Slashdot Mirror
The Ham Radio Parity Act Unanimously Passed By US House (arrl.org)
This week the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed "The Ham Radio Parity Act" -- a huge victory for grass-roots advocates of amateur radio.
Slashdot reader bobbied reports: This will allow for the reasonable accommodation of amateur radio antennas in many places where they are currently prohibited by homeowner associations or private land use restrictions... If this bill passes the Senate, we will be one step closer to allowing amateur radio operators, who provide emergency communications services, the right to erect reasonable antenna structures in places where they cannot do so now.
The national ham radio association is now urging supporters to contact their Senators through a special web page. "This is not just a feel-good bill," said representative Joe Courtney, remembering how Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and "we saw all the advanced communications we take for granted...completely fall by the wayside."
The national ham radio association is now urging supporters to contact their Senators through a special web page. "This is not just a feel-good bill," said representative Joe Courtney, remembering how Hurricane Sandy brought down the power grid, and "we saw all the advanced communications we take for granted...completely fall by the wayside."
Cell phone base stations go dead after a few hours of power loss.
Have gnu, will travel.
Is that deed restricted properties are even allowed under law.
Only complete idiots thinks it's a good idea to hand over the deed right to you property to an association that can foreclose on you because you let your grass grow to 3" instead of the maximum allowed 2.5".
These types of places were tolerable only until they started taking over ALL available property within the best school districts, good locations in cities, and other important qualities of a property. Generally based on municipalities who want to collect taxes but not be held accountable for maintaining common spaces (parks, pools, sidewalks, etc.) and thus _require_ all new development to be done under a deed restricted plan. It's a "lovely" work around to that whole pesky property rights issue that governments face due to federal, state and local constitutions, laws, etc.
I saw some Democrats supporting this bill. Therefore, as a Republican, I'm going to have to oppose this bill on principle.
No, I'm kidding, of course. I'm not a ham radio operator myself, but it seems like this is some common-sense legislation. Homeowner's associations can be remarkably priggish at times. I think some people just enjoy lording nitpicky rules over others, and that's the only mechanism they have, other than making family members miserable.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
This legislation is a needed benefit for the ham community, but the NIMBY problem is far bigger than this. I have seen cases where a small group of Concerned Citizens (aka tinfoil yammerheads) can prevent needed cell towers from being installed in their town because 'radiation'.
What I would like to see is legislation that would strip NIMBYs of court access to prevent the construction of any public infrastructure project that conforms to published specifications for safety, appearance, and environmental impact for the project type, as adjudicated by the relevant regulatory agency. To obstruct a project, an opponent would be burdened with proving that the project did not conform to its type specification.
"Or, people would like to be able to own homes in areas unblighted by rooftop antenna towers."
Or on the third hand, they might want to move into a neighborhood and then inveigh against existing ham antennas. This happens all the time.
Pot-bellied retirees reliving their childhood pretending to matter in the modern world...
Ham radio spans the globe, not just the US.
And when the shit seriously hits the fan, the grid goes down in some 3rd-world country, it's the ham radio guys that move the news in and out. They can even tcp over it.
When the Zombie Apocalypse comes - in whatever form it may be - it'll be *our* hams moving info.
The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
This thinking really bothers me, and while I know the principle you cite is generally true, I can't help but think that by far, I'd prefer to live next to a slob than someone who's going to tell me what I can and can't do on my own property. I can't speak for anyone else on this, but I, for one, would abandon any bargain on the sale of a house, upon being told that there's an HOA involved. That is a total deal breaker. If I'm going to buy a house, I'm buying a place to live. If it's an investment that I want, I'll try venture capital, trade goods or the stock market. Or comic books, as I'm already doing that.
Learning about brewing beer, by brewing beer.
Meaningless fodder bill in an election year.
Not at all.
This is so much better than where things stand now. For example, I have a friend who put up a wire antenna in his back yard in an HOA and was forced to take it down even though you could not even see it without trespassing on his property. How is a wire that no one can see without trespassing affecting anyone's home value? But, as things are, it can be banned. Banning a wire that no one can see certainly would not "constitute the minimum practicable restriction on such communications to accomplish the lawful purposes of a community association seeking to enforce such restriction."
Will everything immediately go smoothly and every ham operator get exactly what they want? No, of course not. Will people end up going to court to sort this out? I'm sure that will happen. But over time, an understanding of what all of this means will arise just like it has for satellite dishes and over the air antennas.
This bill certainly isn't perfect. But, it is infinitely better than where things stand right now.