I must agree with John. And moreover, these same arguments are not limited to the HOA and CC&R issues. They are now applied to PRB-1 "need" cases as well. Remote operations are also typically conflated by the public and legal tribunals with repeater systems and amateur satellites as eliminating the need for amateur towers and antennas, even for VHF, UHF and microwave operations. Last year, after 5 nights of hearings and almost 100 trial exhibits, 80 were mine in favor, a zoning appeals board staffed by 5 lawyers and the board's legal counsel denied a request for a 180 foot Rohn tower on 3 acres of WN3A's heavily wooded, semi-rural residence, stating just this. They awarded a truly useless height (for the subject location, subject property and demonstrated need and use) of 65 feet because PA law has a 65 foot minimum, albeit with too many exceptions to the exception. They really wanted it limited to 35 feet. The antennas therefore are maybe 45 feet or less above the highest point on the property and well under heavy foliage. They focused in the 25 page opinion on *remote operations, repeater stations and relaying signals including satellites* to justify their findings. One of two separate townships opposing argued WN3A could have a remote "club" , as they called it in their brief, and operate from there. Our Federal district court dismissed that amateur's well pleaded complaint resulting from the zoning board denial just a few weeks ago on preliminary motion. This puts us out of court before any evidence is presented. The court's lengthy written opinion alludes to John's very argument, essentially adapting the findings of the zoning board. Ham's can use repeaters and newer technologies to operate as a reasonable accommodation - usable antennas not needed regardless of evidence presented. And separately, astonishingly enough, the federal judge also opines that amateur microwave operations are possible from a 17 foot high antenna with heavy foliage, 96 foot trees, all around and higher local terrain . We are going to file an appeal to the third circuit court of appeals in about a week, but this published opinion changes much on the PRB-1 front in my view and that of our nationally renowned PRB-1 expert, K1VR. This new court opinion is presently legal precedent which many fill face as a new huddle. I present it here as this case from the beginning adapts the likely arguments against HR-1301 John presents. During public meetings in a greater Philadelphia suburban/semi-rural area, attended by over a hundred residents in 2014 - I was present - "ham radio is obsolete" was a main theme. One supervisor, the emergency manager for the town, testified ham radio has no emergency communications value to them these days and filed a written statement in the case to that effect. Others argued hams do not need significant antennas these days with new technologies, just as stated by John. Other hams calling me for advice in recent times are hearing the same arguments when they are summarily denied permits for even 55 or 65 foot towers. I see the definite erosion of PRB-1 and the defining cases since after about 2001. These arguments will show up against us here for sure as John suggested. I would love to see success on HR-1301, but we will indeed see these arguments and need to be ready, in advance with cogent responses. I'd love to see those "pocket" goodies as well. Might even help us in basic PRB-1 cases. Bob Famiglio, K3RF Vice Director, Atlantic Division 610-359-7300 On 6/6/2015 10:07 AM, JRS wrote:
David
I and the West Gulf have been dealing with the multiple HOA lobbying groups since 2009. While I have a strong, well-founded, opinion of their moral shortcomings, I have never found them — or at least their lead lobbyists — to be afflicted with HUB or to be politically naive. They will or have already seen the ad — and previous ads in QST wherein the ARRL permitted RHR to advertise behind ARRL trademarks. The HOAs and our real adversaries — the real estate sales community, the builders and the developers — spend millions per year in lobbying, at both the State and Federal level. They will use this tool and the logical argument behind it.
One of my objections to our previous support — intended, unintended or politically clueless — of RHR was that it offers one of the best arguments against permitting Hams /t//o destroy the economic value of millions of American homes, to litter the residential landscape with ugly, dangerous, offensive metal monstrosities and to violate hundreds of years of contract law./
/Such crude, 100 years old technology is no longer necessary — Hams themselves, using technology, have obviated the need for such crudities — they have developed methodologies that permit every Amateur to have access to the airwaves — they have created remote ham radio. Why even their national organization has and continues to support the development and expansion of remote ham radio operation — they lend their prestige//and //trademarks to the providers and even adapt their rules of operation to permit and promote remote operation.
