so ive been licensed for about 8 months now (general class) and everyone keeps telling me i need to try a contest to really get the hang of operating. my elmers been pushing me toward CQ WW this fall since apparently its one of the biggest ones out there and i might as well jump in the deep end. but honestly the whole thing feels overwhelming when i look at the exchange requirements and the logging software and figuring out what counts as a valid contact for multipliers and all that.

i did do field day this past june with my local club which was actually a blast even though i mostly just watched and made maybe 6 contacts on 40m SSB while someone more experienced sat next to me. that felt manageable because people were helping. doing something solo feels different.

i also heard about SOTA which isnt really a contest i guess but people keep mentioning it in the same breath. is that something i should be looking at separately or does it tie in somehow. and does anyone know if theres any decent sized contests coming up before CQ WW that might be a good warmup? i feel like i need a few reps before the big one

CQ WW is absolutely the deep end yeah, but honestly dont let that stop you from jumping in even if you just make a handful of contacts. nobody is judging your score, especially not a new general. the exchange for phone is literally just your signal report and your CQ zone so its not that complicated once you hear it a few times.

for warmup contests i'd look at the state QSO parties, theres usually a bunch of them in the sept/october timeframe before CQ WW phone rolls around. your own state probably has one and they tend to be lower pressure with simpler exchanges. also ARRL Sweepstakes is coming up in november which is a big domestic one — the exchange is more involved but its a really fun one to try.

SOTA is its own whole thing, separate from contesting really. its about activating summits and getting contacts from portable setups. some guys love it, some focus purely on contesting. i'd say try a contest first just to get your feet wet then see if the outdoor portable operating appeals to you later on.

field day was my gateway too, did it for two years with the club before i ever tried anything on my own. one thing that helped me a lot was just downloading N1MM logger and running through the tutorial before the actual contest weekend. like just having the software make sense ahead of time took a huge load off.

also if CQ WW feels like too much this year, theres nothing wrong with just doing a few hours of it and calling it a day. i think i made 23 contacts my first CQ WW and felt great about it lol. the guys on the other end are usually patient with newer ops, at least on phone.