Digital Małopolska
and the 23 cm band

Two matters in one message

The first is history. The digital repeater network for Kraków and Podhale didn’t build itself. It was built by people from the Kraków–Podhale Amateur Radio Group (KPGK): they bought equipment, installed it on masts, replaced antennas and duplexers, and negotiated with site owners. We tried to reconstruct this from the kpgk.pl website, its archived copies, the UKE (the Polish Office of Electronic Communications) register and BrandMeister network data.

The second is the 23 cm band. We took the advice: from today the repeater map also shows repeaters on 1.2 GHz, and below we describe all twenty licences for FM and digital repeaters in this band. We also outline what it’s worth knowing about this band before you buy an antenna.

Krzysztof is in very good contact with the repeater operators in Kraków, Podhale, Tarnów and the Sącz region. If you’d like to get involved, write via the contact form on sq5cba.pl and we’ll pass the message on.

1. 15.10.2011A visit to Łódź.

   Friends from the Łódź DIGITAL group help obtain a server and an Icom ID‑RP2C controller. The repeater is built at the SP7PHP club from four Motorola GM340 mobiles and two duplexers.

2. 12.04.2012, 16:30SR9UVM goes on air at Chorągwica.

   After months of battling with the power supply, freezes and interference comes a trial start‑up. On the KPGK site it was written in one word: “Success!!!!”. Emitel makes its sites at Chorągwica and Gubałówka available for the repeaters.

3. June 2012SR9UVZ in Podhale.

   The second D‑STAR repeater, on 439.200 MHz, starts up temporarily in Gliczarów Górny, because the Emitel building on Gubałówka is under renovation. It moves to its target location, i.e. Gubałówka, in 2014.

4. 2015Club SP9KPK and new hardware.

   SQ9MUR and SQ9PCH from Tarnów build new SR9UVM and SR9UVT using Motorola MTR2000s. On 10 October SR9UVR (D‑STAR) goes live at Kudłacze, and by early 2016 SR9UVP on Koskowa Góra goes on air.

5. 2016–2017The arrival of DMR.

   22.10.2016 SR9UVR at Kudłacze starts working on DMR, on 26.10 SR9UVT joins, and by spring 2017 SR9UVM also moves to DMR (439.400 MHz). From 16.11 the Kraków D‑STAR is handled by SR9UVP from Koskowa Góra and SR9KR from ul. Basztowa. In the 2017 list SR9KR, SR9UVP and the SP9KPK hotspot are “automatically linked with SR9UVZ”, so Kraków and Podhale hear each other permanently.

6. 2017Kochanów, Luboń, Zakopane.

   At the turn of 2016 and 2017 SR9UVO launches in Kochanów (club HQ from 28.01.2017), in spring 2017 SR9UVL on Luboń Wielki comes on. On 3 January Fr Szczepan Gacek SP9VRJ, chaplain of radio amateurs and honorary club president, dies. His callsign is carried by the DMR repeater SR9VRJ for Zakopane, installed in autumn 2017.

7. 2023The first losses.

   By the end of 2023 the KPGK website is already reporting the dismantling of the repeaters from ul. Basztowa in Kraków. SR9UVL on Luboń works only locally, because the provider didn’t provide an internet connection, and later it stops working, “due to lack of cooperation with the site owner”. The group announces switching the DMR repeaters to colour code 9 and today they all use it.

8. 1.08.2024Back to Gliczarów.

   Thanks to OSP Gliczarów Górny (the volunteer fire service) SR9UVZ (now D‑STAR and C4FM) and SR9UVR (now FM in the FM‑POLAND network) get a new place on the fire station mast.

9. 14.03.2025SR9VRJ on new hardware.

   The repeater returns to service at RTON Gubałówka. This is the last entry on kpgk.pl.

10. 2026Today.

    Since November 2024 SR9UVO hasn’t connected to BrandMeister, and five network repeaters are missing from the UKE register (according to SP9SVH new licences are being issued for two). Meanwhile SR9UVM, SR9UVT and SR9VRJ still operate in talkgroup 26093.

Why now

For years 23 cm was a band for builders: transverters, plug‑in modules for older radios, home‑made antennas. That changed with radios that have 23 cm as standard. Icom IC‑9700, which we use at station SQ5CBA, in the European version covers 1240–1300 MHz and delivers up to 10 W on SSB, CW, FM, D‑STAR (DV) and DD (in AM up to 2.5 W). Only on 1.2 GHz does the DD mode — high‑speed D‑STAR data — work.

The older IC‑9100 and IC‑910 needed a 23 cm module. The band is also on, among others, the Kenwood TS‑2000X, the Icom ID‑1 (D‑STAR and FM), the Icom IC‑905 (10 W on 23 cm) and the handheld Alinco DJ‑G7E (FM, up to 1 W).

Note for holders of a category 3 licence: under the regulation of 19.03.2026 (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 406) category 3 covers twelve ranges: 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 m as well as 2 m, 70 cm and 10 GHz, but not 23 cm. On 1240–1300 MHz you need category 1. In Poland the amateur service here is a secondary service: the band is shared with radionavigation, radars and satellite navigation, which have priority.

In 2023 the ITU adopted Recommendation ITU‑R M.2164 with guidance for amateur stations in 1240–1300 MHz. In June 2025 CEPT issued decision ECC/DEC/(25)01 with the same technical conditions, which national administrations can implement in their regulations. The preferred implementation date is 27.12.2025, with a possible transition period of up to three years. The key limits for narrowband emissions (up to 150 kHz):

• 1258–1296 MHz: at most −17 dBW e.i.r.p., i.e. about 20 mW radiated power (including antenna gain); separate limits apply to satellites in 1260–1270 MHz;
• 1296–1298 MHz: transmitter power up to 17 dBW (about 50 W);
• 1298–1300 MHz: transmitter power up to 22 dBW (about 160 W), and for EME with an antenna of 30 dBi or more up to 27 dBW;
• ATV and other wideband emissions in 1258–1300 MHz: −17 dBW per 1 MHz.

For Polish repeaters that would mean this: outputs on 1298 MHz stay fine, but inputs on 1270 MHz fall into the 20 mW e.i.r.p. zone. With that power you can hardly work a repeater. Switching to the 1297 / 1291 scheme from the IARU plan would not help either, because 1291 MHz also lies in that zone.

According to CEPT’s implementation table Poland has not implemented the decision (entry of 13.02.2026, no remarks). It has already been implemented by, among others, Denmark, Finland, France, Spain and Slovakia. The Czech Republic plans this for 2027, and Germany, Austria and Sweden are analysing the issue. We could not find a position from UKE or PZK (the Polish Amateur Radio Union). If one appears, we will update the article.