so ive been licensed for about 8 months now and everyone keeps telling me i need to try CQ WW at least once before i can call myself a real ham, lol. i have a technician right now actually no wait i just upgraded to general last month so i have HF privileges now which is exciting but also kind of overwhelming.

anyway the contest is coming up and i honestly dont even know where to begin. like do i need special logging software? i downloaded N1MM but it seems really complicated and i watched a couple youtube videos but theyre all assuming you already know stuff. also is it worth even jumping in with just a wire antenna in my backyard or is it going to be totally pointless because everyone else has these massive beam setups.

also someone mentioned ARRL Field Day earlier in the year and i missed it which i guess was a mistake but hoping to catch the next one. and ive been looking at SOTA too but thats a whole different thing right? like actually going up mountains with radio gear. that looks amazing honestly but maybe too much for right now.

any advice welcome, especially for someone who has no idea what theyre doing in a contest situation

welcome to the addiction, seriously. okay so first thing -- dont stress about the antenna situation. ive worked CQ WW with a dipole hung between two trees at like 25 feet and made contacts all over the place, especially if conditions cooperate. the guys with the big beams will always have an advantage but thats not the point when youre just starting out, the point is to get on and make some noise and see whats possible.

for N1MM just download the manual and honestly just ignore 90% of it at first. you really only need to know how to log a contact and how the dupe checking works. set it up for the contest category, plug in your callsign and get going. youll figure out the rest as questions come up. i remember my first contest i had the wrong exchange programmed for like the first hour and didnt notice, nobody really cares that much when youre learning.

SOTA is a completely separate world yeah but honestly a great one, i do a couple activations a year when the weather is good. start with the contesting first and get your feet wet, then look at SOTA later. Field Day next june will also be a great chance to operate with a club if theres one near you, much more relaxed than CQ WW and great for learning.

N1MM really isnt as bad as it looks once you just open it and start clicking around. the interface is ugly but it works great. for CQ WW the exchange is just signal report and CQ zone so theres not a lot to remember, zone 5 if youre in the US northeast i think, check the rules page it tells you exactly what zone you're in.

also worth joining the CQ WW reflector or checking 3830scores.com after the contest, reading other peoples soapbox comments is actually really motivating especially the little pistol guys who made surprising contact totals with modest setups. you'll see plenty of people who did fine with wire antennas.