so ive been licensed about 8 months now (general class) and everyone keeps telling me i should try a contest but honestly the whole thing is kind of overwhelming when i look into it. like theres CQ WW, ARRL Field Day, all the state QSO parties, SOTA activations... i dont even know which one is beginner friendly or how the exchange works or any of that.

i have a decent HF setup, running a Yaesu FT-891 into a G5RV up about 30 feet, so im not totally helpless there. i just feel like i show up to one of these things and everyones going a mile a minute and im gonna sit there with no idea whats happening. is Field Day actually a good place to start or is that too chaotic for a newcomer? and whats the deal with SOTA, thats a completely different thing right, more of an operating award program than a contest exactly?

anyway any advice appreciated, just trying to figure out where to dip my toes in without embarrassing myself too badly lol

Field Day is honestly probably the best starting point for most people, specifically because you can just show up to a local club's operation and kind of absorb it before ever touching a mic yourself. You watch a few exchanges happen, get a feel for the rhythm, and then when you're ready someone hands you the headphones. Nobody's going to judge you at a club Field Day, that's like the whole point of the event. The exchange is also super simple - you give your class and ARRL section, that's it, so you're not memorizing a bunch of stuff.

CQ WW is a different beast entirely. October for SSB, November for CW, and the pace is absolutely relentless if you're anywhere near a decent antenna. I wouldn't start there solo. But if you can find a multi-op station running it, same deal as Field Day - go hang out and watch before you jump in.

And yeah SOTA is its own thing, not really a contest, more like a portable operating program where people hike up summits and activate them. You can chase SOTA from home or activate a summit yourself, and people who chase you actually want contacts from you, so the pressure dynamic is kind of reversed from normal contesting. Might actually be a great low-stress way to get comfortable making quick exchanges.

dont stress too much about the exchange stuff, it clicks really fast once you actually do a few contacts. i was terrified my first state QSO party and after like 3 or 4 contacts it just became automatic. your setup sounds totally fine for this kind of thing by the way, G5RV at 30 feet is gonna work.

one thing i'd say is look up the specific contest rules beforehand on the sponsoring org's website cause they vary a lot and it saves confusion. also N1MM Logger is free and most contesters use it, worth downloading and poking around before the event so you're not fumbling with software while also fumbling with the radio.