again.
James do you know if there are any regular nets in your area? That might be an easier way to get on the air for the first time. From what I've seen, there will be a time when the net control operator asks any guests to check in, then you just key the mic and say your call sign. It's very structured and you don't have to say anything more if you don't want to. But if you mention this is your first time transmitting, they'll probably give you an extra welcome, that's been my experience as a noob.
Glad to hear you're looking to try again @jamesthequack . I got my tech license in 2007 and never made a contact due to social anxiety on local repeaters for 10 years. a buddy of mine (W8NAT) got me back into the hobby in 2017 when I upgraded to General and have been enjoying the hobby a lot more. HF is, in my opinion, far more friendly for us socially hesitant folks (CW even more so) so you may want to consider an upgrade if you're not already there. 73
Mate you're awesome and you're going to be totally fine, the first contact is always the hardest! The people on the other end have been exactly where you are, and even the most seasoned operators make silly mistakes regularly! Welcome to the family!
Wow man. You have a license and still haven't made a contact. I am trying to get my license since February 2021. But TRC (our version of FCC) haven't hold an exam since 2020. And they are not in a hurry. I am tired of having to call them and ask them when they are gonna let me take the exam. Don't take it for granted. Use your license and make contacts.
Thanks for all the comments! Yes, I was nervous over that first contact. I'll be honest, after a few weeks on the local repeaters my interests have changed and I'm less interested in casual chatting on repeaters, but I'm doing other things. I put a dual-band antenna on my home's roof, so I could join the weekly nets of ham clubs from the comfort of a chair and desk. I configured my radio to scan police, fire, marine, and other service frequencies in addition to the amateur radio repeaters and simplex frequencies. I've made three SOTA activations of nearby summits. I tracked the ISS's orbit and heard its transmission when it passed overhead, decoding several SSTV images they sent. And I've become interested in CW (Morse) operation, studying hard to master Morse code fast enough to be useful for making contacts.
Welcome to the hobby, Steve! The whole "why isn't this working?" "ok, it will work now! wait... why isn't it working?" "it works!" is, in my experience, something you'll run into a lot with ham radio. it's as rewarding as it can be frustrating. hope you catch you on the air once you jump on HF!
Man it put a huge smile on my face when you got that first response! This is motivation for me to get certified! Always wanted to get into Ham and I think I am finally taking the dive!
Thanks so much for posting this! I'm studying for my technician license exam now, and I already get nervous when I just think about making my first contact. Looking forward to joining the community of this great hobby soon!
Thanks for posting this. It's very inspiring! Your first contact really made me smile. I'm just listening at the moment, and trying to set myself up. I hope you're still at it a year on from this.
I made my first contact last year. You’ll find the ham community very welcoming. Congratulations on getting your license. It’s a big achievement. General is where a lot of the action is at, but Technician is very practical and gets your feet wet. It’s a license to learn!
This was great! Thanks for posting. I just sat for the Technician exam this past Saturday and got my license and new call sign this week. I have a handheld too and you've inspired me to try what you did. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Congratulations! I remember the huge training wheels I had on my first contact. I practiced and practiced and still messed it up. I should have used notes as you did. It was great to see you jump in. Welcome to the ham world.
Congrats Steve! I also just received my call sign about a week ago and made my first contact after figuring the programming steps for my HT. such a great feeling once someone confirms hearing your call sign on the air.
I think I've seen three or four new hams youtube their very first contacts and I gotta say, good on ya. Mic fright is a real thing. As is the difficulty of making a contact on UHF/VHF. Really pleased me to see you were successful.
I also just got into ham radio with a handheld and my first contact was horrible! I have not pressed the button since then... I listened to a handful of regular old-timers on a local repeater for a few weeks and decided to make first contact with them. They proceeded to tease me and misdirect me in how to speak into my microphone so that I would sound super loud and muffled for their amusement and when I said my 73's, They mocked my loud muffled transmissions for a good 5-10 minutes. These days I mostly just scan local repeaters and listen to ISS whenever it passes over.
IGNORE THOSE MISGUIDED FOLKS... they simply do not know any better. Persevere and ENJOY this great hobby. Those folks you encountered do NOT represent the VAST majority of us radio Hams. Ei7ii.
