so i finally got off my butt and did a proper WWFF activation at a state wildlife management area about 45 minutes from my house. ive been reading about it for months and just kept putting it off, but last saturday the weather was perfect and i threw my ft-891 in the car with my buddipole and just went for it.

got there, found a decent spot away from the parking lot, set up in maybe 20 minutes and started calling on 40m. honestly it went better than i expected, made about 34 QSOs over a couple hours before the bugs got ridiculous and i had to pack up. logged it as KFF-something, the reference number i found on the WWFF database for that area.

my questions are mostly around the logging side of things. do i need to upload to both WWFF and POTA separately or does one feed the other? i know some areas are in both programs. also does the 44 QSO minimum actually matter for WWFF or is that just for getting the full "activated" credit? i was 10 short and feeling a little bummed about it. and one more thing - does anybody bother with SSB only or do you mix in digital too, i was tempted to fire up ft8 but wasnt sure if that was kind of frowned upon or anything

congrats on getting out there, that first one is always the one that takes forever to actually happen lol. so for your logging question - WWFF and POTA are separate programs with separate databases, you upload to each one individually. some references overlap (like if the area is both a KFF and a K- POTA reference) but you have to submit the logs to each program yourself, they dont share data automatically.

on the 44 QSO thing - yeah that does matter for WWFF specifically, you need 44 to get the activation counted as a full activation in their system. under 44 and it still goes in the log and hunters get credit for the contact, but it wont show as an activation on your record. not the end of the world at all, just means that one wont count toward your activator awards. totally worth going back and finishing the job sometime, 44 really isnt that hard once you get a decent pileup going. try spotting yourself on the WWFF spotter or POTA app next time and you'll probably hit it in the first hour.

and ft8 is absolutely fine, nobody frowns on it, plenty of activators run digital. some purists prefer voice but the program doesnt care how you make the contacts as long as theyre in the log.

oh man i was just looking into WWFF last week so this is timely. i didnt realize the 44 QSO thing was specific to WWFF, i thought POTA was 10 and assumed WWFF was similar. good to know before i go out and have the same problem. what antenna setup were you using with the buddipole on 40m, did you do the longer element config? i always struggle to get a decent match on 40 with mine below like 25 feet