so i finally did my first SOTA activation last weekend, W4T/SU-001, been wanting to do this one for a while since its only like a 2 mile hike and nothing crazy elevation wise. packed the KX2 and a linked dipole i made from some instructions i found, took forever to tune but eventually got it sorted on 40m.

anyway the wind up top was insane, like i couldnt keep my antenna up for more than a few minutes without it blowing down. ended up just holding the feedpoint with one hand and keying with the other which was... not ideal. managed to get 4 contacts before my fingers went numb and i packed it in. does that count as a valid activation or do i need more than 4? i thought it was 4 minimum but now im second guessing myself

yeah 4 QSOs is exactly the minimum so you're good, activation counts. congrats on the first one. the wind thing is brutal, i had the same issue on a ridge activation and ended up just running a sloper straight off the pack because i couldnt deal with the mast anymore. honestly sometimes simpler is better up there

nice, i remember my first one i was so stressed about the contacts i forgot to spot myself on SOTAwatch until i already had 3 in the log lol. holding the feedpoint manually is very on-brand for SOTA honestly, we've all been there in some form