On Wednesday February 22, just after 10:00 AM the towers at an RF site atop Sandia Crest (New Mexico) that hosts Rocky Mountain Ham Radio failed catastrophically due to a significant wind and ice storm that also caused wind damage throughout the Albuquerque area.
RMHAM’s DMR repeater and Sandia-to-Pajarito 5-GHz microwave link are offline. All equipment within the building appears to be unharmed. Our microwave network automatically rerouted IP traffic from Sandia Crest to Pajarito Mountain through a fail-over VPN connection in Taos.
RMHAM’s 5-GHz microwave link to Albuquerque, VHF packet radio node, PTZ camera, and a D-STAR repeater system managed by RMHAM were fortunately spared and remain operational at the site.
RMHAM is partnering closely with the site owner to assess damage, assist with site cleanup, and determine path forward to full restoration. We will post updates as more becomes known.