so i finally did my first activation last weekend, W6/CT-240 which is a pretty easy one to start with since the hike isnt brutal. been chasing for about 8 months and always wanted to try the other side of it.

brought my KX2 with a random wire and just kind of set up near the summit cairn, nothing fancy. spotted myself on SOTAwatch and within maybe 3 minutes i had a pile of chasers calling in. honestly wasnt prepared for how fast that happened, i fumbled the first couple exchanges pretty bad but got into a rhythm after a few contacts.

the weird part was i had one guy call me like six times in a row on 20m even after i came back to him and gave him his report. not sure if he just couldnt hear me or what but that threw me off for a bit. also the wind was absolutely brutal up there and my wire kept wanting to go sideways.

ended up with 23 contacts over about 45 minutes, got the activation valid no problem. im hooked. already looking at some of the higher point summits in the area but a little nervous about the harder hikes and also not sure if my antenna situation is good enough for the 10 pointers where you really need to get contacts to make it worth it. anyone have thoughts on antenna setups for exposed windy summits

congrats on the first one, that feeling when the pile up starts is something else isnt it. the guy calling repeatedly was probably just not copying your callsign clearly, happens a lot especially if there's qsb or your audio was getting choppy in the wind. not much you can do except just move on after a couple tries and come back to them if they keep calling.

for windy summits honestly the thing that made the biggest difference for me was switching to a linked dipole instead of a random wire. you can tune it without an ATU flopping around in the wind and it sits lower which helps in exposed spots. some people swear by the end fed half wave with a tiny 49:1 unun, those pack down really small and work great if you can get even one support point. on the really gnarly 10 pointers ive actually just held one end of the wire by hand while operating which sounds ridiculous but it works. the KX2 is a great radio for this by the way, youll get those contacts no problem on higher summits as long as you get spotted.

W6/CT-240 was my second activation too, small world. yeah the wind on that ridge is no joke especially if you go in the afternoon. i use a 20m hamstick on a little tripod for really exposed stuff, not the most efficient antenna ever but it survives wind that would destroy a wire setup and you dont need trees or anything. might be worth having as a backup option when conditions are bad.