/ With respect to Marty — remote operation will become cheaper as it gains more customers/adherents — thus that "reasonable" case and defense will be whittled away over time. The argument also assumes a level of understanding of the operation of AR that simply does not exist in any legislature. When you start explaining the difference between DX, local repeaters, simplex, et al — the "glazed eye" quotient increases logarithmically/. /And the HOAs, the real estate community, the builders and the developers will not accept any differentiation in operational needs — they will simply tie the issue to: /"Dude, it is a dying hobby of OFWGs who just want to talk & technology (they developed) permits them to do that. We used to have to have ugly telephone poles to communicate, now we have cell phones; technology improves all communications and the OFWGs just need to adapt to technology (theirs). Besides, with modern infrastructure, mobile & satellite communications and the universal availability of the internet how often is it likely we will really have to rely on an ancient, past century communications system practiced by a minority of citizens (OFWGs by the way)? / Accepting Chris Imlay's statement that the ARRL refused to run a RHR ad with the CQ language — correct call and good job, by the way — it underscores past poor business and strategic decisions — to wit, not getting control of CQ when it was possible. CQ intends to survive — it is a business after all — and if the Devil wants to run an ad and the Devil's check clears, the Devil is going to be permitted to run an ad. In fact, if I were the Devil I would think about buying or financially supporting CQ to maintain a pipeline to the customer base. And there is always the internet & its advertising ...
RHR is also a for-profit business; it intends to survive and expand. So it the stuffy senior citizens @ 225 Main reject their ads, they are going to go elsewhere. RHR is not a friend of AR or the ARRL. And it is clear from its past actions that it doesn't give a tinker's damn what the ARRL thinks or what AR needs to expand and survive.
And if the "DC Team" has "/thin//g//s in their pockets to deal with it/" I would love to have a peek into the "Team's" pocket.
Dr. Jim, yes the fight to remove outdated, financially motivated, private property right limiting private land use restrictions is "a good fight" — in fact, I believe it is _THE_ good fight — but if we are to win that fight, AR has to develop and fund a strategic theater of operations battle strategy it is willing to maintain for the long term. And that plan has to realistically address the elephant in the room — RHR, remote operation and RHR's very damaging and hostile marketing.
73
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John Robert Stratton
N5AUS
Office telephone: 512-445-6262 Cell: 512-426-2028 PO Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232
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On 6/6/15 7:44 AM, David Norris wrote:
GM All,
I see Dr. Boehner's point with RHR and the "unrestricted" use of ubiquitous Elecraft remotes opens another issue. However that which I find most worrisome is this part of the RHR add-
*HOA + CC&R = RHR “It’s not rocket science” RemoteHamRadio.com <http://RemoteHamRadio.com> 888-675-8035 *
I sure hope the HOA opponents to HR-1301 do not see this! This has the potential to do us great harm with respect to our current legislative efforts and I think it is quite reckless on RHR's part.
Food for thought and my $0.02 worth...
73
David A. Norris, K5UZ Director, Delta Division
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 6, 2015, at 7:10 AM, James F. Boehner MD via arrl-odv <arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org <mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org>> wrote:
I know I’m not the first to see this, but on page 9 in the June 2015 issue of CQ, RHR has a full page ad depicting a chalkboard:
*HOA + CC&R = RHR “It’s not rocket science” RemoteHamRadio.com <http://RemoteHamRadio.com> 888-675-8035*
So, they have found another venue for their advertising.
Interestingly, as one of the “Heartburns” of this RHR is charging large sums of money and time per minute of operation, I found this site that has some affiliation with Elecraft: http://www.remotehams.com/ where you can actually share your station. I haven’t investigated it, but it doesn’t appear any money is involved.
’73 de JIM N2ZZ
Director – Roanoke Division
/Serving ARRL members in the Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina sections/
*ARRL – The National Association for Amateur Radio™*
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