so ive been licensed for about 8 months now and my elmer keeps telling me i should jump into CQ WW this fall. i finally have a decent HF setup — nothing fancy, just a 100w rig and a wire dipole up about 30 feet — and i figured why not try it. but honestly i dont even know where to start. like do i just sit there calling CQ contest or do i search and pounce or what. also how does the exchange work exactly because ive seen people log zone numbers and i dont fully understand the zone thing yet.

i also want to try ARRL Field Day next summer since that seems more relaxed and social but CQ WW feels like the big leagues. anyone here done both and can tell me what to expect? im a little intimidated honestly. every time i tune across the bands during a big contest it sounds like absolute chaos and i have no idea how people are copying calls that fast.

also random side question — does anyone do SOTA activations around contest weekends or is that kind of a different world entirely

welcome to the rabbit hole haha. ok so for CQ WW the exchange is pretty simple once you get it — you send your signal report (everyone just sends 59 or 599, dont overthink it) and then your CQ zone. you can look up your zone on the CQ zone map, its based on your geographic location. for most of the US its zone 3, 4, or 5 depending where you are.

my advice for a first timer is honestly just do search and pounce to start. tune around, find someone calling CQ contest, wait for a gap, throw your call in. if they come back to you great, log it and move on. you'll start to get the rhythm pretty quick. the speed thing does feel overwhelming at first but you get used to picking out calls after a while, and most contest ops will QRS a bit if you ask.

Field Day is a completely different vibe, much more casual and a good time if you can find a local club doing it. CQ WW is more cutthroat but thats what makes it fun. just go in with zero pressure and see how many contacts you can make, dont worry about your score the first time.

SOTA and contest weekends are kinda separate worlds yeah, though ive seen some clever folks activate a summit during Field Day and count contacts both ways. its a bit of logistical juggling but people do it.

honestly for your first CQ WW just have fun with it. 100w and a dipole can work suprisingly well especially if conditions cooperate. i worked something like 40 countries my first CQ WW with a similar setup and i was shocked. low expectations and then pleasant surprises is the way to go i think