so ive been licensed for about 8 months now (general) and kept hearing people talk about CQ WW and Field Day and SOTA and honestly had no idea what any of it meant for the first few months. finally sat down and did some reading and now im kind of excited but also totally overwhelmed. like i understand the basic idea of contesting but i dont really know how to actually prepare or what to expect when i tune around during CQ WW and suddenly the bands are just wall to wall signals.

my setup is pretty modest, ic-7300 into a G5RV up maybe 25 feet, so im not gonna be a superstation or anything. but i heard even low power stations can have fun and make a bunch of contacts. is that actually true or do you kind of just get buried? also whats the deal with SOTA, is that a contest or more of an operating activity because it seems different than the others. and Field Day — is that something i should try to join a club for or can i do it solo from home? any advice welcome, just trying to figure out what i should prioritize for the rest of this year

oh man you picked a great time to get into this. CQ WW is honestly one of the most fun weekends in ham radio even if youre running barefoot into a wire antenna. the bands during that contest are just incredible, especially if conditions cooperate. your ic-7300 and G5RV will absolutely let you work plenty of stations, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. i worked close to 400 contacts my first CQ WW with a similar setup and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

SOTA is a totally different animal — its not really a contest in the traditional sense, more of an awards program where activators hike up summits and make contacts, and chasers like us try to work them from home. its addictive though. i started just chasing from my shack and now i do both. the SOTA website has all the info and the reflector community is super welcoming to new people.

for Field Day i'd strongly suggest finding a local club if you can. doing it solo is totally allowed but going to a club site your first time is just more fun, you learn a ton watching how other people operate and set up antennas, and usually theres food involved which never hurts. check if your local ARRL affiliated club has a Field Day site, most of them do and theyre almost always happy to have new members come out and help.

yeah what he said about Field Day. i was nervous showing up to my club's site the first year but everyone was so cool about it. they handed me a mic within like 20 minutes and just said go for it. made my first ever CW contact that weekend because one of the elmers sat with me and walked me through it.

one thing i'd add — for CQ WW just spend the first hour or so listening before you jump in. tune around, hear how people are doing exchanges, figure out what the rhythm is. the exchange for CQ WW is signal report and your CQ zone which for most of us in the US is zone 3 or 4 or 5 depending on where you are. once you hear it a few times it clicks pretty fast. dont stress about rate or multipliers your first time, just have fun and work whoever you can.