so i finally got off my butt and did my first summit activation last weekend, W4T/SU-something, i'd have to look up the exact reference. been chasing SOTA for about a year and figured it was time to actually climb one of these things instead of just sitting in the shack waiting for alerts.

brought my KX2 and a 40m linked dipole i threw together from some stuff i had laying around, figured that would be enough. the hike itself wasnt bad, maybe 2.5 miles, but by the time i got to the summit i realized i forgot to charge the battery pack. had maybe 20 minutes of operating time if i was lucky so i jumped straight onto 40m and posted a spot from my phone.

ended up with 4 QSOs which i know is the minimum to qualify but honestly i was just happy to make any contacts at all. the signal reports were all over the place, one guy gave me a 59 and the next gave me a 57 which fine whatever. my biggest mistake was not alerting ahead of time on SOTAwatch so there wasnt really a pile waiting for me. lesson learned i guess.

anyone else have a rough first activation? also wondering if 20m would have been better for the time of day, it was around 2pm local

congrats on getting the 4 contacts and qualifying, that's what matters for the first one. i remember my first activation i was so nervous i forgot to write down two of my callsigns properly and had to submit the log with gaps which was embarassing.

on the 20m question -- yeah at 2pm local that probably would have been worth trying, especially if you're in the southeast. 40m can be kind of dead in the afternoon on shorter paths, it really depends on where your chasers are. if you're trying to work the regular SOTA chasers most of them are on 14.285 or near there hunting around. that said 40m late afternoon into evening is fantastic for regional contacts so timing matters a lot.

alerting on SOTAwatch the night before makes such a huge difference, you'll have people literally waiting for you when you hit the summit. i usually try to post an alert with a realistic activation time and then if im early or late i update it from the trail. the app works pretty well for that. once you get a few under your belt and the regulars start recognizing your callsign you'll be surprised how fast the pileup builds.

4 QSOs still counts, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. i chased a guy last spring who literally had a dying radio and terrible audio and we still made it work because we both wanted the contact. thats kind of the spirit of it tbh.

also the linked dipole is solid choice, ive been using one for two seasons and its served me well. some guys swear by the end fed halfwave setups for SOTA because theres less to fiddle with but honestly whatever gets you on the air fast is the right answer when your battery is dying lol