Made my first contact yesterday ! A very experienced operator, who was a pleasure to talk to. Very supportive and informative as to active local nets etc. 🙂
Great video! Welcome from K5WCF! Glad to have yet another ham on the air. This is a good reminder to those of us who get complacent due to silence on a local repeater that you never know when someone new might show up and be looking for someone to make contact with. Hope you have a chance to make to a field day this month. By looking at QRZ you have been quick to upgrade. I was the same way when I started, I got my Tech in May 2009 and got my General at field day a month later! Hope to maybe catch you on the air sometime. 73
Steve. First and foremost. Congratulations ! Well done on persevering with that first contact. Trust me... even after 30 years on air I still occasionally screw up the squelch mode(s) and or the tones. Always remember ASteve.... "He who walks away will live to fight another day". WELL DONE AND WELCOME TO THE BANDS and this wonderful Hobby. !!! Albert EI7II.
I’ve had my license for 8 years and made my first real QSOs in the past few days. I admire your effort of getting contact asap! Like ripping off a bandaid.
That brings back memories! Congrats man! Nothing like first contact shakes. I still (1yr) haven't made a simplex contact but we have a great network of repeaters here in FL..
I think everyone remembers their first QSO. I, too, was nervous as heck, but it was worth it in the end. Congratulations, and welcome to the hobby. May you have many more! DE K7RLN (p.s. - I have that radio, too Yaesu FT-65r. It's a good one...)
Good job!! I have had mine for 20 years and I still get nervous when I call for listening stations. Listen a lot to hear how other people practice when they are transmitting, it helps me 73's
Awesome Steve! Very well done. I remember the nerves from my first contact too, they soon disappear. Congrats on the callsign and hope to work you very soon. Tim M0MML
Awesome!:) I hope to start my study on the N exam (as it is called here in the Netherlands) next week. Mesmerized by radio's since 1974 when I got my first radio, but now it is time to join the ham community (finally). I can only hope to be this fluent when the time has come to make my first contact. Very cool you shared this moment!
Congrarulations for having been licensed and on your first contact. No worries because all of us went through the so called "mic fright" on our first contact. Thanks for sharing and enjoy tha hobby. 73's. KN6TJF, DW1QEW, Philippines.
Congrats on your first contact Steve. I had my first contact (also on 2m) back in 1977 when I got my license as a kid. Ham radio has been part of my life ever since. ALL of my long term friends are Hams and we've stayed in contact for decades. I've done just about everything that can be done in Ham Radio, from HF to microwave, and have had so much fun. Enjoy, de KN5X
Well done it’s very daunting to make that first call but like you I only gained my foundation licence at the end of January 2022 here in 🇬🇧 have made a few mistakes but have also made some very good QSOs on both VHF/UHF and HF even with the power restrictions on my licence I have made good contact into Europe and to the USA And Canada. Quality video footage all the best from M7CVK Tony
I accepted an Extra call sign about a year ago. It’s like being a new operator all over again. Thank you for sharing. Got me a little misty, dude! AG5WA
Hi Steve, thank you for sharing what is a fantastic moment in every HAMS path to success. your first ever contact. So many operators are extremely "mic shy" when they get on the radio first time, but you seem to be a natural, well done you and thank you for sharing..... de M6KVK
AAAW MAN. That's class. I made my first qso a few months ago. 2m and 70cm are great but you need to get on HF for some serious radio fun. I've hit 30 countries on my first 6 weeks of HF MI7RXD. 73'S and well done on attaining your license :)
What kind of radio are you getting on Hf with? I tried to google mi7rxd and didn’t get anything. I’m testing on the 18th and just thinking about what kind of equipment I should start with
@@mycatsaliberal3848 I'm on QRZ.I just googled MI7RXD and I come up lol.. I have a Yaesu FT450 and use an End Fed Half Wave antenna with a 49:1 unun. Multiple bands. Luckily I live in a top apartment so my wire is going out my window tied to a lampost. 66 feet haha. Good luck on your test. I just used UA-cam to pass mine as my book didn't arrive in time. Give me a shout for a QSO buddy 73s
Congrats man!!! It is a great hobby. Be careful of jumping down the rabbit hole of collecting and restoring vintage equipment. Once you start it becomes an obsession. ;D
Neat to hear how you sound more and more confident the more you called out. Yes repeaters can be quite annoying when you hear folks talk and just ignores you, been there we all have, and as you said it can be quite as simple as wrong settings too so they didn't heard you either. One day at a boat trip in a local chanal I tune my handheld to one of the free band, believe it was Jakt 1-6 (155 MHz Jakt = Hunting and boat bands) or maybe SRBR 444MHz. Heard nothing all day... My radio were set on TSQL (Tone squelch....) Well the radio heard everything but didn't let it through... ;) I can see that this is about two years ago and I hope that you've collected a bunch of contacts in your log by now. When this video went "viral" my own licence were two years old give or take. We've all been there, dry mouth, shaky hands and a nervious tone on your voice, during our first PTT push. 73 -- SA6HCZ -- Sweden.
