so i finally did my first real activation last weekend at a state forest about 45 minutes from my house, K-4829 if anyone knows it, and i had this whole plan worked out. antenna up, radio ready, log sheet printed, the works. except i completely forgot that the park closes the main gate at 5pm and i was so busy chasing contacts i didnt notice until i heard someone dragging the chain across the entrance. had to sweet talk the ranger into letting me out which was actually fine he was super nice and curious about what i was doing.

anyway before all that i managed 12 contacts on 40m SSB and 4 on 20m which i know isnt a ton but its enough to count as a valid activation right? i was running my IC-705 into a EFHW that i threw over a tree branch and it held up pretty well. signal reports were decent, a couple guys gave me 57-59 which surprised me given the band conditions that day.

biggest lesson honestly was just that i need to self-spot earlier. i waited too long and spent like 20 minutes calling CQ with nothing before i finally put myself on POTA.app and then the pileup hit almost immediately. felt dumb but also now i know. anyone else have a memorable first activation story?

haha the gate thing is a real hazard, ive heard that story more than once. some parks are pretty strict about it too so worth checking hours before you set up, especially in winter when they close early.

but yeah 16 contacts is totally solid for a first activation, you only need 10 to validate so youre good. and youre right about spotting early, that was the thing that made the biggest difference for me when i was starting out. i usually spot myself before i even finish setting up the antenna now, then by the time im on the air theres already a few hunters listening for me. the POTA.app hunters are pretty quick to respond once you show up on the map.

the 705 and an EFHW is honestly a great combo for portable work. i run something similar. what length wire are you using?

omg the gate story is sending me, im glad the ranger was cool about it. i did my first activation a few months ago and was so nervous i forgot to write down half my contacts properly and had to reconstruct them from memory later. ADIF logging apps are a lifesaver, i use hamrs now and it makes the upload way easier than my paper log disaster was.