so i finally did my first park activation last weekend at a state park about 45 min from my house. been putting it off forever because i kept thinking my setup wasnt good enough or whatever. ended up just throwing my kx2 and a random wire in a backpack and driving out there.

set up under a picnic shelter, threw the wire up into a tree maybe 20 feet, tuned up on 40m and just started calling. had 10 contacts in like 25 minutes which i know isnt impressive but man it felt great. a few hunters were really patient with me fumbling around with the log sheet too which was nice.

anyway just wanted to share because i kept reading about people's elaborate setups and got intimidated. you really dont need much to get a valid activation apparently.

yeah the first one is always the hardest just because of the mental barrier. i remember sitting in my car for like 20 minutes before i actually walked out and set up. once you do a few it becomes pretty routine. 10 contacts is totally fine, valid is valid. i usually try to get to 15 or so before i start packing up just to have a little cushion in case the upload has issues but honestly never had a problem with 10.

the kx2 is a solid choice for this stuff btw, i run one myself for most of my activations. what antenna were you using, just end fed or what?

nice work. i did my first sota last spring and same thing, totally overthought it for months. brought way too much gear up the hill and regretted it immediately lol. portable ops have a way of teaching you real fast what you actually need vs what you thought you needed