so i finally got off my butt and did my first activation last weekend, W4V/SH-001 if anyone knows the area, and wow i really underestimated how different it is from sitting at the home station. i've been licensed about 3 years but mostly just ragchewed on the local repeater and did some HF from the shack, never really did anything portable before.

brought my FT-818 and a linked dipole i built from a kit, threw it up between two trees maybe 20 feet high and just started calling on 40m. honestly expected to maybe squeak out 4 contacts to qualify and call it a day but ended up with like 23 in about 45 minutes, bunch of those were S2S which i didnt even realize was a thing until someone called me and said summit to summit. the chasers were amazing, super patient with my fumbling around.

only hiccup was i forgot to self-spot because i was too excited and just started calling CQ, apparently someone else spotted me from the RBN which saved me because i had no cell service up there anyway. going to figure out the APRS spotting thing before my next one. anyone have tips for the Sotawatch alerts the night before? like how detailed do you make them, do people actually use those to plan their chasing sessions?

congrats on the first one, they're addictive right? yeah the pre-activation alerts on SOTAwatch are definitely worth doing, i usually put mine up the evening before and include the bands and modes i'm planning to operate plus an approximate start time. chasers absolutely use them, especially the dedicated ones who have a whole morning routine of checking whats coming up. some of the regulars on 40 will literally be sitting there waiting for you if you post a good alert.

the S2S contacts are the best part honestly, theres a whole separate log for those and the points are worth more. once you start recognizing the callsigns of other activators you kind of develop this little community. also get the SOTA Goat app or just the regular SOTAwatch app on your phone for self-spotting, even with marginal cell service it usually gets through if you step around and find one bar. some guys use APRS to spot via radio which is slick if you're in an area with no cell at all.

the RBN saving you is so funny, that happened to me on my second activation, i was so nervous i completely forgot everything i planned. 23 contacts on your first time out is really solid too im jealous, i barely got 5 on mine because i picked a summit with terrible takeoff to the east and most of the chasers were that direction. lesson learned about looking at the terrain before you go up lol. what state are you in, maybe i can chase you on the next one