On 01/02/2005 8:41 AM, Brian Short wrote:
In article ,
(Derek Wills) wrote:
In 1960 there were 399,000 Amateur stations world wide
In 2000 there were 2,789,720 Amateur stations world wide
How you interpret these numbers depends on how you define
a station, in part. Does it weigh less than 1 lb or not?
Station licenses are not the same as stations, anyway -
I have a license but no station unless you count the halogen
lamps at home. But nobody asked me whether I have a station.
I don't want to draw any fire, but there is a point
to this -
Not all that many licensed amateurs in the United
States have the legal right to install an antenna
on their property.
I live in a neighborhood built in 1969, so there
is no deed restriction, but there is a city-wide
restriction (Tempe, AZ) of 35 feet height.
Even so, my neighbors send the "neighborhood
enhancement" (doesn't that sound ominous and
sort of nazi-like?) out regularly for various
imagined city code issues of which there has
never been a single violation.
Basically, there is an ad hoc legal ban on amateur
stations at residences built in the last 20 years,
at least in suburban settings.
The same sort of thing has been going on in Canada, as well. It is my
understanding, though, that the federal government here has the sole
right to regulate antenna structures within Canada; provinces and
municipalities can create their own statutes and bylaws, but these have
no real jurisdiction over the use of antenna installations in Canada.
They can, however, institute laws and require permits to ensure that
their local concerns are addressed.
So, there may be permits and regulations and guidelines one must follow
to erect such a structure. The notion is that an amateur is entitled to
operate within the limits of that license anywhere within Canada, local
statutes and bylaws notwithstanding (ah, that most Canadians of words.)
Basically, Industry Canada encourages the local governments to
"regulate" within their jurisdiction, but retain the last word on what
is allowed, and can veto any such permit, bylaw or statute. The feds
have actually lined up the process you can use to state your case,
regardless of local government laws.
The whole thing is rather ill-defined, and there are no deciding court
cases to furnish us with a definitive answer. However, the notion is
that an amateur is entitled to a "reasonable" use of their license,
including being able to erect "reasonable" towers and antennas for that
purpose. Often all it takes is notifying your neighbours, tweaking the
design a bit to make it less offensive and ensuring it conforms to all
the necessary federal and local safety guidelines.
This last bit often requires a "permit" from the local government, but
my understanding (IANAL, obviously) is that only the feds can tell you
that you can't erect some sort of reasonable antenna installation, and
they have to have a pretty good reason to do so.
Basically, the law is set up to keep people from going crazy and setting
up a 200kW antenna farm in their backyards, while being hard for any
province or town to keep an amateur from erecting a simple, reasonably
high structure that complies with their license and local building codes.
--
clvrmnky
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