so i finally did my first activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from home, been putting it off for months because i kept second guessing my setup and honestly just being a little nervous about the whole thing. took my ft-891 and a random wire antenna i threw up in a tree, got there around 9am figuring id have plenty of time before any crowds showed up.

well the first problem was the tree i picked was right next to a picnic shelter and people started showing up for some kind of birthday party situation around 10 and i felt super awkward just sitting there with all my gear. moved to another spot but lost like 40 minutes in the process and my antenna was not ideal at all, probably like 20 feet off the ground at best and running along the ground for part of it.

ended up making 14 contacts on 40m which i know is enough to count but i was hoping for more. one guy spotted me on pota.app which helped a lot, suddenly had a small pileup for maybe 10 minutes which was really fun actually. 20m was basically dead for me, dont know if that was conditions or my antenna situation.

anyway just wanted to share because ive been reading everyones activation posts and they always seem so smooth, mine was a chaotic mess but i still got the activation and already planning the next one. any tips on picking better spots in the park would be great

Ha that birthday party situation is something every POTA activator runs into eventually, you learn pretty quick to scope out the park beforehand on google maps or even drive through the day before if you can. Look for the less popular trailheads or day use areas that arent near the main shelters, usually way less foot traffic and people are less curious about what youre doing.

14 contacts is totally fine for your first time out, honestly the fact that you relocated and still finished it is a good sign. some people pack up and go home. as for 20m being dead, if you were running a wire that wasnt real efficient and the band wasnt cooperating anyway it just compounds. 40m is your friend for POTA most of the time, especially if youre not chasing DX. id say keep the antenna situation simple and just get more activations under your belt, youll figure out what works for your rig and style pretty fast

congrats on getting that first one done. i was super nervous my first activation too and honestly it went fine but i totally understand the feeling of everything going sideways. the spotting thing is huge, once someone spots you on the app the hunters find you real fast so thats good you had that happen. do you self spot or did someone else do it? i always forget to self spot when im actually operating lol