Of Note...

The November 11, 2006 edition of Radio World has published a Commentary written by Don Schellhartd of Hams For Action.

Read it here.

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HAMS FOR ACTION

SAMPLE LETTER

FOR URGING CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATORS

TO URGE ACTION BY THE FCC

ON HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION (HOA) ANTENNA REFORM

PRELIMINARY NOTES:

1. The document which follows is a SAMPLE letter. It is designed to serve as a starting point for your own, personal letter to your U.S. Representative and

your two U.S. Senators. HAMS FOR ACTION (HFA) encourages you to add to the text, subtract from the text and/or re-write some or all of the text with words of your own. The more this letter truly reflects YOU, the more effective it will be.

2. Please DO NOT send this by snail mail to the Capitol Hill office of your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators. Due to post-9/11 security procedures, screening of mail sent to Capitol Hill can delay delivery by two months or more. Instead, snail mail your letter to the nearest local office of the Congressional legislators you are contacting -- or else send the letter to Capitol Hill by Express Mail or Fax. (Snail mail to a local office is the least costly option.)

3. To find the snail mail address for the local office of your U.S. Representative, and/or the Fax number for his or her Capitol Hill office, go to www.house.gov -- the official Web Site of the U.S. House of Representatives -- and find the link to your Representative’s individual Web Site. The contact information you need should be located somewhere on that individual Web Site.

4. To find the snail mail address for the local office of one of your two U.S. Senators, and/or the Fax number for his or her Capitol Hill office, go to www.senate.gov -- the official Web Site of the U.S. Senate -- and find the link to that Senator’s individual Web Site. The contact information you need should be located somewhere on that individual Web Site.

[INSERT YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS HERE]

[INSERT DATE HERE]

[INSERT NAME AND ADDRESS

OF THE NEAREST DISTRICT OFFICE

OF THE U.S. REPRESENTATIVE

OR U.S. SENATOR YOU ARE

CONTACTING]

Dear [INSERT TITLE AND LAST NAME OF THE LEGISLATOR YOU ARE CONTACTING],

During July of 2006, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a Petition For Rulemaking from a newly formed group, HAMS FOR ACTION (HFA). The text of this Petition has been posted, along with its Appendices and other related documents, on the HFA Web Site at www.hamsforaction.net

I am writing to urge you to urge the FCC to Docket this Petition for public comments.

I am also asking you to do more than simply forward my letter to the FCC. I am asking you to send your own letter, in your own name, to urge Docketing of the HFA Petition by the FCC. I do not expect you to endorse every detail -- or, for that matter, any detail -- of the Petition, but I urge you to urge the FCC to start the process of deliberations on this Petition. The details cannot be resolved until and unless the process is started.

The Petition by HFA asks the FCC to establish partial and conditional overrides of the total bans which Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) have imposed on outdoor antennas used by Amateur Radio operators (aka hams). The proposed overrides would allow the installation of ham antennas which: (a) have a fairly low visual impact; and (b) are used by hams who have been certified as trained and active Emergency Communicators.

The spread of HOAs -- which typically ban all outdoor ham antennas, regardless of size or purpose -- has cast a long shadow over the future of the Amateur Radio Service. At great risk is its ability to continue to provide Emergency Communications during disasters or mega-disasters, natural or man-made.

According to Professor of Economics Ron Cheung, of Florida State University, at least 50% of all new American housing is now controlled by HOAs. In virtually all of these neighborhoods, all outdoor ham antennas are banned, which means in practice that all Amateur Radio Service operations within those neighborhoods are banned.

That is: Most HOA-controlled neighborhoods are effectively denied the same level of Emergency Communications protection enjoyed by more traditional neighborhoods.

Further, the impact on Emergency Communications spreads beyond the HOA-controlled neighborhoods to the nation as a whole. Because America’s younger generations are particularly concentrated in newer neighborhoods, which are in turn disproportionately dominated by HOAs, the total antenna bans have made it much more difficult for today’s hams to replace themselves with new recruits. Further, to the extent that current hams live in HOA-controlled neighborhoods, their ability to keep their skills sharp is at risk

-- because opportunities to practice their craft have been sharply reduced.

As an additional thrust, the Petition also proposes partial and conditional overrides of total bans on outdoor ham antennas by landlords. This virtually universal practice by landlords makes it very difficult for hams to become an established community resource in places such as Manhattan, where most residents are tenants. Since the top terrorist targets are often high-tenant cities, it is also important for the FCC to addresses this second gap in Emergency Communications coverage by hams.

Once again, I stress that I am not asking you to advocate adoption of HFA’s Petition, verbatim, by the FCC. I am only asking you to advocate Docketing of HFA’s Petition by the FCC -- so that the process of considering this Petition, which includes the solicitation and review of public comments, can begin.

Given the kind of world we live in, the preservation and expansion of an existing Emergency Communications capability is not a task to be pursued at a leisurely pace. If

the FCC does not begin the process of considering HFA’s Petition within a reasonable period of time, people like me will be looking to people like you to respond to this situation through legislation.

Sincerely,

[INSERT YOUR NAME HERE]