SQ8X is Back!

[IK0ZCW]

After more than six years away from the amateur radio bands — and the hobby in general — I'm finally back!

A quick update on what’s been happening all this time:

At the end of 2016, I was diagnosed with a serious illness, which I managed to keep under control for a while. Unfortunately, my health deteriorated, and after returning from South Africa (3YØI) in mid-2018, I underwent a complicated surgery that was a major risk to my life. That event made me shift my focus entirely to recovery and my business, pushing all hobbies aside.

Then, COVID hit, and my company went bankrupt. The achievements of 16 years of my professional work, all investments, etc., were completely lost. I was left with massive debts that I had to pay off, forcing me to sell my professional photo and video gear — everything I had. Even then, it barely covered a portion of what I owed. And the troubles didn’t stop there. During the pandemic, I lost several close family members, which took a huge toll on me. My health worsened again, and I had to focus solely on getting back on my feet. There was simply no room for ham radio — or anything else, really.

In early 2023, I decided to make a change and moved to Norway. Knowing some basic Norwegian (which I started learning two years earlier just to keep my mind occupied) made things easier. Unfortunately, when the war in Ukraine started, the job and housing markets in Norway took a hit, and I had to return to Poland. Just before moving back, I found out that my home in Poland had been broken into. All the electronics I had left there were gone — my ham radio laptop with all my logs (including those from past expeditions), hard drives with photos and videos from my DXpeditions, my Icom, power supply, and even my Spiderbeam antenna, which had been stored in the garage. That was a devastating blow.

Feeling completely defeated, I decided to leave my hometown and start over in Warsaw. But in my city QTH, I couldn’t set up antennas, so I still wasn’t able to get back on the air.

In January 2024, due to stress and poor health, I suffered a brain stroke. As a result, I lost 35% of my vision, which has partially impaired my ability to function fully (for example, I can no longer drive a car, and navigating the city on foot, especially in heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic, is a challenge for me).

Shortly after that, after 12 years together, my ways with my life partner parted, and that was another disaster to me.

However, by the end of 2024, it seems that fate finally smiled on me—I met someone living by the Baltic Sea, and we decided to move in together.

This time, it looks like I’ll finally be able to get back on the bands! I regained my prev. callsing SQ8X in January 2025. My new QTH has its limitations, but I should be able to put up a simple antenna. The biggest challenge now is that I don’t have any transceiver, antenna, or power supply — and I just can’t afford one right now. So starting from a total scratch now...

If any of you fellow hams could help out with equipment in any way, I’d be deeply grateful.

Best 73,
Stan, SQ8X