so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, W4V/SH-001, not super high but figured it was a good starter summit. packed up my KX2, a 20m EFHW, and my trekking poles to hold the antenna up. the hike wasnt bad at all maybe 2 miles in.

problem was i totally forgot to check if there was tree cover at the top and yeah... no trees. just rock and low scrub. spent like 20 minutes trying to figure out how to hang the wire using just the poles and some paracord. ended up with a weird slanted thing that probably wasnt resonant at all but whatever.

still made 4 contacts on 20m SSB which technically counts for the activation so im calling it a win. CW probably wouldve been smarter, i know i know. anyway just wanted to share because all the youtube videos make it look way easier than it is

4 contacts is 4 contacts, activation complete. honestly the first one is always a bit of a mess, you learn more from that than from any amount of planning. i did my first POTA and forgot my coax to antenna adapter and just sat there for 45 minutes feeling like an idiot before a guy at the next picnic table let me borrow one. now i have like 4 spares in the bag always.

the no-tree summit thing is real, worth carrying a short telescoping mast or even just a longer pole for exactly that situation. once you get the setup dialed in it goes really fast

yeah CW changes everything for SOTA, i can get 10 contacts in like 15 minutes once im set up. but hey dont stress it, SSB activation counts just the same. which summit you do again?