so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, drove up to a summit in the whites and honestly the hike almost killed me lol. brought my kx2 and a random wire antenna and figured id be set. well the wind was absolutely insane up top and i couldnt get the antenna to stay up, ended up just draping it over some rocks in a weird L shape and calling it good. made like 6 contacts on 20m before my fingers were too cold to log anymore. i think 4 contacts is the minimum? i had 6 so im good. took forever to find a clear frequency too, kept getting stomped on. anyway it counts and im already planning the next one

yeah 4 is the minimum, you're good. and honestly a weird droopy antenna that actually works beats a perfect one you cant put up. ive had activations where i was just sitting in the mud holding the feedpoint up with one hand and logging with the other. it gets easier once you figure out what gear actually matters and what you can leave in the car

the wind thing is real, i always bring extra tent stakes and some paracord now. took me three activations to figure that out. also if your fingers are getting that cold fingerless gloves are kinda useless, i switched to those texting gloves and they actually work ok for the keypad on the kx2. congrats on the first one tho