09/07/2026
KXNT went silent. We didn’t.
Last night, a transmitter site that spent decades putting radio across Southern Nevada came alive again, just in a very different way. Members of the Sin City Repeater Group, Inc. operated from the former KXNT AM transmitter site in North Las Vegas, putting stations on 160, 80, 40, and 20 meters and making contacts across North America and into Europe.
Some members came with years of HF experience. Others were sitting down at an HF station for the first time. Everyone walked away having learned something, and some learned a ton.
The best part of the night was watching JD KI7EUF and Shane KM7CIP make their first-ever HF contacts. Jim K7JSX, Dan W7IVK, and Kirk NO7BS brought radios and equipment so other members could get on the air, ask questions, try things out, and learn by doing.
Steven KD7LVX joined remotely from Idaho, Ryan N7RMK participated from Reno, and Efrain KJ6OLY joined from Ontario, California, extending the operation well beyond Southern Nevada.
A special thank-you goes to the site owner for trusting the Sin City Repeater Group with access to such a rare piece of Las Vegas radio history. Opportunities like this do not happen every weekend, and we do not take that trust lightly.
Our operating model is intentionally different from the traditional ham club model. We have meetings, officers, bylaws, and the administrative structure any responsible organization needs, but those things exist to support amateur radio. They are not supposed to become amateur radio.
We want microphones, keyers, radios, and antennas in members’ hands. We want new hams sitting beside experienced operators. We want someone who has never made an HF contact to leave with a contact in the log and enough confidence to do it again. If somebody wants to learn HF, digital modes, portable operating, repeaters, antennas, AllStar, DX, or something completely new, we meet them where they are and try to connect them with somebody who can help.
For amateur radio operators looking for an active ham radio club in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, or anywhere in Southern Nevada, this is what the Sin City Repeater Group means when we say we actually do radio. We are building a club around operating, learning, mentoring, experimenting, and creating opportunities, not adding more nets simply to have more nets, creating “advisory” committees in search of something to advise, or running a hobby organization from a Fortune 500 operating manual that probably should have been retired sometime around 1987.
We would rather hand someone a microphone than another agenda.
Create memories, not more meeting minutes.
Participating members included Kirk NO7BS, Shane KM7CIP, JD KI7EUF, Justin KG7FKJ, Ian K6IBX, Dan W7IVK, Jim K7JSX, Steven KD7LVX, Michael W7MTV, Bill N4NJJ, Troy KK7NWE, Efrain KJ6OLY, Jason WV3V, Aaron KB7VGK, Robert KK7VGQ, Tim KA8VIR, Christopher KI7VLP, and Ryan N7RMK.
And this was not our last event. There will be more radios, more unusual places, more first contacts, and more opportunities to do things most hams never get the chance to do.
You can hear about the next one afterward.
Or you can be there.
www.SinCityRepeaters.com