Yeah everybody eases in at their own pace. I got my technician back last fall and spent the first several months playing around with aprs to ensure I was at least hitting repeaters in my area. Finally overcame the "mic" fright earlier this month when I was in a nearby town where I knew I'd be heard. Have been enjoying getting involved in the local repeater group. 73, KK7BTO
Welcome to the hobby hopefully you get a better antenna I can get better access to the repeaters and get on there and enjoy Amata radio I have been doing it for years and highly enjoyed 73 Tom VK3FTOM from Australia
Nice to hear you trying to make a contact. Well, I am a licenced operator as well and had the same problems in the beginning. See that you that are operating 8 months now. That will have given you some experience. Good luck. Hope to meet you on the bands some day. 73. Fred PA0TSE
I was dying inside for you there . So nervous for you, Im also so close to doing the same here in New Zealand once I have my call sign , Not sure I will do it on camera LoL
Looks like we got our call signs around the same time. I took my exams on March 7th and got my call sign on the 18th. Finally had my first QSO on the 20th 🥴. I’ve been a trucker for 10 years and use my CB daily but for some reason I was nervous as hell to key up my HT 😪. I’ve been sitting and listening to my local repeaters for weeks but once I had the green light to transmit, i got cold feet lol.
I grew up in trucking and cb's as well. I run the Yaesu FTM-400 in the truck, what a blast! I remember being nervous as well when I got my ham ticket and keyed up the HT for the first time by myself. CB is one thing, but ham radio was 'radio for real' :)
@@applejacks971 right… on CB there’s really no thought process, you just key up and talk. On Ham, I think I’m basically over thinking for the most part wanting to make sure I use the correct protocol and lingo.
I still find it awkward talking to people on the radio, but the first contact was the hardest. Nice job putting yourself out there! the hobby is so much fun. Before you know it, you will have a shack set up!
Congrats on your licensure Steve. I got a CB radio recently thinking I would hear some chatter from the freeway that’s 6 blocks away but so far haven’t heard anything. Maybe I need a bigger antenna 🤔
I just took the technician test recently and one week later took the General License exam. I missed 4 questions on the Technician test and three on the General test. I don't know anything at all about Ham Radio and yet I have a General license. There's a very popular website where they give you every possible question that may appear on the tests and provide the answers. All you have to do is memorize the answers to questions you probably wont even understand. That's what I did. I will never use ham radio, other than in a possible emergency type scenario. I wanted the license just so I could legally transmit just in case of a total grid down type of event where normal communications have been disrupted. Now, I'm trying to decide which base station equipment to buy to store away in a Faraday cage. A lot of money to spend just to be prepared, but something that may be needed some day.
That's my father in law, N6FG Frank in Pacifica! He helps take care of the repeater (WA6TOW) there, welcome! I am KI6GDQ, John in Davis. There is a whole northern California emergency net that is active in the central valley...
mar 2023 it did not sound like you were hitting the repeater I hope in the 11 months since you have been able to get your feet wet, remember to talk past the mic on the radio so your breath does not hit it. I got excited when I herd the repeater respond to you!
See if there is ham club meeting you can find. When I lived in KL7 land, there was a very active club (KL7AA). NL7PJ, Paul, 73. Ps I never liked when the sub tones became active.
Thank you for sharing this in such an honest and transparent way. I am embarrassed to say I got my license in 2014 and have been so socially awkward and afraid of making a fool of myself that I have not yet made my first contact. Your candidness has encouraged me to try again.
James do you know if there are any regular nets in your area? That might be an easier way to get on the air for the first time. From what I've seen, there will be a time when the net control operator asks any guests to check in, then you just key the mic and say your call sign. It's very structured and you don't have to say anything more if you don't want to. But if you mention this is your first time transmitting, they'll probably give you an extra welcome, that's been my experience as a noob.
