Donations needed for Amateur Radio Antenna Defense Foundation

San Diego is perhaps one of the most mountainous cities in the country. Terrain can make communications very difficult if not impossible from most locations without sufficiently high antennas and sufficient gain.

My 2003 wire antennas at 38' were not high enough and did not have sufficient gain to be able communicate effectively.

It took an 85' tower and a multi-element beam for me to achieve effective enough communications so that I could "Make a Difference" during several different disasters/rescues in which I have been privileged enough to assist.

Such requirements are also true for many other areas of California.


Again... Thanks to the ARADF in recognizing that it is a collective fight to protect the Public Service of Amateur Radio..

 

I know exactly where KY6LA lives. I lived in La Jolla for over 20 years. He's in a tough spot, and the only way to overcome that is with height and gain.

 

It would seem that AA1MN according to his QRZ biography only works 2M and 440..

Too bad he does not live in California where we have mountains in cities... I suspect that if he did, even he would need an "aethetically pleasing" tower like I do to work even 2M....

Its unfortunate that misinformed hams such as AA1MN try to victimize hams who are trying to provide a Public Service.

Thanks again to ARADF for collectively trying to protect the rights of even the misinformed such as AA1MN.

 

AA1MN - Yes I have a tower.

AA1MN:

Yes , I said I have aways had a tower(s), at ALL 6six of my NJ and TX homes You could have answered your question by going to W5JON on QRZ and view the picture or go to: http://dodropin.org/w5jon.html

But I guess if I lived in MA and was always part of the 10%, and only operated 2m and 440, I would not need a tower.

GL in the contest and life.

73,

John W5JON - V47JA - J68JA - V31FB - P40DX - G0AOH

 

Now I have to ask. What band were you operating with this multi-element beam? 2 meters? 70 cm? You couldn't hit a repeater?

Glad you saved lives, with whatever antenna you used.

Ed
...

 

Why this posting about a Kalifornia antenna zoning rights organization be requesting donations from all over the world for Kalifornia ?

BTW, the A1 who hates antennas, an antenna is a beautiful thing and I wish all my neighbors had one/them. I don't give a whit about what the neighbors think if I was the only one. They can move.

K2WH

 

Some HOA-bound hams may have these as an option. I, for one, do not. I read the HOA rules carefully: where I live, any stealth antenna outside the house would be in violation of the architectural rules.

 

In 2003 Fires, most of the repeaters in San Diego Repeaters either burned down, lost power due to power failure, ran out of fuel, had the solar panels covered with ash, etc. The few (we were down to one from about 100 repeaters) that still operated were extremely difficult to hit without a high Antenna tower and a multi element beam. Further we communicated on 40M to the Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento as most local lines had burned down. This needed multi-elment beams to work effectively.

During Katrina, we had a 40 M Beam @85' and were able to provide communications on the SATERN Net.

During the 2007 fires, again most repeaters burnt down, power lines burnt down, ran out of fuel or had the solar panels blocked by ash. We needed high towers and multi-element beams to be able to hit the few remaining repeaters that were still operational. HF was used to communicate outside of San Diego County - again that needed beams to work effectively.

Many lives and much property were saved by the Ham Antennas.....

 

Bravo. Ditto.

Life's way too short for me to worry about what neighbors think or like.

However I must say, I've never had any neighbor problems concerning my towers and antennas.

Barking dogs are another issue.

 

Because Kalifornia is part of the USA and if municipalities in Kalifornia can get away with their unreasonable restrictions, then you can be assured (since Kalifornia usually leads the rest of the country with restrictive legislation) that your local municipality will eventually copy those restrictions.

ARADF was formed to fight those restrictions BEFORE they starting hurting even you....

Disclosure... I am NOT an officer or director of ARADF

 

Bill, the new foundation isn't just to help hams in California; it's national. To be a tax-exempt foundation, you have to be located "somewhere," so this one is based in California. But the intent is to help amateurs fight restrictive anti-antenna regulations all over the country.

 

Remember, that we also had a mini-war in a township outside of Pittsburgh not too long ago. Neighbors demanding large scale "screening" and the town commission acquiescing - at first.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_577237.html

We also had the N3HBX case which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and cost N3HBX over $150,000 in legal fees.

 

Sorry, can't do that. N3HBX proved that.

 

So what happened to the FCC exemption? Is it a paper tiger?

I'm not talking about HOAs here either, as it has been indicated this thread isn't about HOAs. Wasn't there a 'reasonable accomodation?" Doesn't it seem that is that exemption has any teeth, a copy could be presented to these municipalities with the "there, told ya so" approach, and that would be the end of that.

HOAs is a different matter as they are not local governments, and can set their own rules. To live in one, you need to determine what is important to you, your hobby of ham radio, or your commute to work.

But it seems to me, this is precisely the reason the FCC exemption was created. It should be working. No? Then complain to the FCC and tell them to 'fix it.' If it doesn't work, it's broke, and it needs updating, teeth, or for DHS to come in and kick butt. Or the FBI or someone with guns and authority to kick butt. Write Laura Smith and tell her local governments are messing with the exemption. This should not take megabucks. Maybe a few cheapie emails.

Either the exemption works or it doesn't. If it doesn't, find out why.

Ed
...

 

Ed:

PRB1 and the equivalent State PRB1's do work....

However many municipalities (Palmdale, San Diego are notorious but not isolated examples) choose to ignore PRB1 and enact ultimately illegal restrictions on Amateur Radio....

The only way to get a municipality to obey the law is to have a Judge tell them. We have tried every other non litigation method and it seems that they only listen to a Judge... and even then they try to skirt the Judge's rulings....

Unfortunately it costs a lot of money to go through the courts to get a Judge to tell municipalities to obey the law.

ARADF was set up to help amateurs around the country with the huge financial burden imposed on Amateurs trying to make their local municipalities obey the law.