Yes sir. I loved those day. Amazing stuff was being done then.
In the early 1980’s I talked to Los Angeles, CA from downtown Las Cruces, NM on a 2 watt handi talkie, linked into the Cactus Net.
Before Cell phones and before the Internet.
And this was not a government project, technical ham operators (many working for Labs or Military) built it all by themselves. Mountain top to mountain top.
Of course JPL was government equipment.
I was in love with electronics back then, not so much now. It is being used for the wrong reasons and totally ignoring what the citizens want. It is about monitoring and tracking now.
New Mexico has the Megalink now that covers the whole state and some of each of the surrounding states. I haven't been around long enough to know about the Cactus Net, but is it possible the Mega-Link grew from some of that over the years? Obviously things have been updated as time goes by.
electronics has basically turned into disposable item.
I worked in computers starting in 83, back then we fixed things. Computers and printers and such were built to last, made with metal and held together with screws.
I used to go to a ham swap meet every year, I like looking at all the old radio stuff, but it was also a good place to pick up computer parts and such.