All the posts are in reverse chronological order:
►SP/WS-002, Góra Świętej Anny, 400m
July 4, 2026: Together with my Ukrainian friend Vlad Polozhay (3Z3GF/UT3GF), I went to a little town called Góra Świętej Anny (Sankt Annaberg, in German). In the very center there is a hill with the same name, at an altitude of 400m.
After the First World War and the re-emergence of sovereign Poland, while it was still part of the Weimar Republic, this was the site of the Battle of Annaberg in 1921. We visited the impressive amphitheater (Thingspiele) built in the abandoned limestone quarry between 1934-1938. In the center of the town is the monument to John Paul II, who was here on June 21, 1983 in front of about 1 million people! In one of the photos you can see the flag of the Opole Voivodeship, which has the same colors as the Ukrainian one.
I installed the antenna right there in the central park and we did a SOTA activation of the Góra Świętej Anny (SP/WS-002), coupled with a 2-fer POTA: Góra Świętej Anny Landscape Park (PL-1474) and Góra Świętej Anny Natura 2000 (PL-1462). We worked QRP. Equipment: vertical antenna, resonant at 20m, with 10 radials. Vlad activated in CW with his FX-4CR transceiver (20W) and in FM on VHF, and I did it with my Yaesu FT-818nd and a small amplifier (16W), plus a couple of FM QSOs on VHF as well.
QSO list:
Many thanks to all hams who responded to my calls!
73! de SP/ER1SKI
►SP/BZ-035, Czantoria Wielka, 995m
July 4, 2026: Together with my Ukrainian friend Vlad Polozhay (3Z3GF/UT3GF), I went to the Czantoria mountain resort. We went up nicely with the chairlift, then we walked 1km up, to the summit. And there along the entire trail on the right side there was Poland, and on the left side (so effectively a few meters away) - was the Czech Republic. Very nice! You can see the Polish coat of arms and the Czech flag in the photos attached - both pictures were taken from the same place.
Vlad remained on the Polish territory and installed his end-fed antenna there, and I went to the Czech Republic. I walked about 600m farther and arrived at the Čantoryje nature park, where I installed my vertical antenna and did a POTA activation (CZ-0166). There I met Marcin (SP5FXJ) and I made a QSO with him on VHF. Then I returned to Poland, to Vlad's location and connected his antenna to activate the Czantoria Wielka mountain (SP/BZ-035), plus a 2-fer POTA - Czantoria Nature Reserve (PL-1976) and the Beskid Śląski park (PL-1320). I even had 7 QSOs on VHF (including 5 summit-to-summit contacts), meaning that I actually managed to activate this summit just on VHF!
VIDEO: here
QSO list:
Many thanks to all hams who responded to my calls!
73! de SP/ER1SKI
►SP/BZ-060, Kiczorki (Trojaki), 850m
July 3, 2026: I stayed in Wisła for a couple of days with my Ukrainian friend Vlad Polozhay (3Z3GF/UT3GF) to go a series of activations in the region. The plan for this day was to activate 3 SOTAs in 3 different countries (SP/OM/OK) and we made it!!
On July 3 we started early morning at SP/BZ-060, Kiczorki (Trojaki), then went to OM/ZA-107, Javorské, and finished at OK/MO-024, Girová. All three summits were successfully activated by both of us. The weather in the morning was not so good. We had to park the car here (at 49.535252, 18.953199), because it was not possible to come closer to the summit (they put a sign there banning farther access). So, it was a 2.3 km hike to the summit, of which less than half was a very easy paved path and the other part was through the forest, as the summit is located deep in the forest, and it was slippery, because of the past rain. Right after we activated Kiczorki (on HF only, because VHF conditions are pretty bad because of the dense forest) the rain started again, so the trail back to the car was not fun at all. The reports for the other 2 summits - in Slovakia and in Czechia are here and here.
We worked QRP. Equipment used: coil shortened end-fed antenna (for 10m-40m), transceivers - Vlad used a FX-4CR (20W) and mine was a Yaesu FT-818nd with a small amp (18W).
QSO list:
Many thanks to all hams who responded to my calls!
73! de SP/ER1SKI
►SP/BZ-008, Skrzyczne, 1257m
January 2026: I came to Szczyrk to ski for a couple of days. Stayed at a hotel in Bielsko-Biała.
On January 10 at Skrzyczne mountain I left my skis aside and climbed to a suitable place to do a SOTA activation of this mountain, at about 1250m altitude. A day before I already tried to activate it, but failed to. I did it from the viewing point called Taras widokowy Skrzyczne (150m from the mountain's peak on Google Maps), near the 2 chairlifts, but I did not hear anyone, most likely because of the high noise level coming from various equipment around. So, this time I went 300m south from that viewing point (or 230m from the mountain's peak) and got a clear view towards Krakow. My hands were actually freezing from the cold, because I had to take the gloves off, and I was lucky to do 17 QSOs! I enjoyed it a lot and I am very grateful to the hams from Krakow to made this activation possible!
VIDEO: here
Full QSO list:
Many thanks to all hams who responded to my calls!
73! de SP/ER1SKI
►SP/BZ-008, Skrzyczne, 1257m
August 2025: I came to Szczyrk for a 4-day adventure in the Beskid mountains. Used a QDX transceiver (QRP, 4W). Portable antenna: a vertical with variable coil and a 5.6m whip, installed on a tripod with 2 sets of guy ropes, plus 10 radials (each 5m long), laying on the grass (all components from Aliexpress).
On August 10 I took the lift to the top of Skrzyczne, the highest peak of the Silesian Beskids, at 1255m altitude and did my first ever SOTA activation! In 5 hours I managed to do 55 QSOs in 7 different bands with just 4W power.
VIDEO: here
Full QSO list:
Many thanks to all hams who responded to my calls!
73! de SP/ER1SKI