UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC
Emergency Communications by` )
Amateur Radio Service Operators ) Docket No. 12-91
WRITTEN COMMENTS OF HAMS FOR ACTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 1
HFA’s Core Recommendations 2
Details of HFA’s Core Recommendations 3
A Note Regarding Maximum Antenna Heights 4
A Note Regarding HFA’s Proposed Requirement For 5
Emergency Communications Training and/or 6
Work Promoting Technological Innovation 7
“The Gathering Storm” 8-10
Conclusion 11
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20554
Emergency Communications by )
Amateur Radio Service Operators ) Docket No. 12-91
WRITTEN COMMENTS OF HAMS FOR ACTION
HAMS FOR ACTION is a small but nationwide citizens’ advocacy group, linked
together through communication over The Internet. We are composed exclusively of Amateur
Radio Service operators and support reasonable regulation of Amateur Radio Service antennas
by Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) and landlords. Once again: We call for reasonable
regulation of ham antennas, not deregulation of ham antennas.
Unfortunately, most HOAs and landlords do not regulate ham antennas at all. They
simply prohibit them -- in all of their possible shapes and sizes.
This is an overreach. It is an overreach which denies otherwise available emergency
communications protection to HOA residents and tenants alike -- thereby leaving gaping gaps
in a web of security that could otherwise be stretched to encompass the entire nation.
When virtually all of the nation’s HOA residents and virtually all of the nation’s tenants
are being arbitrarily expelled from the Amateur Radio Service network of Emergency
Communications protection, barely half of America’s population still has a level of security
that could be … should be … and used to be available to everyone.
This has been a tragic loss. It should be undone as quickly as possible.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Two
HAMS FOR ACTION was founded, in 2006, in an effort to heal the current damage.
Among other activities, we filed a detailed Petition For Rulemaking, urging the FCC to
initiate a proposed rule for instituting reasonable ham antenna reform.
Unfortunately, our Petition was denied by the FCC, largely on the grounds that the FCC
did not wish to venture into this controversial area without a clear “green light” from Congress.
Perhaps the Commission will now conclude that the “green light” has flashed.
In any event, following other unsuccessful attempts to promote ham antenna reform --
including polite and friendly, but ultimately ineffective, discussions with “The Other Side” at
the Community Associations Institute (CAI) -- HAMS FOR ACTION became inactive in
2008.
We have now re-activated ourselves in order to contribute to the current proceedings.
If further government actions result from these proceedings, we will probably address those
future actions as well.
HFA’s Core Recommendations
(1.) By law, require HOAs and landlords to allow ham antennas which meet
reasonable regulatory standards. These regulatory standards should include a
“rebuttable presumption” that ham antennas are permissible when and if they conform to
certain antenna height limits for HOA-governed single family homes and townhouses, as
well as much lower height limits for HOA-governed apartments and other apartments.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Three
Further regulatory standards for ham antennas should include strict maintenance
requirements, some aesthetic requirements and clear operator liability for any damage
resulting from Amateur Radio Service activities. Without this kind of reasonable
balance between the interests of HOAs and landlords On The One Hand, and the
overriding national security interests of the American people On The Other, we believe
that a legal mandate for ham antenna “accommodation” would be perpetually contentious
at best -- and politically unsustainable at worst.
And
(2.) Require HOAs and landlords to allow ham antennas only when the operators
are: (a) demonstrably trained in Emergency Communications and then kept “fresh” by
regular participation in Emergency Communications activities and/or exercises; and/or (b)
regularly engaged in experimentation, and/or other activities, which could lead to
technological innovation.
Details of HFA’s Core Recommendations
Details of HFA’s core recommendations have already been set forth in the text and
Appendices of HFA’s Petition For Rulemaking. This Petition was dated July 21, 2006 …
received by the Commission on July 31, 2006 ,,, and posted in the Electronic Comment
Filing System (ECFS), on the FCC’s Web Site at
www.fcc.gov, on August 2, 2006.
The applicable Docket Number is PRM06MB.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Four
The Petition: (a) asked the FCC to reconsider its previous decision(s) not to become
involved with overriding ham antenna bans; and (b) presented to the FCC, as a starting
point for discussion, the actual text of proposed regulations the FCC could issue.
