so i finally stopped making excuses and just went out to the state park yesterday with my kx2 and a random wire thrown up in a tree. figured id probably struggle to get 10 contacts and call it a day but ended up with 43 in about 2 hours which blew my mind. mostly 40m with a few on 20 when the band opened up around noon. the hardest part was honestly just finding a good spot to set up where i wasnt in everyones way and had decent tree branches to throw the wire over. a family kept walking by looking at me like i was doing something illegal lol. anyway if anyones been on the fence about trying POTA just do it, the hunters are incredibly patient and a lot of them will slow down for you if your exchange is a little rough at first

43 on your first activation is really solid, nice work. i remember my first one i was so nervous i kept fumbling the callsigns and asking people to repeat. the hunters really are forgiving though youre right about that. i use a similar setup, kx3 with a linked dipole i made myself, and 40m is almost always the money band for me in the afternoon. what were you running for power?

the looks from people at parks never gets old haha. i had a ranger come over once and i thought i was gonna get kicked out but he just wanted to know what i was doing and ended up staying for like 20 minutes asking questions. 43 contacts is legit though especially with just a random wire