so i finally did my first WWFF activation last weekend, been meaning to try it for months after reading about it here and on the POTA forums. picked a local nature reserve that had a WWFF reference — KFF-something, i wrote it down somewhere — and headed out saturday morning with my KX2 and a linked dipole.

the operating part went fine honestly, got my 44 contacts in a couple hours which i guess is the minimum for a valid activation, mostly 40m with a bit of 20m toward the end. but man the logistics were a pain. i had no idea the parking situation would be so bad, had to carry everything about half a mile from the car which with the tripod and battery and everything was just... a lot. and then of course it started drizzling around noon.

also not totally sure i logged the reference correctly in my software. i was using HAMRS and just typed it in the notes field but im reading now that it needs to be in a specific spot for the WWFF upload? anyone done this before and know if i messed up the log or if theres a way to fix it after the fact

congrats on the first one, the 44 QSO thing trips up a lot of people starting out — some folks dont realize WWFF has a higher minimum than POTA (which is just 10) so you actually did the right thing without necessarily knowing why which is funny.

on the logging question, HAMRS should have a field specifically for the WWFF reference if you're in the right program mode, but if you just threw it in notes it might not export properly to the ADIF. what i usually do is open the ADIF file after in a text editor and just check that the SIG and SIG_INFO fields are in there — SIG should say WWFF and SIG_INFO should have your reference number like KFF-1234 or whatever it is. if they're missing you can add them manually before uploading to the WWFF database, its not that hard once you see the format. the wwff.net upload tool is pretty forgiving about some stuff but it does need those fields.

and yeah, carrying gear half a mile in light rain is just part of the hobby at this point, i think of it as the price of admission. wait till you try one in actual mud season.

which nature reserve was it? im in the same general area i think and ive been looking at a few references nearby that dont seem to have many activations on the map yet. always good to know about parking situations before you go lol