So i finally did my first activation last weekend, been chasing for about 6 months and kept telling myself id get out and do one. Picked a relatively easy summit near me, W7W/LC-123 or something like that, only like 800 points prominence but figured start small you know.

Got up there no problem, weather was decent although it clouded over faster than i expected. Had my FT-818 and a homebrew EFHW that i just kinda tossed into a tree at the top. Got the four contacts i needed but it was sketchy for a while, only had two chasers respond at first and i was there for almost 40 minutes on 20m calling CQ SOTA before i got lucky with a couple more. Should have probably spotted myself sooner honestly, i kept thinking i could just work someone off a cold call and that... doesnt really work apparently.

Anyway logged it, submitted the points, and now im totally hooked. Already looking at a harder summit nearby. Does anyone have tips for working more contacts per activation, like is there a trick to getting a good pileup going or do you just need to be on the right band at the right time?

Congrats on the first one, those four contacts feel like a huge deal when youre sitting there on a cold windy summit wondering if anyones gonna hear you haha. Spotting is honestly the biggest thing, dont wait on it. The moment you set up throw yourself on SOTAwatch or use the SOTA Spotter app if you have signal. Chasers are literally sitting there watching the spots page waiting to pounce, they want to work you. A cold call on 20m with no spot is rough especially if youre not running much power.

Also worth trying 40m in the morning or late afternoon depending on your region, 20m can be hit or miss for close-in stuff. And if you have a way to do 2m FM even just locally, even a handheld into a j-pole or something, thats a great way to pad your contact count fast especially if theres an active local club in the area.

yeah spotting makes a massive difference, also dont underestimate putting your activation on the SOTA reflector or even the subreddit a day or two ahead of time. some of the dedicated chasers actually schedule around planned activations. i usually get 20-30 contacts now compared to like 8 when i first started mostly because i started alerting in advance and spotting immediately when i hit the summit. good job getting it done though, its a great feeling submitting those logs