Senate passes National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 5515

I know this doesn't affect us here in Britain . . . but I'm curious as to what this is all about.

It looks like the part of the Bill talking about Amateur Radio is trying to say that your HOAs (and other local councils etc) should NOT be allowed any longer to impose excessive restrictions on licenced Radio Amateurs putting up reasonable antennas to enable them to enjoy their hobby.

Is that right?

But why is this part of a Bill about National Defence?

And what is APRA? (I have tried Googling . . . but it brings up about 20 different organisations, none of which seem applicable!)

(and I appreciate that only one of your legislatures have approved the version that includes the Ham Radio section - it's rather like our House of Commons and House of Lords)

Roger G3YRO

 

ARPA is short for the amateur radio parity act which failed to get through our Congress so someone attached similar language in our Defense Department appropriations bill which is a typical strategy when something is either too trivial or too divisive to get voted into law on its own merit.

Last I knew, it was still languishing in Congress because of disparities between the House and Senate versions. The current iteration eliminated the "reasonable antenna" requirement and now requires HOAs only to write rules limiting height, size and aesthetic constraints. Noteworthy is the lack of any support for this among people who actually live in HOAs.

 

According to the latest info from ARRL, they estimate about 10K hams live in HOAs. They also state that, as The national association for AMATEUR RADIO®, they have about 170K paying members/subscribers (out of about 750K US hams). The latest estimate is that about 68 million people live in HOAs. So, with a small minority of US hams as members, they've been pushing this legislation that's expected to benefit a tiny minority of hams in HOAs, against tens of millions of their neighbors.

 

It's all a sham over which a few people in Newington will claim victory because HOAs will establish onerous restrictions where none presently exist. Stupid can't be fixed!

 

OK, thank you for the information.

Here in Britain, probably 99% of houses have a UHF TV antenna (typically a 10 element yagi) on a pole attached to their house.

If your house is in a dip, you may need a 20ft pole, affixed to the highest point on the house - perhaps a chimney, or the top of the gable end.

This works to the advantage of us Radio Amateurs . . .

The point is that with so many TV antennas, no local council can object to a 20ft pole on top of your roof (which may be 50ft to the top) to hold the centre of a discrete wire dipole !

Roger G3YRO

 

Except here in America the stupid thing is you can install a TV antenna exactly like you described in an HOA and it's perfectly acceptable. But attaching any amateur radio antenna to that same antenna pole is strictly prohibited.

This ongoing stupidity is why this bill / antenna legislation exits.

Apparently if you don't have a specific rule to permit amateur radio antennas to be installed in HOA's regardless how discreet they might be, the dumb HOA rules say they are not allowed.

This is regardless if there's already a glaring TV antenna installed on top a 30' tall pole outside.

 

Again, TV antenna size/height is well-defined. Ham radio antennas, not so much; wavelength varies from MW to UHF and field intensity is much less. A reasonably-effective antenna for 160m is necessarily large and a reasonably-effective antenna for 70cm is necessarily mounted above large structures and thick vegetation. OTARD antennas operating in much stronger RF fields, not so much.

Again, though OTARD directly affected TV suppliers (subscription and FREE), it also allowed tens of millions of end users a choice of suppliers. With this legislation, it appears the only users to benefit will be a few tens of thousands of hams. Contrary to contracts/agreements/promises, their tens of millions of neighbors will be required to accept it.

And, hams who WANT to get on the air in their HOA's [sic] can choose one of several alternatives RIGHT NOW. I agree that the bill exists because of stupidity.

 

...So do you see the problem and stupidity of it all yet?

Here's a photo of an outdoor antenna installed in an HOA.

So what is it? ...A TV antenna or a VHF Yagi antenna?

Do you really think anyone in the HOA neighborhood really cares if it's a TV antenna or a VHF ham radio antenna?

They kind of look like the same thing don't they?

 

Yes -- the legislation is (still) a "solution" in search of a problem. Meanwhile, hams have always had several alternatives. Since the proliferation of remote stations, we have even more choices.

 

You and other like minded people are the problem. Not this legislation.

 

IOW, when you run out of valid argument, attack your opponent.

 

You're pretty good at that. You're out of gas as usual.

 

Again:

OTOH, I state fact and logic.

 

Your logic and fact is seriously flawed..

Here's another "banned" antenna installed in an HOA...



What do you have against hams installing outdoor antennas like this one in an HOA exactly?

.

 

With myopia, one might think so in that ONE instance. Let's keep in mind that:

• ARRL estimates only about 10K hams live in a HOA.
• Tens of millions of non-hams live in HOA's [sic].
• There has been virtually ZERO indicated increased public need of hams on the air. Hams ARE/DO provide public service. Hams only WANT to get on the air.
• Hams have alternatives that HOA's [sic] don't have anything to say about.

Again, this legislation is a "solution" in search of a problem.