Thousands Of HAM In Wyoming Still Use The Airwaves

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Thousands Of HAM In Wyoming Still Use The Airwaves Apr 13, 2023

Tom "Tex" Ritter has a couple large antennas rising up over his house north of Cheyenne, and they pick up signals from all over the world. He's talked to people in 169 countries, as well as someone in Antarctica. Over the airways, he's also known by his callsign WY7KY.

Ritter's "shack," which is what HAM radio operators call their studios, is down in his basement. There are two large monitors looming over stacks of DPMR radios, handheld radios, CB radios, and microphones.

Ritter tuned into a frequency on his digital mobile radio system, which uses the internet to help radio signals travel further, and reached for his microphone.

"Anyone monitoring on Wyoming Wide? We're doing a demo here in Cheyenne. This is WY7KY on Wyoming Wide," Ritter said.

Moments later a voice comes through the radio, "WY7KY, this is Justin up here in Ten Sleep on the Meadowlark System going to the Wyoming Wide."

Operators use repeaters, and one repeater system Ritter uses is called SkyHub. There's a repeater up on Sherman Hill, about 40 miles northwest of Cheyenne. It's "backboned" into the internet, which carries the signals it receives out to other repeaters.

There are dozens of these repeaters in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Washington, Minnesota, New Mexico and even Canada.

Ritter's hobby goes beyond casual conversations with other hobbyists. He's also a volunteer for the Emergency Management Administration.

During a hurricane that hit Puerto Rico, the American Radio Relay League, which is the U.S. flagship amateur radio association based in Connecticut, put a call out for 50 radio operator volunteers to go down to the country and help coordinate relief efforts.