But it dom't do advertising! How does anyone get the interest to become a Ham if they are always hidden away, like dirty laundry?

What is wrong with Hams if their existance can't be known?

KF7CG

I'm sure I'll catch some kind of flack from this,but I only speak from the experience I've had thus far.First off I don't need comments on a misspelling or improper punctuation,now that's out of the way.I'm sure there are some very nice hams out there and this doesn't apply to all,but I have had a very poor intro to the hobby here in Missouri,basically my ham radio equipment has become glorified police scanners with me checking into a net once in a while to make sure I can still transmit.Seems if you don't know someone or aren't Joe Schmo's son people on the air locally are downright unfriendly and it seems anytime I've ever gotten a decent conversation started with what sounded like new blood like myself other locals get on and muscle there way onto the repeater with there "tea chat" I understand that we all have rights to talk its just the manner and the timing,and another one of my favorites is how unknowledgable some of the so called "elmers" will be with newbies and tell you 'oh I don't know about those radios" or "I don't know about that issue" and then a miracle happens.........the next day or week you hear this same person you asked a question to become a expert on the device or situation to his or her pals.Isn't this about friendly communication? I mean nobody has to be my friend but a little common courtesy would be appreciated.

John,
Were it I, I would go the the HOA and point out the section of the Florida code you posted about requiring 14 days notice prior to assessing a fine. That being said, you should be aware that reading just one paragraph out of the code often leads to the wrong result. Florida wouldn't be the first state to have another paragraph somewhere else in the code that says that paragraph doesn't apply to (fill in the blank here); it might be for HOAs in your particular county, only for HOAs formed after some date, only for HOAs that don't include something in the CC&Rs saying that provision of the code is waived, etc.
In any case, good luck!
Robert