Grant Date: September 2021
Amount: $374,233

RHMAM’s microwave network is an infrastructure on which partnering amateur radio clubs and groups can access to enable or expand their repeater and Part 97 appropriate applications. The network operates on Part 97 amateur radio spectrum and provides 50-100+ Mbit of bandwidth. RMHAM’s network is managed and monitored 24/7/365 by a dedicated network operations team. Amateur radio organizations across Colorado and New Mexico leverage this infrastructure to enable their own repeater and IP capabilities that would otherwise be difficult or prohibitively expensive to achieve.

Firstly, in Colorado, RMHAM will be able to grow its microwave network by 23 new microwave sites and 20 new point-to-point spans to expand IP connectivity and future repeater coverage across the western slope of Colorado and along the I-70 and I-76 corridors in the eastern part of the state. In New Mexico, RMHAM will grow its microwave network by 16 new microwave sites and 15 new point-to-point spans to expand IP connectivity and future repeater coverage south from Albuquerque to El Paso, Texas; along US Highway 550 to Durango, Colorado; and across the Rio Grande Valley to Alamogordo, New Mexico. They will also expand RMHAM digital repeater coverage (DMR or D-STAR, depending on where coverage gaps need to be filled) across New Mexico through the addition of seven repeaters co-located at our newly proposed microwave sites.

Secondly, RMHAM will be able to upgrade their Colorado communications trailer that provides RF and IP connectivity, and to outfit a new trailer for service in New Mexico. The current trailer has been instrumental in servicing general, public service, and emergency communication needs in the region.

Learn more: https://www.rmham.org/