so i finally did my first park activation yesterday at a state park about 45 mins from me, been meaning to do it for months. packed up the ft-891 and my buddipole and drove out there feeling pretty good about myself. set everything up at a picnic table, got SWR down to like 1.4 which i was happy with considering the ground conditions out there, and then just... nothing. sat on 40m calling CQ for probably 20 minutes and got maybe 2 contacts. moved to 20m and picked up a couple more but honestly i was expecting it to be a little more lively than that. i think i just didnt spot myself on the POTA hunters site soon enough, by the time people saw me i was already packing up. the park closes at sunset and i cut it way too close. anyway gonna try again next weekend and actually pre-spot before i even leave the parking lot this time

yeah spotting early is huge, i made that same mistake my first time out. also try posting in the POTA facebook group the morning of with your planned frequency and time, you'll have people waiting for you. 40m has been kind of rough in the afternoons lately anyway so dont get discouraged by the low count

buddipole at a picnic table sounds rough honestly, did you have any way to get it up higher? i use a 31ft spiderpole lashed to whatever i can find and it makes a noticable difference. also 10m has been absolutely insane lately if you havent tried it for POTA, i got like 40 contacts in an hour last saturday