so i finally got off my butt and did my first SOTA activation last weekend, summit was only like a 2 mile hike so i figured no big deal. packed the KX2 and my end fed and a lightweight tripod thing for the mast. everything seemed fine until i got up there and realized i forgot the freaking counterpoise wire at home sitting on my workbench. spent like 20 minutes trying to figure out if i could use a tree branch or something before i just said forget it and tried without it. got a few contacts on 20m but the swr was all over the place and i think i was just lucky the radio didnt complain too much. made the 4 contacts to qualify which i was happy about but man it was stressful. also wind was insane up there, knocked my mast over twice. anyone else have a disaster first activation story because i cant be the only one

haha yeah my first one i hiked up with everything set up perfectly and then my battery was basically dead because i left it on in the car for like 3 hours while i drove to the trailhead. got maybe 6 contacts before it died and i was running like 2 watts at the end. now i always check voltage before i even start the hike. congrats on qualifying though, that first one always feels good even when it goes sideways

the wind thing is real, i use a painters pole now instead of a tripod and just guy it out with some paracord. way more stable and doesnt weigh much. also keep a spare piece of wire in the bag always, ive bailed myself out of the counterpoise situation before too so you're definatley not alone there