so i finally did my first activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from me (K-4856 if anyone's curious) and honestly it went way smoother than i thought it would. got my 10 contacts in about 35 minutes which felt pretty good for a first timer running 100 watts on 40m with a random wire thrown up in a tree.

couple things i ran into that im still not sure about — when i was logging i had a few people come back to me who i couldn't quite copy, like they were there but buried in the noise. do i count those if i got their callsign but not the signal report? i just kinda moved on in the moment but now im second guessing myself. also i noticed some hunters were sending 5nn which obviously wasnt real but i guess thats just the shorthand people use?

also wondering if anyone has tips for picking frequencies. i just kind of landed on 7.245 and announced myself and it seemed to work but i saw some people talking about 7.200 being a common spot. is there like an unofficial watering hole for POTA or do you just spin the dial and find a clear spot

congrats on the first one, it gets addictive fast. on the signal report question — yeah just use your best judgement, if you genuinely got a solid callsign and completed the exchange i'd count it. the rules are pretty relaxed compared to contesting. POTA is more honor system than anything. and yes 5nn is just contest shorthand that spilled over, everyone knows what it means, dont stress about it.

for frequencies there isnt one magic spot but a lot of activators hang around 7.200 on LSB and 14.244 on 20m because hunters know to check there. that said if those are busy just find a clear frequency and self-spot yourself on the POTA app — thats honestly the biggest thing i wish someone had told me earlier. once you spot yourself the pile-up comes to you, you dont need to be on any particular frequency. just announce your park reference when you ID and youre good.

dude 35 minutes for 10 contacts on your first activation is solid, i struggled for almost an hour on mine because i forgot to self-spot and just sat there calling CQ into the void lol. download the POTA app if you havent already, the spotting network is basically essential now. hunters are watching it constantly.