Glad to hear you're looking to try again @jamesthequack . I got my tech license in 2007 and never made a contact due to social anxiety on local repeaters for 10 years. a buddy of mine (W8NAT) got me back into the hobby in 2017 when I upgraded to General and have been enjoying the hobby a lot more. HF is, in my opinion, far more friendly for us socially hesitant folks (CW even more so) so you may want to consider an upgrade if you're not already there. 73
Mate you're awesome and you're going to be totally fine, the first contact is always the hardest! The people on the other end have been exactly where you are, and even the most seasoned operators make silly mistakes regularly! Welcome to the family!
Wow man. You have a license and still haven't made a contact. I am trying to get my license since February 2021. But TRC (our version of FCC) haven't hold an exam since 2020. And they are not in a hurry. I am tired of having to call them and ask them when they are gonna let me take the exam.
Don't take it for granted. Use your license and make contacts.
I have finally made some contacts. There is a local group that I plan to get involved with. Thank you for the encouragement!
Thanks for all the comments! Yes, I was nervous over that first contact. I'll be honest, after a few weeks on the local repeaters my interests have changed and I'm less interested in casual chatting on repeaters, but I'm doing other things. I put a dual-band antenna on my home's roof, so I could join the weekly nets of ham clubs from the comfort of a chair and desk. I configured my radio to scan police, fire, marine, and other service frequencies in addition to the amateur radio repeaters and simplex frequencies. I've made three SOTA activations of nearby summits. I tracked the ISS's orbit and heard its transmission when it passed overhead, decoding several SSTV images they sent. And I've become interested in CW (Morse) operation, studying hard to master Morse code fast enough to be useful for making contacts.
How's your progress with Morse coming along? It's difficult copying at 20wpm!
Welcome to the hobby, Steve! The whole "why isn't this working?" "ok, it will work now! wait... why isn't it working?" "it works!" is, in my experience, something you'll run into a lot with ham radio. it's as rewarding as it can be frustrating. hope you catch you on the air once you jump on HF!
Congratulations! I'm a CB person myself but I enjoy seeing new hams.
I feel you man, CB's for life. This is 6935, Philippines, wavin' a hand. Got down....... 73's.
@@franciscolopez3229 Dr Pepper in St Louis, waving
Man it put a huge smile on my face when you got that first response! This is motivation for me to get certified! Always wanted to get into Ham and I think I am finally taking the dive!
Thanks so much for posting this! I'm studying for my technician license exam now, and I already get nervous when I just think about making my first contact. Looking forward to joining the community of this great hobby soon!
Thanks for posting this. It's very inspiring! Your first contact really made me smile. I'm just listening at the moment, and trying to set myself up. I hope you're still at it a year on from this.
I made my first contact last year. You’ll find the ham community very welcoming. Congratulations on getting your license. It’s a big achievement. General is where a lot of the action is at, but Technician is very practical and gets your feet wet.
It’s a license to learn!
This was great! Thanks for posting. I just sat for the Technician exam this past Saturday and got my license and new call sign this week. I have a handheld too and you've inspired me to try what you did. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
What an honest and wholesome video. You did a great job learning on the fly. I cheered when you made your first contact. Bravo.
This is really encouraging. Got my license and have been delaying making contact because of my nerves. Thank u for posting
Welcome to the hobby Steve. Congratulations on your first contact. From VK2LRD, Sydney Australia
Ham radio is a blast! Welcome to the club and down the ham radio rabbit hole, Congrat's!
I have the FT-65 in my line up as well, good lil radio!
Congratulations! I remember the huge training wheels I had on my first contact. I practiced and practiced and still messed it up. I should have used notes as you did. It was great to see you jump in. Welcome to the ham world.
Congrats Steve! I also just received my call sign about a week ago and made my first contact after figuring the programming steps for my HT. such a great feeling once someone confirms hearing your call sign on the air.
Welcome on the air, sir! Congratulations and greetings from Belgium from Glenn ON4WIX near Antwerp.
I think I've seen three or four new hams youtube their very first contacts and I gotta say, good on ya. Mic fright is a real thing. As is the difficulty of making a contact on UHF/VHF. Really pleased me to see you were successful.
