so ive been chasing parks for about 6 months now and finally decided to just go do an activation myself. heading out to K-4556 tomorrow morning, its a state forest about 40 minutes from my house. got my KX2 and a random wire antenna i've been using for portable stuff, plan to just throw it up in a tree or use my trekking pole if i cant find a good branch.

i logged my activation on the POTA website already and set a spot for around 10am local. my question is mostly about the log — do i really need 10 QSOs to count it or is that just the recommended minimum? i keep seeing different things. also should i be spotted before i go out or is it fine to self spot once im there on my phone? i dont have great cell service at this park so thats kinda worrying me a bit.

any other stuff i wish someone had told me before my first one would be great, im probably overthinking this whole thing

10 QSOs is the minimum to count as a valid activation, yeah. you'll get them faster than you think once you're spotted — hunters are always watching the clusters and theyll pile on pretty quick especially if conditions are decent. self spotting once youre set up is totally fine, most people do it that way. if cell service is sketchy just try to get a spot out before you lose signal, or ask someone on frequency to spot you. theres also the POTA app which sometimes works better than the website on slow data.

one thing i wish someone told me — bring more water than you think you need and dont underestimate how long the setup takes when youre doing it for the first time in an unfamiliar spot. i budgeted 20 minutes my first time and it took almost an hour messing with the antenna. once youve done it a few times youll get a system down. have fun with it, first activations are memorable

oh man i remember my first activation, i was so nervous i forgot to put my callsign in half the contacts lol. just double check your logging software or whatever youre using is set up right before you go. and honestly dont stress about the 10 QSOs, on a weekend morning on 20m you should have no problem getting way more than that once the hunters find you. good luck tomorrow