so i finally did my first WWFF activation last weekend at a state forest near me, KFF reference, and honestly it was a lot of fun even though i was pretty nervous going in. set up my kx2 with a random wire thrown up in a tree and just started calling on 40m. took maybe 10 minutes before i got my first response and then things picked up from there. ended up with 44 contacts over about 2.5 hours which i think qualifies the reference? i had read you need 44 minimum but im not 100% sure if that applies to all WWFF references or just some of them.

anyway my question is about logging, i was using paper in the field and then entered everything into HAMRS when i got home but im not sure exactly how to submit to the WWFF database. the website is a little confusing to navigate, at least for me. do i just upload an ADIF or is there more to it than that. also someone on the frequency mentioned i should have been spotted on the WWFF spotter which i didnt know was a thing until after i was already done. would have probably helped get more contacts i guess.

overall really enjoyed it though. way more relaxed than POTA in some ways, the contacts were super friendly and several people said they needed that reference which was cool to hear.

congrats on the first one, 44 is exactly right for a valid activation so you're good there. for the submission yeah it's just an ADIF upload through the WWFF logbook portal, you'll need to create an account if you haven't already and then there's a submit log option. it usually takes a few days to show up confirmed. the spotting thing -- yeah the WWFF spotting network or even just posting to pota.app if its a KFF reference works fine, a lot of hunters monitor both. next time try to self spot before you even start calling, makes a huge difference in how fast the pile starts.

40m was a good call for daytime if you were doing shorter skip, some folks swear by 20m for WWFF because you can get the European hunters logging you from over there and that counts toward their award totals too. might be worth trying next time if conditions cooperate.

oh man i did my first one a few months ago and had the exact same confusion about the log submission lol. took me like 3 tries to get the ADIF formatted right because i had some fields wrong from HAMRS. just double check that your ADIF has the WWFF reference in the right field before you upload, think its SIG and SIG_INFO or something like that, i had to edit mine manually in a text editor which was kind of a pain but not too bad once you see the structure. there are some example logs on the WWFF website that helped me figure it out.