I also just got into ham radio with a handheld and my first contact was horrible! I have not pressed the button since then... I listened to a handful of regular old-timers on a local repeater for a few weeks and decided to make first contact with them. They proceeded to tease me and misdirect me in how to speak into my microphone so that I would sound super loud and muffled for their amusement and when I said my 73's, They mocked my loud muffled transmissions for a good 5-10 minutes.
These days I mostly just scan local repeaters and listen to ISS whenever it passes over.
IGNORE THOSE MISGUIDED FOLKS... they simply do not know any better. Persevere and ENJOY this great hobby. Those folks you encountered do NOT represent the VAST majority of us radio Hams.
Ei7ii.
Made my first contact yesterday ! A very experienced operator, who was a pleasure to talk to. Very supportive and informative as to active local nets etc. 🙂
Great video! Welcome from K5WCF! Glad to have yet another ham on the air. This is a good reminder to those of us who get complacent due to silence on a local repeater that you never know when someone new might show up and be looking for someone to make contact with. Hope you have a chance to make to a field day this month. By looking at QRZ you have been quick to upgrade. I was the same way when I started, I got my Tech in May 2009 and got my General at field day a month later! Hope to maybe catch you on the air sometime. 73
Steve. First and foremost. Congratulations ! Well done on persevering with that first contact. Trust me... even after 30 years on air I still occasionally screw up the squelch mode(s) and or the tones.
Always remember ASteve.... "He who walks away will live to fight another day". WELL DONE AND WELCOME TO THE BANDS and this wonderful Hobby. !!!
Albert EI7II.
I’ve had my license for 8 years and made my first real QSOs in the past few days. I admire your effort of getting contact asap! Like ripping off a bandaid.
Very cool that you would put yourself out there like this. Took some courage, I'm sure. But glad you did. Mic fright is real!
That brings back memories! Congrats man! Nothing like first contact shakes. I still (1yr) haven't made a simplex contact but we have a great network of repeaters here in FL..
Good for you Steve! Way to stick with it and welcome to the hobby!
I especially enjoyed the subtitles to the morse code. Way to go! Gives me confidence to make my own first call! :)
This absolutely made my day. Congrats!
Congrats! Have fun!
I think everyone remembers their first QSO. I, too, was nervous as heck, but it was worth it in the end. Congratulations, and welcome to the hobby. May you have many more! DE K7RLN (p.s. - I have that radio, too Yaesu FT-65r. It's a good one...)
Good job!! I have had mine for 20 years and I still get nervous when I call for listening stations. Listen a lot to hear how other people practice when they are transmitting, it helps me 73's
Congratulations, Steve - how exciting !! Very, very happy for you !!
‘73
de K3SDM
that was great! congrats! received my GMRS today. have fun!
Awesome! I hope to start my license study next week and do the exam early next year. Congrats with your license!
Awesome Steve! Very well done. I remember the nerves from my first contact too, they soon disappear. Congrats on the callsign and hope to work you very soon. Tim M0MML
Awesome!:) I hope to start my study on the N exam (as it is called here in the Netherlands) next week. Mesmerized by radio's since 1974 when I got my first radio, but now it is time to join the ham community (finally). I can only hope to be this fluent when the time has come to make my first contact. Very cool you shared this moment!
Awesome 👍 I also started to prepare for the F exam in the Netherlands. Hopefully I'm ready in november.
Fantastic. Love this video. Thanks for sharing! 🙌
Congrarulations for having been licensed and on your first contact. No worries because all of us went through the so called "mic fright" on our first contact. Thanks for sharing and enjoy tha hobby. 73's. KN6TJF, DW1QEW, Philippines.
Congrats on your first contact Steve. I had my first contact (also on 2m) back in 1977 when I got my license as a kid. Ham radio has been part of my life ever since. ALL of my long term friends are Hams and we've stayed in contact for decades. I've done just about everything that can be done in Ham Radio, from HF to microwave, and have had so much fun. Enjoy, de KN5X
Well done it’s very daunting to make that first call but like you I only gained my foundation licence at the end of January 2022 here in 🇬🇧 have made a few mistakes but have also made some very good QSOs on both VHF/UHF and HF even with the power restrictions on my licence I have made good contact into Europe and to the USA And Canada. Quality video footage all the best from M7CVK Tony
I accepted an Extra call sign about a year ago. It’s like being a new operator all over again. Thank you for sharing. Got me a little misty, dude! AG5WA
Hi Steve, thank you for sharing what is a fantastic moment in every HAMS path to success. your first ever contact. So many operators are extremely "mic shy" when they get on the radio first time, but you seem to be a natural, well done you and thank you for sharing..... de M6KVK
Congrats and welcome to the hobby.
