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Got my tech a while ago, got the vanity call sign I wanted this last week.. Saved up and bought a Kenwood TS-2000 and TH-D7AG. Hooked it to a UHF/VHF omni ontop of a pole way up the roof coming into a duplexer into the radio.

Spent a small fortune, and now what.. I can find people chatting, they sound great. but dont feel right butting in.. should I key up a dead repeater or simplex frequency and see if anyone responds? I dont have any ham friends to key in or guide me, should i just continue listening until I pickup on the ediquete or stumble around blindly and get help as I go along.

Is it just me or did this suddenly get alot more intimidating when it got beyond paper and silicon? I guess after all my years i really hate being a newbie in a crowd..

I really got into it for the data/packet stuff but I feel like I'd be missing out on alot if I went straight into it.

-R
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