It seems like everyone assumes we agree with HoA restrictions when we move, and I do not think that this is always the case. My wife and I moved during Covid, to help out family. And it stunk, but what can you do, tell family that hobbies are more important? They aren't. Some of us are stuck with HoA restrictions for reasons more complex than convenience. And it stinks, but it is what it is. What to do before moving to an HoA community? Check all specialist doctors, to see if your family member can move in with you during a global pandemic, instead of the other way around. If there are none, decide which is important, loved ones, or a hobby. Why do morons think everyone has the same exact situation as others?
It's not always a matter of wanting to. As I mentioned up thread, I wasn't a ham when I bought this house. Getting far enough away from this area to avoid HOAs would put me into multiple hour commutes for the companies I work for. I'm able to work from home now, so it's less of an issue, but I need to get my youngest child out of public school before I start looking at moving because doing so will put me in a different county, if not state. I'm not dragging her to another school system this late in her "career". Country life is nice, but that is rarely congruent with the work I do. At various points in my career, I've held roles where working from home is simply not possible. Getting the sort of property you describe puts me too far outside of a commuting range I'm willing to tolerate (again, what point is having a house in the country if you spend 20hrs/week driving to/from it?). I suppose it depends on what you consider "fully utilized". My primary interest in radio is portable ops. I do as much of that as I can tolerate and am not at all hampered by HOAs in doing so. I do have a station at home, but I'd dismantle that before I stopped my portable ops. Chris
How many of you anti-HOA folks are using our hobby as the justification for locating to a rural area when in reality, you are using this reason not because of the hobby but because you are unwilling to maintain your house and property at a level required by HOAs?
Thanks, Matt. We hope our video and comments like yours inspire people consider creative options. Quin, K8QS Subscribe to "Ham Radio Perspectives" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MJT8o8-XMxF8XROf7Q5GA/videos
Hi, Rick. Many of the anti-HOA posts are based on stereotypes. When I lived in a major city without an HOA the city came out and filed a notice with me about stopping my tower construction at 30 feet -- the zoning limit. I was constructing a 48-foot tower. Unless we live in relatively rural areas there are zoning requirements. Cities can be just as nasty as HOA boards. Also, as we say in the video, HOAs differ considerably. Some are very ham friendly. Quin, K8QS Subscribe to "Ham Radio Perspectives" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MJT8o8-XMxF8XROf7Q5GA/videos
All of are, it was just too hard to follow all the rules Is that what you wanted to hear? Quite a ridiculous statement
Years ago, I lived in a nice neighborhood. No HOA, but there were town restrictions. I installed a 50' tower without a town permit. None of my neighbors complained. It was years later when I realized what an eyesore the tower and beam was. When I took it down because I was moving, I could see how ugly the antenna was. The houses around me actually looked better. I felt terrible over what I had done to some really nice people. When I moved to my present HOA governed community, I realized that I most likely would never have a shack again. I bought a Kenwood TS570 and a screwdriver antenna for my Chevy pickup. I planned to operate forever sitting in my pickup on my driveway. Several years later I found a way to install a stealth antenna. Thus, I was back on the air and operating from my man cave. For the first seven years of living in this brand new community, I served on the Board of directors and I was chair of the ARC Board. During this time I had the opportunity to see and respond to some absolutely horrific situations caused by people not respecting the rules of the community. During this time the ARC rewrote much of the builder's initial guidelines to accommodate as much as possible of individual home owner's needs while respecting his/her's neighbors needs. I believe that we have a good and responsible Board... If I were on the board now, I would reject towers, beams, dump trucks, boats and campers in driveways and most importantly Easter Bunny colored houses... Plus much much more...
Perhaps you just had to put up a beautiful mast and antenna? Well, or at least paint it in a fun color ...
Thanks for your post, Corky. When I lived in Florida I was amazed at some of the crazy home colors -- far worse looking than a mere antenna. Quin, K8QS Subscribe to "Ham Radio Perspectives" YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3MJT8o8-XMxF8XROf7Q5GA/videos
But ham radio is an indoor activity for most hams. Ever seen any try to move when they do crawl out of the shack? I love the defeatist attitude though. "If I can't put up the tower of my dreams and stretch wires all across my yard like a demented spider, it's not worth doing at all". It makes you wonder how "ham radio will save the day" in a disaster if we can't do anything without a tower, beam, and kilowatt amplifier. To hear some in this thread, that's the only way they can do radio. There isn't a continuum between "no radio" and "contest-capable". Nor any room for considering your neighbors' or community's aesthetics. It's all "me me me". Way to perpetuate a stereotype... Chris
This is what my friends call me, when after half an hour I entwine a large clearing in the forest with wires while they are just starting to get their HTs on hands and agree on what frequency they will use)))
