so i finally got out and did my first SOTA attempt last weekend, W4T/SU-001 up in the smokies. packed my elecraft kx2, a 20m EFHW, and a trekking pole to hang the antenna from. hiked about 3 miles to the summit and by the time i got there the clouds had rolled in and i was getting light drizzle. spent like 20 minutes trying to get the antenna strung up between some trees but the branches were too high and i kept tangling the feedline.

anyway i did manage to get 4 contacts on 20m SSB so technically the activation counts but it was kind of a mess. also my log sheet got wet and half of it was illegible by the time i got back to the car. anyone else have a rough first activation? feels like i need a better system for field logging or something

yeah my first activation was a disaster too, knocked over my whole setup twice because i didnt stake the pole down properly and the wind just demolished it. honestly 4 contacts still counts so dont sweat it, the minimum is 4 for a reason. i use a cheap waterproof notepad from amazon now, the ones made for scuba divers work great in rain. also might want to look at a linked dipole instead of the EFHW if youre gonna do multi-band stuff, way easier to tune in the field imo

i did a POTA activation last spring at a state forest and it poured the whole time, had my radio under a trash bag basically. got like 22 contacts though so it worked out. the wet log thing is real tho, i just use my phone now with hamlog or whatever, way easier even if the battery is annoying to deal with