so i finally did my first SOTA attempt last weekend, summit was only like a 2 mile hike which i figured would be easy but man i underestimated how much the radio gear adds. had my kx2 and a roll of wire for an endfed and a little 4ah lifepo4 and by the time i got to the top my shoulders were done. anyway got set up and realized i forgot the freaking counterpoise wire at home so i was trying to work with just the endfed thrown over a branch and it was rough. managed 4 contacts before a storm rolled in and i had to pack up fast. still counts as an activation? i think you need 4 for it to count which i barely scraped. felt like a victory honestly even though it was kind of a mess

yeah 4 contacts is exactly the minimum so you're good, activation counts. honestly your first one being a partial disaster is basically a rite of passage lol. i forgot my antenna wire completely on my second activation and had to borrow a random wire from my pack to make something work. the kx2 is a great rig for this by the way, ive been running one for about two years now for both SOTA and POTA and it just works. next time maybe tape the counterpoise to the feedpoint so its always there, thats what i do now after forgetting mine twice

storms rolling in while your on a summit is no joke, good call packing up when you did. ive seen people push it and it gets sketchy fast. congrats on the activation though