so im getting into contesting for the first time this fall and honestly i dont even know where to begin. ive been licensed about 8 months, general class, got a modest HF setup — kenwood ts-590sg into a dipole about 30 feet up in the backyard. nothing fancy but it works ok for casual operating.

ive been reading about CQ WW coming up in october and it sounds massive, like the whole world just lights up the bands for a weekend. i also saw ARRL Field Day was a thing but i think i missed that one, its in june right? anyway a buddy at the club mentioned SOTA but thats more of a portable activations thing i think, not sure if that counts as contesting or just a separate activity entirely.

my main question is — for someone totally new to contesting, is CQ WW too overwhelming to jump into first? should i just try to work as many stations as i can for fun or is there a better contest to start with that isnt quite so intense. also how do people keep track of everything in real time, do i need logging software right away or can i just do paper for a small effort

CQ WW is actually a great one to start with even as a newcomer, dont let the size of it scare you. the exchange is super simple — signal report and CQ zone, thats it. you dont have to worry about complicated multiplier categories or anything like that at first. just point your radio at a frequency, call CQ or answer someone, log the contact, move on. N1MM+ is what most people use for logging and it handles everything automatically once you set up your profile, but honestly for a casual first effort paper is totally fine, youre not trying to win anything youre just getting a feel for it.

SOTA is kind of its own world, great fun but yeah its not really a traditional contest, more like a program where you activate summits and get points. some people combine it with contests though, doing a portable activation during a contest weekend which is kind of a blast if you like that sort of thing.

Field Day next june — mark your calendar now. its the most beginner friendly operating event in ham radio i think, lots of clubs run group operations and you can just show up and sit down with an elmer and learn as you go. did my first one about twelve years ago and still do it every year with my club.

yeah jump in on CQ WW, worst case you make a few contacts and have fun. the bands are absolutely wall to wall with signals that weekend, 15 and 20 meters especially. with a dipole you'll still work a ton of DX, propagation tends to cooperate in late october.

one thing i'd say — download N1MM or Log4OM before the contest, not during. trying to figure out logging software in the middle of a pileup is not a great time. give yourself a few days to just poke around the interface and do a fake log entry or two.