Walter Wayne Wright KA5QDG passed away October 11, 2024 after being hospitalized and going into Hospice earlier this month. I can't speak on Wayne personally but I do know of his impact to the ham radio community in the Houston area. Wayne was a founder of the H.A.M.S. Houston Amateur Mobile Society, whose organization maintains about 40 repeaters typically south of Houston, including Harris, Brazoria and Galveston counties. Wayne retired from the railroad years ago and pretty much dedicated his time to keeping his collection of repeaters on the air in top-notch condition for people to enjoy and to be ready in case needed for emergency communications. Several of his repeaters had additional PL tones for emergency use so even if he was asleep and you used that tone, it would wake him up so he could offer assistance. His flagship repeater, 145.170 MHz in downtown Houston, was well known and was among one of the best repeaters in the Houston area as far as quality and range. It hosts the Oak Forest ARC net and the Houston Area Hospital EmComm Net. Wayne didn't just sit by and listen though. He could be heard on the repeater daily. Wayne made it a point to let you know if your signal was not good into the repeater and asked that others let folks know if someone else's signal was not good so it could be corrected. Wayne was a member of the volunteer monitor program in which he reported incidents of interference (man-made or otherwise) or poor/illegal practices of operators within the amateur bands. But Wayne wasn't content with just keeping his repeaters working. He helped other clubs with their repeaters as well. Some of the clubs I believe he helped were NARS, TEAC, SHARK, Baytown ARC, Pearland ARC, CLARC and Texas Youth ARC. Wayne was a creature of habit and had his daily routines. He loved to get his breakfast taco in the morning and sometimes met up for lunch at some Pasadena-area restaurant to visit with friends. Wayne also has a packet digipeater located downtown, 145.010 MHz, which acquired the nickname "Big Boy" which is an important relay station for the area. Many of Wayne's repeaters are located in facilities with backup power, either with batteries or generators. And Wayne was one for redundancy. Several of his repeater pairs had several repeaters at different locations with different tones. A disaster might take out some of them but it was a good bet that many of them would remain on the air to give vital support to the ham radio community when needed. Wayne will definitely be missed, but fear not. This does not mean the end of his repeater legacy. There is a team of hams ready to take over the duties and keep his repeaters alive and well for many to enjoy for years to come. Wayne was 79.
Here is information on services. Will post any obituary when available. https://www.southparkfunerals.com/obituaries/Walter-Wright-23/#!/Obituary