WD4OBP Congrats Steve. Glad you got things working.
Getting mine delivered tomorrow.
Awesome vid.
AAAW MAN. That's class. I made my first qso a few months ago. 2m and 70cm are great but you need to get on HF for some serious radio fun. I've hit 30 countries on my first 6 weeks of HF MI7RXD. 73'S and well done on attaining your license :)
What kind of radio are you getting on Hf with? I tried to google mi7rxd and didn’t get anything. I’m testing on the 18th and just thinking about what kind of equipment I should start with
@@mycatsaliberal3848 I'm on QRZ.I just googled MI7RXD and I come up lol.. I have a Yaesu FT450 and use an End Fed Half Wave antenna with a 49:1 unun. Multiple bands. Luckily I live in a top apartment so my wire is going out my window tied to a lampost. 66 feet haha. Good luck on your test. I just used UA-cam to pass mine as my book didn't arrive in time. Give me a shout for a QSO buddy 73s
Congrats man!!! It is a great hobby. Be careful of jumping down the rabbit hole of collecting and restoring vintage equipment. Once you start it becomes an obsession. ;D
Very cool sir - enjoyed the video
Cheers and congrats!
Neat to hear how you sound more and more confident the more you called out.
Yes repeaters can be quite annoying when you hear folks talk and just ignores you, been there we all have, and as you said it can be quite as simple as wrong settings too so they didn't heard you either.
One day at a boat trip in a local chanal I tune my handheld to one of the free band, believe it was Jakt 1-6 (155 MHz Jakt = Hunting and boat bands) or maybe SRBR 444MHz.
Heard nothing all day... My radio were set on TSQL (Tone squelch....) Well the radio heard everything but didn't let it through... ;)
I can see that this is about two years ago and I hope that you've collected a bunch of contacts in your log by now.
When this video went "viral" my own licence were two years old give or take.
We've all been there, dry mouth, shaky hands and a nervious tone on your voice, during our first PTT push.
73 -- SA6HCZ -- Sweden.
Well in mate great effort 👏👏👏
Congratulations, Steve! First contacts can be so nerve wracking.
FYI the Morse code is the repeater identifying its callsign using Morse code.
Thanks for posting. Today is day 1 for study towards my licence.
Congratulation, this is YG3BCO from Indonesia, 73
Congrats Steve! Welcome to the hobby. KO4HPC 73
Welcome to the hobby! I'm a year late but hope you are still hamming it up!
That was cool :)
You are a cool guy 😎
Congrats , if your were in north Texas , I'd talk to you. But again congrats on your new hobby , it is a lot of fun.
this video genuinely made me smile
That's amazing. I'd love to take that as a hobby when I learn more about radios and call signs.
Yeah everybody eases in at their own pace. I got my technician back last fall and spent the first several months playing around with aprs to ensure I was at least hitting repeaters in my area. Finally overcame the "mic" fright earlier this month when I was in a nearby town where I knew I'd be heard. Have been enjoying getting involved in the local repeater group. 73, KK7BTO
Congratulations man ! Welcome to ham radio, Get that general class and get on HF .. you will not regret it
Welcome to the hobby hopefully you get a better antenna I can get better access to the repeaters and get on there and enjoy Amata radio I have been doing it for years and highly enjoyed 73 Tom VK3FTOM from Australia
Awesome. Yeah, you need to unlock the repeater. Congrats!🎙📻👍
You can see the nerves from the shaky hands. I think back to my first contact and man was I nervous. Welcome to the hobby!!!
Nice to hear you trying to make a contact. Well, I am a licenced operator as well and had the same problems in the beginning. See that you that are operating 8 months now. That will have given you some experience. Good luck. Hope to meet you on the bands some day. 73. Fred PA0TSE
I was dying inside for you there . So nervous for you, Im also so close to doing the same here in New Zealand once I have my call sign , Not sure I will do it on camera LoL
Very nice and informative
Thanks for sharing! Hope yoi enjoy the hobby!
