[[oarc-sota-day|Back to the main page]]

====== What should I take? ======

If you’re a little nervous about how to do your first activation, or you’re looking for some refreshers after not doing it for a while, then this section should give you some ideas.

The most important advice to start with: don’t push yourself too hard and enjoy the scenery. Make sure someone knows where you’re going and your route and when to expect you back. Look after yourself: the basic stuff.

To-do: finish radio/antenna/power sections

  * [[sotapersonalequipment|Personal protective gear]] - a list of stuff for the you side of things, not the radio side of things.
  * [[oarc-sota-day-radios|Radio equipment]] - HF and VHF/UHF equipment ideas
  * [[oarc-sota-day-power|Power options]] - some ideas for powering your expeditions
  * [[oarc-sota-day-antennas|Antenna Ideas]] - lightweight antenna ideas for a variety of bands
===== YouTube resources =====

If you want some tips on how to make your activation a success there are lots of videos of people activating summits on YouTube, along with some tutorials and guides. You are encouraged to check some of these out!

  * https://youtu.be/PERTbLZ4EyU - M0JCQ managing a busy pile up with lots of summit-to-summits
  * https://youtu.be/nkiht95YCP4 - M0JCQ’s equipment list
  * https://youtu.be/MxfAGgABqHA - K6ARK - showing some examples of CW contacts. If you want to do some CW but are worried about how well it will go programmes like SOTA are useful because of the simple, known exchange used in a QSO.

===== Public engagement =====

https://wiki.oarc.uk/leaflet - If you're out and about you'll get asked questions by the public, that is pretty much a given. This can be annoying when you're operating and listening intently. Here's something you can hand out to the public that explains what amateur radio is and what you're actually doing at the time.