Communications Trailers

Rocky Mountain Ham Radio has built several communications trailers for various uses. Our first was built in 2006 originally for use as our mobile contesting support vehicle allowing us to easily set up for VHF contesting. It was sold in 2010 to the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security as their Amateur Radio Support Unit and is in active use today.

Our second trailer was built in 2011, exclusively for the Salt Lake City Veterans Administration allowing them to have a platform where their local hams can operate and manage any incident. It was a purely custom design and installation based on the VA’s requirements.

You can see the photos of all of these units are online in our gallery. We encourage you to look at them and learn from them.

Our third attempt at building a communications trailer was to replace the trailer sold to the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. It’s our current platform and has been built for multiple uses.

Trailer Design Targets:

  • Maximum usable interior space with good headroom
  • Ease of towing and minimum traveling windload
  • Minimum AF and RF interference inside
  • Multiple operating spaces separated by doors
  • Support equipment housed in separate space in the front
  • Fold down tailgate for loading of gear
  • External power (AC & DC,) telco, ethernet, and television connections
  • Plenty of cabinet storage space with solid door locks

Trailer Electronics:

  • 4 Standalone Desktop Computer Stations
  • 2 Television monitors capable of split screen with PC and Satellite TV with automatic satellite antenna and off-air capability
  • Internal ethernet network for a seamless experience
  • Network printing and scanning functionality on all PCs
  • 510A 12V battery plant with 125A smart charging system and monitoring system
  • MagnaSine True Sine Wave 3kW inverter with automatic microsecond transfer switch
  • Full DC distribution system with 80A 12V distributions at each operating station
  • Full antenna patch system with bulkhead cabling to each operating position

Trailer Radios:

  • 1x Icom IC-7000 HF/VHF/UHF and SCS PTC-IIusb Pactor III modem
  • 1x Icom IF-F7000 Commercial HF snd SCS PTC-IIpro Pactor III modem
  • 4x Motorola DMR 2-VHF & 2-UHF for Public Safety and Amateur Use
  • 1 Kenwood TM-D700 dual band VHF/UHF
  • 1 Icom A-110 Air-to-Ground radio with licensed multicom station
  • 1 Motorola XTL5000 700/800 Colorado State CNCC radio
  • 1 Motorola XTL5000 VHF 100W P25/Analog radio
  • MotoTRBO XPR8300 UHF Repeater for hotspot capability on the Colorado DMR network

Trailer Networking Capability:

  • HP Procurve 10/100/1000 48-port switch routed to 30 locations within and outside of the trailer
  • Cradlepoint MBR1400 cellular to ethernet bridge for automatic failover connectivity switching Terrestrial/Satellite and 4 Carriers of broadband modems on outside antennas
  • ViaSat Exede Ka band satellite internet terminal providing high speed internet while off-grid donated by ViaSat
  • Onboard internal IP PBX phone system linking to RMHAM’s other PBX systems along the front range for 4 digit dialing
  • Two Polycom IP331 VoIP telephones with dialtone and the ability to dial anywhere in the world
  • Cache of 12 Polycom IP331 telephones for rapid deployment in any situation
  • Buffalo Terastation 1TB Network Attached Storage

Trailer Environmental

  • 2x 1.5 Ton Ducted HVAC units on the roof (Heating and Air Conditioning)
  • Full Wall and Ceiling insulation
  • All lighting in the trailer is LED with dimmers for night use