so i finally did my first solo activation at a local state park yesterday, K-2345 if anyone knows it, and it went... okay? i made 12 contacts which i know is enough to count but i kind of felt like i was fumbling around the whole time. my setup was a KX2 with a random wire thrown over a branch and i was running about 5 watts.

the thing that confused me most was the spotting stuff. i spotted myself on the POTA app before i started and got a few hunters calling in pretty quick which was great, but then after like 20 minutes the pile kind of dried up and i wasnt sure if i should respot myself or wait or what. ended up just respotting and that brought a few more people in. is that normal? like how often do people typically respot during an activation

also had one guy calling way off frequency which i couldnt figure out, kept hearing him underneath someone else and i think he might have been on the wrong vfo or something. didnt want to embarass him on air so i just let it go. anyway overall pretty happy with it but would love any tips from people who do these regularly

congrats on the first activation, 12 contacts is solid especially on 5w with a wire. the respotting thing is totally normal, a lot of activators will respot every 20-30 minutes or if the pile dies down, some people even change bands and spot again on 40 after working 20 for a while. there's no hard rule on it, just kind of feel it out. once you get the hang of it you'll also start noticing that mornings tend to be better for hunters on 40m and afternoons can open up nicely on 20 depending on the band.

the guy calling off frequency happens all the time, dont worry about it. sometimes its a split thing where they didnt realize, sometimes its just a radio setup issue on their end. you handled it fine by moving on.

i did my first activation a few months ago and had almost the exact same experience lol. the pile up dying was the most stressful part for me too, i just kept second guessing whether i should move bands or respot or just keep calling CQ into the void. ended up doing all three in a kind of panic honestly. it gets easier though, my last activation i had a much better sense of the rhythm of it. what park was it if you dont mind me asking