AMATEUR RADIO AS A HOBBY

This page will cover Ham Radio communications, and some of the radio sites I have worked on. I became interested in radio communications as a kid but didn't pursue the hobby until after the death of my father.
Dad and I were in the southern Colorado mountains in August of 1988 getting firewood. Dad complained of being short of breath and not feeling good so we headed back to Farmington, New Mexico. We were on Hwy 160 east of Cortez, Colorado when I turned on Cherry Creek Road and headed south. Dad fell over in his seat and collapsed. He had a heart attack. I stopped the truck on the side of the road and started CPR on him. People in cars and trucks drove by and saw I was in trouble, but continued on down the road. I continued the CPR for thirty minutes on dad until I was exhausted, and unable to bring him back. I walked to a nearby farm house and called for help from emergency services. That was the turning point in my life, I would NEVER be in a situation like that again, so I became very active in Amateur Radio.
I worked with Ben Mc Gaha, (KB5ITS) a fellow Police Officer for the Farmington, New Mexico Police Department. We received our Novice Ham tickets in March of 1989. We later tested and upgraded to the Technician Class which is the Tech plus class now. Ben and I later upgraded to the General class ticket and are active on the HF bands now as well.
Ben and I were welcomed in to the Ham community of the Four Corners and became friends with the people in the Totah Amateur Radio Club,(T.A.R.C.) and the Durango, Colorado Amateur Radio Clubs (D.A.R.C.). Ben and I have been building and learning about radios every since then. We worked on a radio repeater system for the Cactus Intertie Repeater Group, (CACTUS) for the Farmington area and the Four Corners U.H.F. Radio Club was born.

THE TOTAH RADIO CLUB

The Totah radio club has a system of three linked radio repeaters. They cover the Four Corner states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. Radio repeaters are a base radio that hears a signal on one frequency then rebroadcasts it on another frequency for more distance. It could be called a relay radio as well.
The coverage is currently supplied by three linked repeaters, maintained by the club. They are located south of Farmington, New Mexico on the bluffs, South of Kayenta, Arizona, and east of Aztec, New Mexico. They all have an activating tone of 100Hz.
The repeater on the bluffs south of Farmington operates on a frequency of 146.850. The repeater south of Kayenta, Arizona, is on Roof Butte in the Chuska Mountains about 100 miles west of Farmington, New Mexico. The repeater works on a frequency of 146.820. The repeater east of Aztec, New Mexico is located on Nickerbocker Peak. It operates on a frequency of 145.490 Mhz.

THE DURANGO RADIO CLUB SYSTEM

The Durango, Colorado radio club operates two repeaters in their area. The wide area coverage (main) repeater on Eagle Pass in the San Juan Mountains west of Durango, Colorado at an altitude of almost 12,000 feet. This repeater is solar powered. This repeater operates on a frequency of 146.670 and has an open phone patch. This repeater covers south to Cuba, New Mexico, west to the Four Corners Monument, east to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and north to Silverton, Colorado. The local repeater is on Missionary Peak North east of Durango on a frequency of 146.700.

OUR FIRST RADIO REPEATER SYSTEM

The first radio repeater I ever was involved in installing, is located on the top of Roof Butte south of Kayenta, Arizona at an altitude of 10,000 feet. This location is 200 feet north of the Totah Amateur Radio Club's system. We are on the UHF band and they operate on VHF.

This system was originally linked to Flagstaff, Arizona on Mount Eldon and to Sandia Peak in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Now this system is linked to the California based, Cactus Intertie system, via a repeater located near Gallup, New Mexico on Deza Bluff. The entire system covers the following states: California, Arizona, Southern Nevada, Western Utah, New Mexico, parts of southern Colorado and into Texas.

THE FOUR CORNER UHF AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION

Several years ago the UHF club members got together and developed the local repeater link north of Farmington, New Mexico. We wanted local walkie talkie coverage from the down town area to the Roof Butte repeater and the Cactus system 100 miles away. D.W. Baxter, (KA5DVI) got us a site on a hill north of Farmington. The site can be seen from all over the town and overlooks the entire valley. This is a great location for receiving radio frequency from the outlying area. The Roof Butte repeater can be accessed using a 1 watt handheld radio. A building permit was obtained and the site was cleared. The site has been in operation now for approximately 7 years.

We now have built and now maintain two repeaters in the last three years. These sites are located near Silverton, Colorado. These sites provide communications in the rugged area, for emergency communications during recreational events, and they allow personal communication for the families that live in the area. They have been used in searches for lost hikers and hunters.

The sites were discovered and developed with the help of Harley Murray, (KC5CHM) a member of the UHF club. He loves four wheeling and hiking, so is perfect for this task. I have known Harley for several years and he worked with Ben and I at The City of Farmington, New Mexico. He and his wife Elaine have now both retired and are enjoying the world. They love the Silverton, Colorado area as much as I do. Ben and I got him interested in the HAM radios and he has really taken to it.

Harley contacted several people in the Silverton area and discovered an abandoned television relay site on the west side of Hazelton Mountain above the town. The site had been moved to a higher location for better reception and coverage. Harley got us the permission to put a radio site in there. The ground consists of slide rock and shale but it is high in the mountains and has great coverage. The Hazelton repeater is located at an altitude of about 11,000 feet, and is powered by commercial 110 volts power. The power is provided to the free TV site further up on the crest of the mountain. This Repeater works on a frequency of 147.270Mhz. Harley, Ben and I talk to members of the other radio clubs in the area, and presented our proposal for this site. The radio equipment came from several sources, Ben, Harley, the Durango radio club and from stuff I collected. The workers came from all over the place, we made a picnic out of it. The Chris and Donna George and family of Silverton all became Hams and added their expertise to the project. Members of the Farmington and Durango radio clubs joined us on the many weekends we spent on the project.

Hazelton Mountain Site Photos

The Kendall repeater system is located on Kendall Peak Mountain at an altitude of 13,080 feet and 4,000 feet above Silverton, Colorado. It was designed for emergency radio and telephone communications out of Silverton, Colorado and surrounding area. The power in Silverton goes out frequently, so the Kendall system was designed for use during these times. This repeater operates at 147.375 Mhz and has an access tone of 156.7hz. This repeater is solar powered. The solar panels provide the electricity to charge four batteries which in turn, power this radio. The repeater equipment had to be carried 500 yards up to the site from the closest parking area.