so i finally did my first activation last weekend at a state park about 45 minutes from my house. i had been putting it off for like three months because i kept convincing myself i wasnt ready or my setup wasnt good enough or whatever excuse i could come up with. anyway i finally just threw everything in the car and went.

i was running my FT-891 off a 20ah lifepo4 battery with a random wire antenna hung in a tree, honestly a bit of a mess to set up but it worked. started on 40m around 10am and the first contact came in maybe 2 minutes after i spotted myself on the POTA website. i had no idea how fast the hunters pile up once you get on the map. within an hour i had 43 contacts in the log including a few from out west which i did not expect on 40 at that time of day.

a couple things i wish someone had told me before i went - bring way more water than you think, the logging app (i used hamrs) sometimes lags when youre uploading spots so just be patient, and honestly dont overthink the antenna situation. a wire in a tree is completely fine for a basic activation. you only need 10 contacts to qualify the park so even a mediocre setup should get you there pretty easily.

already looking at the map for my next one. there are like 4 parks within an hour of me i had no idea were even eligible references. if youve been on the fence about trying this just go do it, its genuinely a lot of fun and the POTA community on the air is super welcoming.

congrats on the first activation, 43 contacts is a solid first outing honestly. i remember mine was way more stressful than it needed to be, i kept second guessing my signal and asking for repeats way too much. the hunters are patient though, most of them have been doing this long enough that they're used to activators who are still figuring it out.

one thing that helped me early on was calling a bit slower than i thought i needed to and giving my callsign more often than felt necessary. when you get a pile up going its easy to start rushing and then people start stepping on each other. also if you havent tried 20m for activations its worth experimenting depending on time of day, i sometimes get better results there than 40 especially later in the morning. anyway sounds like youre off to a good start, the addiction only gets worse from here haha

this is really encouraging to read, ive been thinking about doing an activation for a while and kept putting it off for basically the same reasons you described. can i ask what you used to spot yourself? i looked at the POTA app and it seemed a little confusing the first time i opened it. also does it matter what mode you activate on or is SSB fine for a general activation?