so i finally did my first real POTA activation yesterday at a state park about 45 mins from me, been putting it off for months and just said screw it lets go. brought my KX2 and a end fed halfwave up in a tree and figured id have no problem getting my 10 contacts. well the tree situation was not great, kept snagging the wire and i ended up with the antenna like way lower than i wanted, maybe 15 feet at the apex? also forgot my camp chair so i was basically sitting on a cooler the whole time which was not comfortable at all.

ended up making it work on 40m, signals were decent and i got my 10 in about 25 mins once i actually got spotted on the app. 20m was pretty dead for me or maybe it was the low antenna i dunno. but yeah it counted and ill take it. already thinking about what i need to fix for next time, mostly the antenna situation and maybe a better kit overall.

yeah the antenna thing gets easier once you figure out a good throw line setup. i use a small arborist throw bag with some paracord and it makes getting wire up into trees way faster, like under 5 mins usually. 15 feet is rough but hey you still made the contacts so win. 40m is honestly my go-to for POTA anyway, almost always get quick pile ups there in the afternoon.

congrats on first activation man. i remember mine was kind of a mess too, forgot my log sheet and had to use the back of a receipt lol. it gets better once you do a few and know what to expect. the spotting network is kind of magic once it kicks in right