My First Amateur Ham Radio Contact Attempt

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.

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.

Congratulations! I'm a CB person myself but I enjoy seeing new hams.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

What an honest and wholesome video. You did a great job learning on the fly. I cheered when you made your first contact. Bravo.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

This is really encouraging. Got my license and have been delaying making contact because of my nerves. Thank u for posting

Welcome on the air, sir! Congratulations and greetings from Belgium from Glenn ON4WIX near Antwerp.

Good for you Steve! Way to stick with it and welcome to the hobby!

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. 🙂

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!

Welcome to the hobby Steve. Congratulations on your first contact. From VK2LRD, Sydney Australia