so i finally did my first activation last weekend, W6/NC-437, not the most impressive summit in the world but its close to home and i figured it was a good starter. took about 45 min to hike up, not bad. brought my KX2 and a random wire up a tree and managed to get 12 contacts in maybe 30 minutes which i know is enough to qualify but i stayed for another hour just because it was so nice up there honestly.

couple things i wasnt sure about though. when i was logging i had a few chasers call me back after id already moved on to the next caller and i felt bad just not responding but i didnt know if i was supposed to go back to them or just keep moving. is there a standard way people handle that in a pileup situation on sota? also i posted my spots through the sotawatch app but i noticed some activators post like 15 minutes before they start, is there a reason for that or just personal preference?

also someone called in with a /QRP suffix and i couldnt quite copy their callsign, asked twice and still wasnt sure so i just moved on. felt wrong. anyway the whole thing was a blast and im already looking at W6/NC-442 for next month if the weather holds.

congrats on the first one, 12 contacts is solid especially if you were running QRP. on the pileup thing, yeah thats just part of it honestly, you dont need to go back and chase down callers you missed. if they really want the contact theyll call again. most chasers know the deal and wont take it personally, they do this every weekend.

the early spotting thing is pretty much just courtesy so chasers can plan ahead, especially the ones chasing from home who might need to swap antennas or whatever. i usually try to spot about 10 minutes before i expect to actually be on the air but honestly 5 minutes is fine. some guys spot way too early and then end up late and people are sitting there waiting on a dead frequency, thats more annoying than anything.

on the missed callsign situation, you did the right thing. if you cant copy after a couple tries just move on, the log integrity matters more than making everyone happy. the /QRP suffix doesnt mean anything for your log anyway, its just for their own S2S or activator bonus tracking on their end.

W6/NC-437 nice, ive been meaning to do that one. was the trail in decent shape? i heard there was some washout last spring but wasnt sure if that got fixed.

oh and yeah what the previous guy said about spotting is right. i usually set an alert the night before on sotawatch too so chasers who have alerts set up get a heads up. makes a big difference in how many people show up on frequency when you get there, especially if youre doing CW and want to actually work a decent pileup