so i finally did my first POTA activation yesterday at a state park about 45 min from my house. brought my ft-891 and a linked dipole i built a few months ago, figured id just throw it up in a tree and work some stations easy right. yeah no. spent like 40 minutes trying to get the rope over a decent branch and by the time i had the antenna up i was sweating through my shirt and my lunch was gone somehow. got on 40m and the band was just dead for a bit, started to panic a little honestly. finally moved to 20m and got my 10 contacts but it took almost 2 hours total. not complaining because i did activate it but man i thought itd be more relaxed than a contest. anyone else have a rough first one

haha yeah my first activation i forgot my coax adapter and just sat there for like 20 minutes going through my bag convinced id packed it. i hadnt. drove home. it gets easier once you figure out your kit and stop second guessing yourself though. now i can be up and running in maybe 15 min tops. the rope thing is real tho, i carry a slingshot now and it changed everything

40m mid afternoon is rough depending on where you are, i always start on 20 now unless im doing an early morning activation. also have you tried just spotting yourself on the POTA app right when you get set up, the pile ups come pretty fast once youre spotted and it actually makes the 10 contacts go quick. took me a couple activations to figure that out