* New Group Lists "Antenna Allies" In Congress

So now we know who the backers of the anti HOA movement are.  David Koresh, et al.  

I can't believe there are hams today are so rude and inconsiderate that they would, given the opportunity, throw up an unsightly tower and a beam in someone's view.  So much for the new breed.  I guess they want the public to hate hams as much as they do lawyers.

Fortunately, inconsiderate folks are the exception and there is, despite the legal sounding rhetoric, absolutely no chance of any such thing passing political muster.

But just in case, maybe I'll found the Anti Structure and Skywire Hams Organization for Landscape Elegance and Style.  I have some knowledge in that field.

 

Believe it. Absolutely nothing rude or inconsiderate about it! For your information, I (and a lot of others) think a tower and nice beam are beautiful. Nothing "unsightly" about them. And I am just as entitled to my opinion as anyone else because "beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

 

To W6YDK;
I have ALL the "Landscaping, Elegance & Style" you crave, right here in Denver, Colo.!!!!!
However; when you need to "get-on-the-air" in an emergency,
I want you to ponder your "Anti-Structure & Skywire" org., when
you can't conduct "health & wellfare" traffic, because you live in a "Faraday Cage" {HUD building}!
Your smug attitude; is indicative of those, who really don't care about the Radio Amateurs, not rich enough to own the "Ponderosa Spread" in "6 Land".
Over & Out W6YDK, can you see my semifore flags signaling:
"ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS" from the 16 Fl?

 

To W6YDK;
I have ALL the "Landscaping, Elegance & Style" you crave, right here in Denver, Colo.!!!!!
However; when you need to "get-on-the-air" in an emergency,
I want you to ponder your "Anti-Structure & Skywire" org., when
you can't conduct "health & wellfare" traffic, because you live in a "Faraday Cage" {HUD building}!
Your smug attitude; is indicative of those, who really don't care about the Radio Amateurs, not rich enough to own the "Ponderosa Spread" in "6 Land".
Over & Out W6YDK, can you see my semifore flags signaling:
"ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS" from the 16 Fl?

 

I see a lot of people ranting and raving about if they don't have their tower and antennas, they won't be available when a disaster strikes.

Ok, thats all fine and good, no problem. I then pose the question: What is Field Day's purpose? Isn't the resourceful ham living in a HOA the one that, when it 'hits the fan' would then be able to put up an antenna for emergency communications, and once said emergency subsides, then can take it back down and store it for the next emergency?

I thought we were supposed to be resourceful, not "the one with the biggest tower wins". But thats fine, no problem. Y'all do what you like in that matter. If you can put up a 200' tower in a HOA, go for it

But I would expect that a few things will be happening when you do....

-Odd looks from neighbors
-Your neighbor asking about your 50' tower being on your postage stamp lot, and who is going to pay if said tower falls over, since said tower is definetely higher than the legnth or width of your lot. Most HOA's I see have these nice huge houses that take up 85% of the lot.....
-Oh, and how do you properly guy a tower that needs it when you barely have room to pour the pad for it in the first place? I have a friend of mine who WOULD have had approval to put a tower up, but couldn't get past the building inspector for that very reason.

Like I said, go for it. I'd personally give more consideration to my neighbors, and right now, in a pinch, I could be on the air, in an emergency, within minutes (within the paramaters of my current licence). But, seeing as the scope of emergency communications is the fact that I'm likely in the middle of the emergency, I would assume that any antennas I have currently in the air may not be serviceable.

I just hope when everyone talks about 'emergency communications' as the primary concern for having a tower in an HOA, that they also have backup plans for power as well as antenna...in case that tower is laying in the yard useless because they are right in the middle of said disaster.

Would I balk if my neighbor put up a tower? No, provided I can put an antenna on it Doesn't even have to be at the top, as long as I can get my 2m packet station up a bit more than the roofline level its at now. But would I be shocked if other people were balking at it? Not really. Only a ham radio operator, a cell phone provider, and anyone else who actually needs one sees them as pretty.

The rest of the people wouldn't, and those are the ones you'd have to convince, and make sure you have all your T's and I's dotted with the local building authority. Because even with this law, nothing is going to prevent you from abiding by all building codes.

And with the lots I see in most HOA's, the tallest tower you can get is going to have to be freestanding, and probably attached to your house. I'm sure insurance to cover losses to neighbors in the potential path of it falling will be mandatory also.

Not going to be a cheap endeavour, even with federal backing.....

 

To W6YDK;
I have ALL the "Landscaping, Elegance & Style" you crave, right here in Denver, Colo.!!!!!
However; when you need to "get-on-the-air" in an emergency,
I want you to ponder your "Anti-Structure & Skywire" org., when
you can't conduct "health & wellfare" traffic, because you live in a "Faraday Cage" {HUD building}!
Your smug attitude; is indicative of those, who really don't care about the Radio Amateurs, not rich enough to own the "Ponderosa Spread" in "6 Land".
Over & Out W6YDK, can you see my semifore flags signaling:
"ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS" from the 16 Fl?

 

To W6YDK:

Please don't assume that any one HOA antenna reformer, including me, speaks for all of the other HOA antenna reformers.

Hams in general tend to be individualists, and anti-HOA hams tend to be even more individualistic. We may have some "points of consensus" -- indeed, we HAVE to have some, in order to act together politically -- but don't think we all think alike!