These proposed regulations, and the various arguments for action, can still be found in
the ECFS copy of our Petition.
We incorporate by reference all of FCC Docket PRM06MB, including our Petition.
We believe that all of the documents in FCC Docket PRM06MB, but especially the text
and Appendices of our Petition For Rulemaking, can be a useful source of insights and ideas for
both the FCC and the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition:
We incorporate by reference HFA’s filings in FCC Docket 06-119: the FCC’s
proceedings on Emergency Communications lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.
A Note Regarding Maximum Antenna Heights
Our 2006 Petition For Rulemaking proposed that ham antennas should be “rebuttably
presumed” to be “reasonable” if they remain at or below certain specified antenna heights.
For HOA-governed apartments, and other apartments, the proposed maximum height was 3 feet:
far below the ideal, but better than nothing and probably the tallest antenna that is practical in an
apartment setting. For single family homes and townhomes governed by HOAs, the proposed
maximum height was 20 feet, or 3 feet above the roofline, whichever is higher.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Five
This was HFA’s policy recommendation in 2006. However, Members of the revived
HFA of 2012 are not totally the same people as those who were Members of HFA in 2006. As a
result, we are now having internal discussions over whether the proposed maximum heights for
HOA-governed single family homes and townhomes have been set too low.
In this regard, it has been noted that some popular, standard ham antennas run at or
around 33 feet.
As we said, HFA Members are discussing this matter internally. At least for the
moment, however, our established recommendation -- 20 feet, or 3 feet above the roofline,
whichever is higher -- will stand.
We will apprise you, in the near future, if our position changes.
A Note Regarding HFA’s Proposed Requirement
For Emergency Communications Training and/or
Work Promoting Technological Innovation
Our 2006 Petition For Rulemaking proposed to set Emergency Communications
training and activities, and/or work to promote technological innovation, as pre-conditions for
“reasonable accommodation” of an Amateur Radio Service operator’s antenna.
We know that some hams -- perhaps many hams -- currently view ham radio activity
as a “right”: one which should be recognized as unconditional, even for those who are only
“hobbyist hams”.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Six
We do not agree. There is a reason we call ham radio the Amateur Radio Service.
Active hams are already expected to carry out certain responsibilities in order to “earn
their keep” for the privilege of using certain portions of the precious radio spectrum. As new
uses for that precious radio spectrum place mounting pressure on portions of the spectrum that
are now reserved for traditional uses, prudent hams should prepare themselves to offer more
service -- not less! -- in order to retain the access to the airwaves that they presently enjoy.
Sooner or later, the “hobbyist ham” may become an endangered species, regardless of
whether or not HFA’s proposal is adopted.
In The Meantime:
The nation needs more Emergency Communicators. Desperately. The nation also
needs more technological innovators. Desperately. If the reward of a partial waiver of
otherwise applicable regulations can motivate “hobbyist hams” to become trained Emergency
Communicators and/or technological innovators, the American people will clearly benefit.
In any event, there is nothing radical or unprecedented about expecting hams to offer the
service of providing skilled Emergency Communications capabilities, and/or the service of
promoting technological innovation, in return for the good will of their neighbors. Those
neighbors are much more likely to accept “deviations from the neighborhood norm” if they are
also gaining something -- such as greater personal safety -- from the arrangements.
That, in turn, means the arrangements are likely to be more politically stable: something
the FCC and the Department of Homeland Security can count on, over the long term, as a way
of shoring up the nation’s strength in very dangerous times.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Seven
“The Gathering Storm”
HOA and landlord antenna bans are having a generational impact on the Amateur Radio
Service. Currently licensed hams, whose ages in the United States average well above 50, are
finding it difficult to “replace themselves” with those who can serve into the second half of the
21st century.
Part of the difficulty -- not all of the difficulty, but a major part of it -- is the fact
that many of the nation’s potential new hams do not live in places where they can learn and
practice their Amateur Radio skills. 50 years ago, a smaller percentage of children and younger
adults lived in apartments -- and virtually none of them lived in privately owned homes
where HOAs blocked their path. Clearly, times have changed.
As we have said: America needs more Emergency Communicators. Desperately.
Just as America needs more technological innovators. Desperately.
However, America won’t have enough of them if America continues to allow HOAs and
landlords to turn homes into places where the use of non-institutional technology is forbidden.
