so i finally jumped into CQ WW this past october and honestly wasnt prepared for how intense it gets. i had a rough idea of what exchange contesting was from reading about it but actually sitting down at the radio for several hours and working stations back to back was something else entirely. my log ended up being pretty modest, maybe 200 QSOs on 20m and a little bit on 15, but for my first real contest effort i was happy with it.

one thing that threw me off was the zone numbering. i kept second guessing myself on which CQ zone im actually in and had to look it up twice which probably cost me a few contacts. anyway that aside it was a blast and now im kind of hooked and looking ahead at whats coming up.

ARRL Field Day is obviously the big one everyone talks about and ive been trying to get my local club to let me set up a separate station for digital modes since thats kind of my thing but we'll see. also been poking around SOTA a bit which isnt really contesting i know but there are some activator events that feel contest-adjacent, like the SOTA days where everyone tries to hit as many summits as possible.

is there a good calendar someone uses to track all the major contests and activiation events in one place? ive been bouncing between a few different websites and its kind of a mess. and also for those of you who do ARRL SS every year, is phone or CW more fun in your opinion? im leaning toward giving CW a shot this november even though my fist is still pretty rough.

200 QSOs on your first CQ WW is actually pretty solid depending on your setup, dont sell yourself short. the zone thing trips everyone up at first, just tape a zone map to the wall next to the radio and youre good. i still glance at mine occasionally when a station gives me a zone that doesnt match what i expect and i want to double check.

for a contest calendar the WA7BNM contest calendar is basically the gold standard, pretty much everyone i know uses it. you can filter by mode and band which is handy. as for ARRL Sweepstakes, i personally think CW SS is way more fun than phone but im biased because i find phone contesting kind of exhausting after a few hours. the exchange in SS is a lot to copy at speed though, section precedence call check number, it takes some practice so if your code isnt super solid yet maybe run a few practice sessions on RBN or just listen to the SS pileups beforehand to get the rhythm of it. either way just get on and operate, thats how you get better at all of it.

yeah SOTA isnt really contesting but i totally get why it feels that way sometimes especially during the big activation events. i do a lot of SOTA and the "on the air" weekends they do periodically are kind of chaotic in a fun way, you get spotted on the cluster and suddenly theres a pileup on a mountain top which is a weird and great feeling.

field day is worth doing with your club even if the digital station thing doesnt work out. honestly just being in that environment and seeing how an organized multi-op runs is worth it for the experience alone. my first field day i mostly just handed people coffee and logged for them and i still learned a ton just watching.