Home / Repeaters / SR5W “Wanda”
Five watts from a handheld is enough for half of Mazowsze to hear you. Wanda’s secret isn’t power, it’s the location: the SR5W repeater’s antenna sits on top of the 300‑metre chimney at Ciepłownia Kawęczyn, higher than the roof of the Palace of Culture. Below is everything you need to know: radio settings, coverage, history since 2008, and how the repeater works.
You enter the same values on any 2 m radio. Every 2 m radio does FM; DMR needs a digital radio and a BrandMeister account. The repeater runs mixed mode, so both modes share the same antenna.
Turn the 127.3 Hz tone on transmit only (Tone, not TSQL). With tone on receive as well, the radio will fall silent when the repeater doesn’t include it in the retransmission.
Download the channel for CHIRP (CSV)You can check talkgroups and current link status on the repeater’s page in BrandMeister. To transmit on DMR you need your own ID (register at RadioID).
SR5W on BrandMeister ↗Set 145.750 and wait a moment. Wanda is busy, especially in the morning and after work, so you’ll soon hear what a QSO via the repeater sounds like.
Briefly press PTT and give your callsign: “SQ5CBA, test via Wanda”. If you hear the repeater tail after releasing PTT, you’re getting in. A click without a callsign is poor practice.
“This is SQ5CBA, general call via SR5W” and pause. Replies will come; if not, try at a different time. More in the 2 m / 70 cm guide.
On 2 m, waves travel almost in a straight line, so coverage is set by the radio horizon, not the watts. The horizon increases with the square root of antenna height: d ≈ 4.12 · √h. For an antenna 305 m above ground that’s about 72 km, before we even add your antenna’s height.
The radio horizon is the sum of two segments: from the repeater’s antenna and from your antenna. The chimney gives 72 km; the rest depends on you:
It’s geometry, not a guarantee. A block between you and the chimney, a flyover or a forest can take away half the range, while reflections from buildings can add a few kilometres where the map says ‘outside’. Within Warsaw itself Wanda works from virtually everywhere, because the chimney stands high above the buildings.
Within the geometric range (km from the chimney): Warsaw (centre) 9 · Wołomin 11 · Otwock 20 · Legionowo 20 · Pruszków 24 · Mińsk Maz. 32 · Nowy Dwór Maz. 33 · Wyszków 42 · Grójec 48 · Pułtusk 48 · Żyrardów 53 · Garwolin 53 · Sochaczew 61 · Węgrów 62 · Płońsk 64 · Skierniewice 75 · Ciechanów 76 · Siedlce 80 · Kozienice 81 · Łowicz 83.
Three hundred metres of concrete in red-and-white stripes can be seen from the Palace of Culture, from Marki and from the Varso Tower viewing terrace, and in good weather even from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, from a distance of about 157 km. The photos come from Wikimedia Commons and are released under free licences; the authors are credited in the captions.
Wanda is one of the oldest operational repeaters in Warsaw. Below is what can be documented from public sources: PZK (the Polish Amateur Radio Union) and UKE (the Polish Office of Electronic Communications) lists, and bulletins of the Warsaw District (WOT) of PZK.
Kawęczyn heating plant is built at Chełmżyńska 180 in Rembertów, along with a 300 m chimney: for years the tallest structure in Warsaw, today second only to the Varso Tower.
SR5W is already transmitting from the chimney. In the PZK repeater list no. 51 of 2 December 2008 it appears on 145.750 MHz, locator KO02NG, user: the Warsaw District (WOT) of PZK, operator SP5IDK, licence valid until 25 September 2010. From the same address SR5A on 145.700 and SR5WA on 439.350 are on the air, and the digital SR5WW on 438.500 is “in preparation”.
The licence expires. WOT PZK switches off SR5W and SR5WA while the documents are renewed at UKE, and SR5WW transmits temporarily from the chimney on 438.500 MHz. Once the formalities are complete, Wanda returns to 145.750.
The repeater suffers a more serious failure. After repair and ground testing it returns to the chimney and again becomes the first choice on 2 m in Warsaw.
New radio licence DC.WML.5101.7195.2025.2, valid until 9 November 2030. The station’s custodian is SQ5IT, the licence holder is the Warsaw District (WOT) of PZK. Wanda operates in mixed mode FM + DMR, on the BrandMeister network with Color Code 5.
In our database of 438 active repeaters Wanda is one of only a dozen or so 2 m repeaters in Poland carrying digital modes, and for Warsaw operators it’s the home repeater: most of SQ5CBA’s daily QSOs go via it.
A repeater is a receiver and a transmitter combined: it receives your signal on 145.150 MHz and at the same moment retransmits it on 145.750 MHz, from an antenna none of us will ever put up from ground level. Hence the −600 kHz offset: your radio automatically goes 600 kHz down when you press PTT.
One antenna handles receive and transmit at the same time. The duplexer, a set of sharp filters, ensures the transmitter on 145.750 doesn’t drown out the weak signal being received 600 kHz lower.
An inaudible tone added to your voice. The repeater opens only for signals with this tone, so interference and distant stations don’t key it up without cause.
Wanda recognises whether FM or DMR is coming in, and retransmits in the same mode. An analogue radio won’t hear a digital QSO and vice versa, but the frequency is the same for both worlds.
The repeater serves hundreds of stations. A few habits make operating more pleasant for everyone.
User reports on operation and outages are collected by the services mapy73.pl and przemienniki.net. The DMR link status is shown by BrandMeister.
The repeater is maintained by the Warsaw Regional Branch of PZK (the Polish Amateur Radio Union). Before you report a fault, check the CTCSS tone and offset in your radio: this is the most common cause of a “deaf Wanda”.
Callsign SR5W, category 5 (unattended station), Maidenhead locator KO02NG, 52°16′06″ N 21°07′43″ E, power 15 W, antenna 6.5 dBi at a height of 305 m above ground and 395 m a.s.l. Licence valid until 9 November 2030.
One link: radio settings, coverage, chimney photos and Wanda’s history. Send it to a mate who’s just got their first radio, or post it on the club group.
Technical data: UKE (the Polish Office of Electronic Communications) licence list (dane.gov.pl), mapy73.pl, vhf.com.pl; history: “List of repeater stations with valid permit no. 51” of PZK from 2 December 2008 and a WOT PZK notice from 5 October 2010 on sp5py.pl; chimney: Wikipedia. Radio horizon calculated from d ≈ 4.12·√h for 4/3 Earth.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used in accordance with the authors’ licences (CC0 means a waiver of rights):
A map of all active repeaters in Poland, a guide to your first QSOs and choosing an antenna to make the most of Wanda’s coverage.
