so i finally did my first activation last weekend, been chasing for about 6 months and figured it was time to actually get up on a summit myself. picked W6/NC-397 because someone on here mentioned it was a fairly easy hike and i could drive partway up. brought my KX2 and a 40m end fed, figured id be up there for a couple hours no problem.

well the hike was longer than i expected, like way longer, and by the time i got to the activation zone i was pretty wiped out. set up the antenna strung between two scrubby pines which took forever because the branches kept grabbing the wire. got on 40m and called CQ SOTA for maybe 10 minutes with nothing. starting to panic a little, then remembered i hadnt posted my spot on SOTAwatch before leaving the car because i had no cell signal. so there i am on a summit with zero chasers knowing im there.

switched to 20m just kind of hoping and managed to snag a couple contacts including one guy in Colorado who gave me a 57, which felt amazing honestly. then a W1 came back to me which i still cant believe. ended up with 4 contacts total, just barely qualified the summit. the hike down in the fading light was a little sketchy but i made it. already planning the next one and this time im going to actually self spot before i lose cell coverage.

haha yeah the self-spotting thing gets everyone at least once. after my second activation i started texting my wife the summit reference and frequency before i even start hiking so she can spot me on SOTAwatch if i ask her to via text. works pretty well if you have any signal at the trailhead. also some guys use APRS to self spot which is pretty slick if your radio supports it.

4 contacts on your first one with no spot is honestly impressive, dont be too hard on yourself. some people do their first activation on a busy summit and still barely scrape 4. the W1 chasing you from Colorado on 20m, thats just SOTA magic right there, those guys are dedicated. whats the next summit youre eyeing?

oh man this sounds exactly like my first time lol. i also forgot to spot and just sat there wondering why nobody was answering. i didnt even know about SOTAwatch properly yet, i thought you just got on the air and people would find you somehow. took me embarassingly long to figure out the whole ecosystem of spots and alerts and chasers monitoring. congrats on qualifying it though, W6 summits are no joke terrain-wise from what ive heard.