No, not wild camping. Those days are long gone for me. But sufficiently unusual to motivate my first ever activation report here on the Reflector: on OK/LI-010, one can spend the night inside of an antenna!
The Ještěd Tower is both a TV transmitter and a hotel. Built in the 60s/70s based on a bold design by Czech architect Karel Hubáček, the tower is worth a visit by itself (easy access via public transportation from Prague). It is on the summit of Ještěd OK/LI-010 (which is within two POTA parks, CZ-0193 and CZ-0139, and WWFF OKFF-2460), so I planned a Saturday overnight stay with my XYL and hoped to activate summit and parks on both days.
We took a bus from Prague to Liberec, then tram number 3 to the edge of town (last station: Horní Hanychov). From there, bus 79 took us uphill, and its final stop is next to one of the visitor car parks, so we walked a bit less than 1km (120m ascent) to the summit. There’s limited car park at the summit for hotel guests, and public parking for motorbikes, so it is technically a drive-on summit.
On Saturday, I activated from two different places within the activation zone. First, from a bench on the east side of the tower, hoping to be on the tower’s shade as the afternoon went on. Band conditions were not amazing, but I managed 49 QSOs between 13:40z and 16:00z (SSB, FT8/FT4, and a single 2m FM).
Zoom in to see the operator between the tower and the cross!
I packed up, left my gear in the hotel room, and explored the surroundings and went for dinner with the XYL. At 18:30z I returned for a quick run, this time from the west side of the tower while watching the sunset. From there, I added another 17 QSOs to the log in less than 35 minutes on the air, including a few lighthouses, Phil G4OBK on SSB, and David KK4OMJ on FT8.
In the next morning, right after a very good hotel breakfast, I had a quick second activation from the same spot as the previous evening. I knew I would not get any activator points for a second activation in a row, but it was great to give away 10 points to the chasers (and I still got credit for the second POTA and WWFF activations). In less than 20 minutes on the air, I managed 27 QSOs, all on 20m SSB. The wind was picking up at that point, as there was a storm on the way, so I packed up, we checked out from the hotel and made our way back to Prague (with a nice stop at the central square in Liberec, also worth a visit).
Working conditions: Xiegu X6100, 6Ah battery, foldable whip antenna with loading coil (by M1ECC), 4 radial wires, photography tripod. Power: 10W SSB, 5W digital.
