so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, summit was only a 2 point peak but figured id start easy. hiked up with my ft-818 and a linked dipole i built from some youtube tutorial and honestly the whole thing was kind of a mess. took me forever to get the antenna up in the trees, the feedline kept tangling and by the time i actually got on the air i maybe had 20 minutes before i needed to head back down before dark.

still made my 4 contacts which i guess counts but i was expecting it to be more relaxing than it was. also my phone battery was almost dead by the time i got up there so i couldnt even properly spot myself on sotawatch which didnt help. anyone else have a rough first activation and then get the hang of it later? feels like theres a lot to figure out all at once

yeah my first one was a disaster too, forgot my coax adapter and had to just use a random wire tossed over a branch with alligator clips. somehow still made contacts which was honestly kind of amazing. it gets way easier once you figure out your own little system for packing and setting up. i bring everything pre-rigged now, antenna rolled up a certain way, feedline coiled separately, that kind of thing. saves so much time on summit.

also get a battery pack for the phone situation, a small 10000mah one doesnt weigh much and its saved me a bunch of times for spotting and checking the cluster. the spotting really does make a huge difference for getting chasers.

4 contacts is all you need so you did it, thats a valid activation. dont stress the rest of it