HAMS FOR ACTION, as an organization, favors partial and conditional overrides of the total bans on ham antennas by HOAs (and similar overrides of the total bans by landlords, if this is possible politically).

Some of our Members would like to abolish ALL restrictions on ham antennas -- if not all HOAs! Other Members of HFA can see some value in HOAs, and even understand the typical HOA viewpoint toward outdoor ham antennas, but believe that "reasonable regulation" of ham antennas can be achieved without banning ham antennas completely.

Whatever our individual views on HOAs in general, or on regulation of ham antennas in general, HFA Members have reached A CONSENSUS on the proposal in our July 2006 Petition For Rulemaking to the FCC. We believe HFA's Petition is "something everybody can live with" (including the HOAs).

Is HFA's Petition an ideal solution? No. But it's a reasonable solution: one that is evenhanded enough to be "politically marketable". Or so we hope.

If you haven't read HFA's Petition already, I invite you to check it out -- along with its Appendices -- on HFA's Web Site at www.hamsforaction.net


73,




Don Schellhardt KI4PMG


PS. Speaking ONLY for myself, and not for HFA as a group, I have lived under two HOAs -- in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC -- and hope I never have to repeat the experience. I may have no choice if I stay in Colorado, however, because here HOAs are generally mandated by State law.

Personally, I wouldn't shed a tear if HOAs were abolished. However, as a matter of political reality, I don't think that's going to happen. What COULD happen is what HFA has just proposed to the FCC: PARTIAL and CONDITIONAL overrides of the TOTAL and UNconditional bans on outdoor ham antennas by HOAs.

HFA's position falls much closer to the "middle of the road", where a plurality of the votes are, than the HOAs' position.

As I've said elsewhere in this discussion thread, I also consider it politically possible to make HOAs subject to the same Constitutional restraints -- both substantive and procedural -- that already apply to municipal governments.

Are HOAs going to ask openly to keep their present ability to do things that would be unconstitutional if they were done by an arm of government? Maybe ... but I think it would be a "tough sell" for them, politically.

Instead, HOAs just might accept the Constitution-based limitations, the same way they recently accepted the new Federal law -- first proposed by Representative Roscoe Bartlett, R-MD -- to remove their previous authority to ban displays of the American flag.

And if they didn't accept those limitations ... Well, they can be beaten in a fair fight, IF the HOA reformers are willing to commit enough time, energy and money to the battle.


BUT ... that's Don Schellhardt talking ...

HAMS FOR ACTION, as "a consensus-driven organization", is focused on only one thing:

OverRIDING ham antenna bans, in part by not overREACHING in what we ask the HOAs to accept.

 

To KC0QIT:

I will be in Metro Denver (Lakewood) from the Friday after Thanksgiving through Saturday, December 2 -- and quite possibly beyond that.

I invite you to E-Mail me, at pioneerpath@hotmail.com, to arrange a personal meeting. Maybe we can chat over lunch or a cup of coffee.

BTW --

The last time I checked Colorado's Initiative and Referendum law, which was in 2002, more was required than collecting signatures from registered Colorado voters. You had to "jump through a hoop", or two, before you could even get to that point.

Of course, the law might have been changed since then. I have been away from Colorado for almost 4 years.

Nevertheless, even if all the "hoops" are still there in the statute, getting a referendum on the ballot in Colorado remains "do-able" IF enough people work hard enough for that objective.

You can't say that about Connecticut or Virginia, where I have also lived. Those States are largely closed to citizen-initiated referenda.


********


To others who are reading this discussion thread:

In response to KC0QIT's question about getting HFA involved in Colorado, or California, or other individual States, I have to stress that HFA is a national organization with a national agenda.

At this stage, we already need more Members and money to do everything we want to do on the national scene. We don't have the resources, at present, to even THINK about getting involved directly at the State level.

HOWEVER ...

Having said this ...

I could certainly provide some limited advice to people who want to set up their own STATE LEVEL counterpart to HFA. In Colorado, I could probably do a little more to help, since I live here.

In any case, a State level HOA antenna reform group could be, for example, the California Chapter of HFA -- but it could also be a totally independent group, without any formal HFA connection. That would be for the group's Members to decide.

Another decision for a State level group might be deciding whether to seek a coalition with other groups favoring reform of HOAs. That is: Backing HOA antenna reform PLUS some of the things that other HOA reform groups might want.

This could be a "tricky" decision, of course. "Going it alone" means giving up potential allies. On The Other Hand, building a coalition with allies will add to the number of items that have to be negotiated or otherwise resolved.

HFA, or at least the national version of it (which is the ONLY version of it so far), has decided to focus solely on attaining a (comparatively) modest version of HOA antenna reform. We have not tried to build a more broadly based coalition that seeks broader changes in HOA behavior.

Depending on circumstances, we might re-visit that decision in the future. For one thing: The more "hard line" the HOAs are, the more incentive HOA antenna reformers will have to find new allies by broadening their original agenda.


****


For now, my main point is that a State level group will have to recruit its own Members (who can ALSO be members of the national HFA group) and generate its own funding. The national HFA group may be able to provide moral support, and perhaps periodic advice, but nothing more tangible than that. At the very least, not right now ...

 

Hey Jerry!

Did you notice that this is the HAM RADIO NEWS section and not RAG CHEW?

Please take the political discussions where they belong.

Thanks.

 

This discussion thread is NEWS about political developments which directly affect HAM RADIO.

73,


Don KI4PMG