so ive been licensed about 14 months now (general class) and i keep hearing people talk about CQ WW like its this huge deal and honestly after watching some of the scores people post it really does seem like a massive event. ive done a little bit of Field Day with my club the last two summers but that was more just showing up and logging for people rather than actually running a station myself.

im wondering if CQ WW SSB in october would be a good first real contest to try on my own or if its just going to be total chaos for someone who doesnt really know what theyre doing yet. i have a decent HF setup, ic-7300 into a resonant dipole for 40 and a fan dipole that kinda works on 20 and 15. live in a suburban lot so antennas arent great but its what i have.

also curious if anyone has thoughts on how SOTA activations count toward anything contest-wise or if thats totally separate. i know theres some crossover with certain award programs but im fuzzy on the details. anyway any thoughts appreciated, i dont want to jump in and embarrass myself too badly lol

CQ WW SSB is honestly a great one to jump into even as a newer op. yes it gets busy, like really busy on Saturday morning you'll wonder what hit you, but that chaos is kind of the fun part once you get used to it. with the ic-7300 you're in good shape, that rig has a solid built-in contest filter setup if you dig into the menus a bit.

my suggestion would be dont try to run your own frequency right away, just search and pounce for the first several hours until you get a feel for the exchange and the pace. the CQ WW exchange is pretty simple — 59 and your zone number — so that part wont trip you up. just get the zone map printed out or pulled up on a second screen because youll need to know the other stations zone and some people send it fast.

SOTA is completely separate from contest stuff, different program entirely. you can chase SOTA activations for points toward your own SOTA chaser total but it doesnt interact with CQ WW at all. some people do try to squeeze SOTA activations around contest weekends just for fun but theyre really different activities.

field day is honestly more chaotic than CQ WW in my experience just because of all the club politics and people tripping over cables lol. dont let that scare you off doing your own thing. i did my first solo contest attempt from my apartment with a magnetic loop and still made like 80 contacts, it was a blast even with the terrible antenna situation.

one thing i'd say is download N1MM+ before the contest if you havent already and spend a weekend just getting familiar with the interface. logging software makes a huge difference and you dont want to be figuring out the software at the same time as trying to actually operate. the learning curve isnt bad but its better to do it before not during.