so i finally pulled the trigger and did my first ever parks on the air activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from my house, K-4566 if anyone knows it. i had been putting it off forever because i kept convincing myself i wasn't ready or my setup wasn't good enough or whatever excuse i could come up with.

ended up throwing my end-fed halfwave up between two trees, ran about 15 watts on 40m and a little on 20m, and honestly i got my 10 contacts in like 25 minutes. i was not expecting hunters to just be waiting like that. every time i put out a spot on the POTA app someone came back almost immediately. had a few guys who clearly do this all the time, very patient with me when i fumbled my callsign exchange a couple times.

the only thing that tripped me up was logging. i was using paper in the field which was fine but then uploading to the POTA website afterward was a little confusing at first, the adif format thing. figured it out eventually but maybe someone has tips on making that part smoother. anyway if you've been on the fence about doing one just go do it, the community is super welcoming

congrats on the first activation, that feeling when the pile starts coming in is pretty great isnt it. for the logging thing have you looked at HAMRS? its a free app, works on phone or tablet, built specifically for POTA and generates the adif automatically, i switched to it after fumbling with paper and spreadsheets for my first few and never looked back. you can also do it in the field and it handles the spot integration too if youre on a device with data. some people swear by paper still and thats totally fine but having the adif ready to just upload when you get home is nice.

also 15 watts and an endfed between trees is basically the ideal POTA setup honestly, dont let anyone tell you that you need a fancy rig to do this

oh man this is motivating me to finally try one. ive been hunting for a few months now and its so fun from the home station side but i keep telling myself my portable setup isnt ready. what radio were you running if you dont mind me asking? im trying to decide between a few options for a first field rig