so ive been chasing summits for about 6 months now and finally decided to just do it and activate one myself. going up W4T/SU-017 tomorrow morning, its only a 2 pointer but its close to home and the trail isnt too brutal so figured it was a good one to start with.

got my KX2 packed, a 40/20m linked dipole im gonna string up between some trees if i can find a good spot, and a 4ah lipo that should be more than enough for a couple hours. spotted myself ahead of time on SOTAwatch already, set for 10am local which should give me time to get up there and get set up.

honestly the thing im most nervous about is the actual operating part — like what if i cant get 4 contacts and dont qualify the summit. i know 4 sounds easy but ive read posts where people said conditions were rough and they were up there for an hour calling CQ with nothing. also not totally sure on the proper way to do the summit-to-summit exchanges if another activator calls me, do i just do a normal QSO or is there specific info i need to log?

anyway just wanted to see if anyone had any been-there-done-that advice before i head out

you're gonna be fine, seriously. the first one always feels like a bigger deal than it is and once youre up there and the radio is working it just clicks. 4 contacts is almost never the problem — usually once you get spotted the pile kind of takes care of itself, especially on a weekend morning when the chasers are all watching SOTAwatch.

for S2S contacts just treat it like a normal QSO but make sure you log their summit reference — they'll usually give it to you if they know youre activating too, just say something like 'thanks for the S2S, your reference?' and they'll give it. then you log it and they log it and you both get the points. pretty straightforward once you do it once.

one thing i'd add — if 40m feels dead dont just sit there, try 20m or even 30 if you have it, conditions shift fast up on a summit. also self-spotting again if you QSY really helps the chasers find you. good luck tomorrow, report back

oh man W4T/SU-017, i've chased that one a few times. decent signal path from where i am. ill be listening around 10 so hopefully we make a contact, ill be one of your four haha.

my only tip and take it for what its worth since im still pretty new myself — bring more food than you think you need. i did my first activation a few months back and was so focused on the radio stuff i forgot to eat and by the time i was packing up i was completely wiped. small thing but made a big difference on the hike back down