so i finally did my first activation up on a local summit last weekend, been putting it off forever because i kept thinking i needed more gear or better antenna or whatever. anyway i just threw the KX2 in my pack with a 40m EFHW and hiked up. took me like 45 minutes to find a spot that wasnt completely surrounded by trees and even then i had to get creative with the wire.

made my 4 contacts but man it was rough. i was barely getting signal reports above 55 and one guy asked me three times for my callsign. wind was picking up and i had the mic too close to my face i think. still counts as an activation though right? 4 is 4. already planning the next one with a better antenna setup maybe a linked dipole or something

yeah 4 contacts is 4 contacts, activation counts. honestly my first one was worse, i forgot to log two of them properly and had to go back through my memory to submit. the wind thing is real, i use one of those cheap foam windscreens now and it helps a lot. linked dipole is worth it if you want to hit multiple bands without retuning, i bring mine on almost every trip now.

congrats on getting out there man. i keep saying im gonna do SOTA and never do lol. what summit was it if you dont mind me asking