Unfortunately, the evidence suggests -- strongly -- that America will need
Emergency Communicators even more in the future than it needs them now.
(1.) One reason for making this statement is as obvious as the smoke plumes on 9/11.
The technology for mass destruction is spreading into more and more hands, across the globe.
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Eight
(2.) Another reason for our statement is the rising negative impact of human activities on
the global biosphere. Whether or not you believe human activities have caused it, the world is
clearly growing warmer -- with results like melting ice caps, rising sea levels, more severe
storms and desertification. Meanwhile, quite apart from the much-debated impact of rising
levels of carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere, the runoff of agricultural chemicals
down the Mississippi River has caused a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of square
miles in size, where no fish can live … forces unknown have almost doubled the rate of
childhood autism in a single decade … and the catastrophe of a larger hole in the ozone layer
was averted only by unprecedented global action to ban hydrofluorocarbons at the last minute.
We humans have never before tried so hard to heal our own damage to the natural
environment -- but we have also never before faced so much of our own damage mounting
up. Until and unless we humans try much harder, the future seems likely to be marked by
more eco-disasters than the recent past.
(3.) A third reason for our statement is the simple fact that we are overdue for certain
kinds of natural disasters. We haven’t had a major pandemic, like the swine flu, in a century.
We haven’t had a world-shaking pandemic, like the Black Plague, in several centuries.
Geologically, we are overdue for “The Big One” in both Southern and Northern California --
plus a potentially even larger earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, off the coasts of
Washington State and Oregon, and/or the New Madrid Fault in southeastern Missouri.
How much longer can our current luck hold out?
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Nine
(4.) The fourth and final reason for our statement is this: Many, many more people
have placed themselves In Harm’s Way.
Roughly two centuries ago, a huge earthquake, rated above 8.0 on the Richter Scale and
centered in the Mojave Desert, knocked down some or all of the coastal Franciscan Missions,
from San Diego north to Santa Barbara. History records, however, that practically no one
was killed -- most likely because the Franciscan buildings that fell down were practically the
only buildings in the entire State.
How many people would be placed at risk today by an earthquake that threatened
buildings from San Diego to Santa Barbara?
Not long after the Mojave Desert “tremblor”, an even larger earthquake struck along
the New Madrid Fault in the Misisssippi River Valley. With an epicenter in southeastern
Missouri, the shock wave caused church bells to ring in Washington, D.C. It also caused the
Mississsippi River to jump its banks in several places, permanently changing the river’s course.
Once again, however, history recorded few deaths -- probably because there were few people
living near the epicenter at the time, and most of those people were American Indians, living in
teepees rather than buildings.
How many people would be placed at risk today by a monster earthquake centered
halfway between Saint Louis and Memphis?
Moving to a geographically broader canvass, the Black Plague killed an estimated 30% of
Europe’s population. Back then, however, only 10% of the continent’s population lived close
together in urban areas. What would happen now, when the urbanization figure is 90%?
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Ten
Conclusion
For the reasons set forth herein, we urge the Commission to consider HFA’s
recommendations carefully as the Commission’s Report To Congress is prepared. We note that
the Commission already possesses the legal authority to adopt all of these recommendations on
its own, should it choose to do so.
HFA also notes that it is transmitting a copy of these Written Comments to the Office of
Emergency Communications in the Department of Homeland Security.
Respectfully submitted,
Don Schellhardt, Esquire KI4PMG
President
HAMS FOR ACTION
3250 East Main Street, #48
Waterbury, CT 067065
djslaw@gmail.com(203) 982-5584
HAMS FOR ACTION
April 29, 2012
Page Eleven
HFA Board Members:
Nickolaus E. Leggett N3NL
1432 Northgate Square, #2A
Reston, VA 20190-3748
leggett3@gmail.com(703) 709-0752
Robert C. “Doc” Boyd, M.D. WA5VSK
98 South Lakeshore Drive
Ransom Canyon, TX 79366
wa5vsk@gmail.com(806) 748-8022
Bob Carter KC4QLP—WQJK414
387 Ingraham Mills Road
Little Falls, NY 13365
midatlanticengineer@midatlanticengineeringservice.comhttp://www.midatlanticengineeringservice.comDated: April 29, 20
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