Maybe a bit late, but welcome to the family :)
I am glad you went with the FT65r. I have 2
Looks like we got our call signs around the same time. I took my exams on March 7th and got my call sign on the 18th. Finally had my first QSO on the 20th 🥴. I’ve been a trucker for 10 years and use my CB daily but for some reason I was nervous as hell to key up my HT 😪. I’ve been sitting and listening to my local repeaters for weeks but once I had the green light to transmit, i got cold feet lol.
Transmit anxiety is a real thing. When I first started with CB I got so nervous when I wanted to transmit.
I grew up in trucking and cb's as well. I run the Yaesu FTM-400 in the truck, what a blast!
I remember being nervous as well when I got my ham ticket and keyed up the HT for the first time by myself. CB is one thing, but ham radio was 'radio for real' :)
@@applejacks971 right… on CB there’s really no thought process, you just key up and talk. On Ham, I think I’m basically over thinking for the most part wanting to make sure I use the correct protocol and lingo.
Congrats and welcome to the hobby, kg5bmx, 73's.
Thanks for sharing this big moment. Enjoy your new call sign. 73 de Ady G6AD in England
Congratulation brother!! 73
Congrats! I got my license several weeks ago but can't decide what radio to get, so I have made no contact either. Lol
Congrats on getting your ticket.
congrats!
I still find it awkward talking to people on the radio, but the first contact was the hardest. Nice job putting yourself out there! the hobby is so much fun. Before you know it, you will have a shack set up!
Congrats on your licensure Steve. I got a CB radio recently thinking I would hear some chatter from the freeway that’s 6 blocks away but so far haven’t heard anything. Maybe I need a bigger antenna 🤔
I passed my test 10/may/2023 still not in database yet but I can’t wait to get that callsign !
Mate that is so freakin' good! Well done! It's awkward eh but the first crack is always the hardest! :)
Wasn’t that cool?!
@@hamradiotube My man!
Cool! I actually printed a label with my call sign & stuck it on my HT. :)
Nice work. Welcome to Amateur Radio! 73 de Jeff K3JRZ
Congratulations Steve, great inspirational video. Yes that CTCSS will get everyone first time round. 73 de M7PBX 👍
So wholesome:)
I just took the technician test recently and one week later took the General License exam. I missed 4 questions on the Technician test and three on the General test. I don't know anything at all about Ham Radio and yet I have a General license. There's a very popular website where they give you every possible question that may appear on the tests and provide the answers. All you have to do is memorize the answers to questions you probably wont even understand. That's what I did.
I will never use ham radio, other than in a possible emergency type scenario. I wanted the license just so I could legally transmit just in case of a total grid down type of event where normal communications have been disrupted. Now, I'm trying to decide which base station equipment to buy to store away in a Faraday cage. A lot of money to spend just to be prepared, but something that may be needed some day.
I am waiting for my tech call sign. I would suggest that you get a Diamond antenna model SRJ77CA. I just bought the same radio you have in this video.
dude. the way you are excited for this got me excited. congrats on the operators license. im excited to get my call sign and license
That's my father in law, N6FG Frank in Pacifica! He helps take care of the repeater (WA6TOW) there, welcome! I am KI6GDQ, John in Davis. There is a whole northern California emergency net that is active in the central valley...
Hi Steve, i love your video so much, very emotional. I live in Vietnam, where banned hams radio, which for communist staff only.
Looks fun.
Congrats for your first contact. 73 fm EA9AI/EA7
The Yaesu ft65r was also my first ham radio. Now 1 1/2 years later I own 7 of them. It’s a sickness 😁
mar 2023 it did not sound like you were hitting the repeater I hope in the 11 months since you have been able to get your feet wet, remember to talk past the mic on the radio so your breath does not hit it. I got excited when I herd the repeater respond to you!
When I use my hand radio I have it hooked to my base antenna and it works so much better than the little stock antenna KM6SPK
How are things in the radio world? You still making contacts? Are there weekly nets in your area? I hope you're still enjoying the hobby :)
ahahah! I want to take the course soon. This will be EXACTLY me, I know it.
Next time just say: "I don't have my license yet" and they'll pounce on you.
Funny!
See if there is ham club meeting you can find. When I lived in KL7 land, there was a very active club (KL7AA). NL7PJ, Paul, 73. Ps I never liked when the sub tones became active.