so i got my general ticket back in the spring and ive been mostly just doing casual ragchews and a little bit of digital but everyone keeps telling me i need to try a contest and honestly i want to but im kind of overwhelmed by all the options. like theres CQ WW coming up and ARRL Sweepstakes and i dont even really know what the difference is or which one would be better to just dip my toes in with.

my setup is pretty modest, ic-7300 into a G5RV up about 30 feet. works ok for me but im not sure if thats even competitive at all. i guess im not trying to win anything just want to see what its like. also someone at the club mentioned SOTA which i know isnt really a contest but kind of scratches a similar itch? anyway if anyone has opinions on which event is a good starting point id appreciate it. feels like field day was the obvious answer but i missed it this year which is annoying.

honestly just jump into CQ WW SSB if youre on phone, its huge so youre gonna hear tons of stations even with a modest antenna and the exchange is super simple - just your call sign and your zone number. you dont need to win or even submit a log your first time, just get on and work as many as you can for a few hours and youll get the feel for it fast. your 7300 and G5RV will do fine, ive worked plenty of DX with worse. the hardest part is just figuring out the flow of how pileups work but that comes pretty quick.

SOTA is a whole different thing, its more like an operating adventure than a contest, you hike to a summit and activate it. really fun but a different vibe entirely. id say do CQ WW first, then maybe plan a SOTA activation for whenever the weather is decent where you are.

yeah field day is really the friendliest entry point for new folks but since you missed it this year the next best thing is probably just finding a local club that does a contest effort together. some clubs set up for sweepstakes or CQ WW and having people around who can explain whats happening in real time is way more useful than trying to figure it all out solo. i did my first contest that way and it made a huge difference. also N1MM logger is free and worth learning before the contest even if it feels like a lot at first, log checking is way less stressful when you arent handwriting everything