I picked up a Baofeng uv-5r radio some months ago with an extended antenna and extended battery, and I figured I should connect to some repeaters but the problem is that I don’t have much of an idea how any of this works in terms of connecting to people or especially a specific person, (or basically how any of this works in general).
I live on the Big Island, so what frequencies should I input and save?

This is somethimg interested in too.  There may be repeaters already setup, check with the local HAM guys.  I gotta do that FCC test someday and ill get the baofeng radio.

http://earchi.org/

These guys can get you started or at least point you in the right direction.

http://www.rfinder.net/blog/

This is the easiest place to find repeaters all over the world. Also has a smartphone app if you travel. Costs $13 per year

I seem to be getting some Morse code and some super short statice once I pick up a connection from some frequencies I found on a quick google search of repeaters in my district.

Where on the BI are you?  The volcanoes limit which repeater sites you can hit.  I have only a few I can hit in Kona.  Some do not seem to be on 24 hours a day.

Not much of a talker, so really do not use them a lot.

The Morse code you hear is the automated repeater ID'ing every so often per FCC rules.

I generally frequent between Hilo to Keeau, and sometimes Glenwood/Mt. View.
I managed to hear some folks talking on at least two frequencies, one of them sounded local and the other I could hear people from the mainland all the way out to the east coast area.

Not familiar with the repeaters on the east side, could look them up for your area.  Here is all of the BI:

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?inputs=1&ctid=542&tab=ham#cats

The mainland stuff, likely not on any of the VHF/UHF repeater frequencies?

Do you have a HAM license?  You are supposed to broadcast your call sign when you use a repeater, and other amateurs might not respond if you do not give it.

If you and a friend start using the sites for personal stuff and are not licensed, some ot the old timers will get their balls in an uproar.  Better to go simplex for that, like using FRS radios.  Everyone including the FCC hears you on repeater sites.

Nah I don’t have any license of sorts for these kinds of things, but yeah I figured that much. Those old timers seem to know each other so I don’t want them to go apeshit if me and my friend were just to test out the connection.

Nah I don’t have any license of sorts for these kinds of things, but yeah I figured that much. Those old timers seem to know each other so I don’t want them to go apeshit if me and my friend were just to test out the connection.

I'm a ham operator here in the puna area mangosteenqueen. Contact me sometime if you ever want to get licensed. It's not hard and can be a lot of fun. There are several repeaters on this island, some are linked to other repeaters, statewide/nationwide and some worldwide. It's a bad idea to transmit on ham frequencies without a license, and comes with a stiff federal penalty, but listening is encouraged, and may inspire you to get your ham ticket. And btw... We also monitor all simplex :edit: ""ham"" frequencies as well and also use equipment and technique's to locate a person in violation. If you don't want to get a license but still want to play with radio communication. May I suggest a FRS/GMRS bubble pack radio from Walmart or something. Hope to hear from you.
Aloha

Thanks for the information, I probably won’t get around to it. I’m quite a busy college student.
Maybe down the road I’ll consider it a bit more seriously but for the time being I was just curious how stuff works.