so i finally did my first activation last weekend, went up to a local summit that only had a handful of previous activations on sotadata and managed to get 6 contacts in about 45 minutes before the weather started looking sketchy. qualified it no problem but i have some questions about stuff i wasnt sure on.

first thing — i was running my KX2 with a random wire antenna i just tossed up in a tree, worked fine on 40m but i couldnt seem to get much going on 20m even though conditions looked decent from the spots i saw beforehand. not sure if it was the antenna or just bad luck timing or what. second thing is about the summit reference itself, the one i did was listed as W6/something and i want to make sure the chasers got credit — do they have to log it on their end on sotawatch or does it happen automatically when i submit my log?

also is there a good way to self-spot when youre solo? i had my phone with me but signal was garbage up there, ended up just calling blind on 7.033 which obviously worked out but felt like i was just hoping for the best the whole time.

congrats on the first activation, always a good feeling when you qualify especially with weather breathing down your neck. on the antenna thing — 40m is usually more forgiving with a random wire but 20m can be picky about the length and what its tuning against. if youre not cut for anything in particular and the tuner is doing a lot of work, sometimes 20m just kinda suffers. worth experimenting with the length or maybe trying an EFHW cut for 20/40 if you want dual band coverage without fighting the tuner.

for the chasers — they log their own contacts on sotadata separately, your submission doesnt automatically credit them. most active chasers know this and log as they go but some newer ones miss it so if someone thanks you and asks about it just point them to the logging page. and for self-spotting when youre solo with bad cell signal, a lot of people use APRS to push a spot, or some guys carry a Garmin inReach and use that. there are also some simplex frequencies people use to get a buddy on the ground to spot for you but that requires some coordination beforehand obviously.

yeah the self spotting thing tripped me up on my first couple activations too. i downloaded the SOTA Goat app and it works great when i have signal but half the summits i do the cell coverage is basically nonexistent. i ended up just texting my wife before i left the car and she spots me from home using the app, works really well as long as im roughly on schedule which... doesnt always happen when im scrambling up a hillside with a pack on haha. anyway nice work getting it done, 6 contacts is plenty to qualify and the first one is always the most stressful one.