Finally Connecting with Other Amateurs

I pulled out my HT (that stands for handy-talky, not walkie-talkie), and charged it up. I then got out the manual, and checked the programming. A good thing I did, as the ARS (automatic repeater shift) was wrongly set OFF. I tweaked a few other settings, then - an old trick that I'd not used in a while - set the Yaesu on an aluminum pie pan.

That seems to improve the signal sufficiently to pick up local contacts.

Which, it did. I listened for a while (it was a group chat), and, on the second day, managed to slip into it long enough to verify who was active, that they met online most days, and that one of the operators had a YL (female ham) for a wife.

It's slow, getting back. Some of the time, I'm just scanning and listening. At other times, I'm getting back to the manual, and refreshing myself with the choices that can be set (Yaesu's are great - sturdy and with many operation modes - but they can be challenging to learn to use).

I looked on YouTube, and bookmarked a few channels I wanted to watch over the next few months - how to use WIRES-X, programming the radio selections, and tech talks for beginners.