"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Maybe this is yet another locality difference? In the Northeast US
airspace, I recall at least two incidents receiving a hand-off, tuning
the frequency, and having to wait about a minute to check in due to
frequency congestion. Before I was able to make the call, the
controller suddenly called me: "Bonanza xxx, are you on yet?"

Probably because he was aware of the frequency congestion, and realized you
may be on frequency without being able to actually report in.

However, that doesn't mean it would have been a problem for you to have
copied an ATIS broadcast prior to checking in.