Subj : Newsline Part 1
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Sep 16 2016 09:43 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2029, Sept. 16, 2016
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2029, with a release date of Friday,
Sept. 16, 2016 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Ohio hams stage their own "parks on the air"
celebration. A number of radio amateurs are among this year's Radio Club
of America honorees. An Arizona library adds some critical ham radio
equipment -- and our top story: HR 1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act,
passes in the House of Representatives. All this and more, as Amateur
Radio Newsline Report Number 2029, comes your way right now.
***
BILLBOARD CART HERE
****
HOUSE PASSES AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT
PAUL: We begin this week's report with the big announcement out of
Washington, D.C. that the House of Representatives passed HR 1301,
otherwise known as the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The measure now goes
to the Senate for similar discussion and vote.
While this is great news, and brings hams one step closer to potential
freedom from restrictive land-use rules and covenants, one ham would
like us to remember that we also need to work on our state legislatures
to pass companion bills to strengthen the message of HR 1301.
Larry Scantlan, KE Zero K Zed, has been directly involved with a similar
bill in Missouri. Scantlan moved back from Florida when he retired, and
into the house where his new wife had been living in Wentzville,
Missouri. Shortly thereafter, he decided to become active in ham radio
again. And then came a surprise:
LARRY: A friend of mine gave me a vertical antenna, and I put it against
my deck. My wife and I went on vacation to Branson, and when I came back,
I had received a letter in the mail from the City of Wentzville,
informing me that I was in violation of city ordinance with this antenna.
Well, I thought that was rather strange. You know, I was well aware of
HOA issues, but not with the city. But the bottom line is I was able to
successfully get them to change the ordinance in favor of ham radio
operators. Not just me, but there are approximately 100 licensed ham radio
operators in Wentzville on the books. Not only did their ordinance restrict
antennas, but it was written in such a way that you couldn't even have
amateur radio equipment inside of your home, unless you filed a request to
have that equipment in your house.
PAUL: That experience opened his eyes to the potential plight of others:
LARRY: In that process, I discovered the reality is that I am not the only
one who deals with these kinds of issues, and more importantly, with
respect to the HOAs. And as I became more familiar with the Amateur Radio
Parity Act on the federal side of things, I felt like often times, it's
the states who end up determining things anyway. We are independent,
united states, and often times even though there may be federal legislation,
it's often helpful to have companion legislation at the state level. That
gives it that much more weight in the legal course of action, that ends up
happening.
PAUL: Scantlan and his team managed to get a bill sponsored by their local
representatives and then got good news, followed by bad news:
LARRY: We were able to get through the House. We successfully won all the
votes, all of the challenges, through the two committees they had to go
through, as well as the full House floor debate and vote, which we felt
was pretty incredible. And then, it was submitted to the Senate, and we
started the long hard process again of trying to relay to these senators
just how important this was. It was submitted to committee. And, on the
committee there were 2 or 3 people who were very pro what we were trying
to accomplish. Unfortunately, the chairman of that committee, for whatever
reason, took a position to table the matter, and said there wasn't enough
public interest. I found it very concerning that one man could make a
unilateral decision even after the House of Representatives, after all
that, and there were several people who were on his own committee who
were wanting this to move forward into debate. He alone made this decision.
PAUL: Larry intends to keep fighting, and will work to get the bill brought
back up before the Senate. He wanted to emphasize that even if restrictions
don't affect you now, you never know when life may dictate that you move,
and you may very well end up without the ability to practice amateur radio.
So it's important to all hams to get behind efforts such as these, and what
the A-Double-R-L is doing in Washington.
He also said it was crucial for all hams to get the word out to the
community about what amateur radio really is, how we are all tested and
licensed, and provide a crucial communications service in times of
emergency. In other words, we all need to work to build up our image.
For the full conversation, please go to our website, triple-w dot
arnewsline dot org and click on the "Extra" tab.
We also encourage you to write to your Senators in support of HR 1301, as
this is critical to the future of our hobby here in the United States.
**
DESPITE RAIN, OHIO STATE PARKS GET ON AIR
PAUL/ANCHOR: The National Parks on the Air centennial doesn't offer the
only ham radio celebration of beautiful places in the great outdoors.
There are plenty of parks in Ohio that recently got into the act, too.
Here's Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephen Kinford, N8WB.
STEPHEN: Organizers of the 9th annual Ohio State Parks On The Air contest
were counting on more operators than ever this year on Saturday,
September 10, as 59 of the state's 74 parks were being activated. What
they hadn't counted on was the storm front that swept through Ohio halfway
through the eight-hour contest. Hail, rain, wind, and lightning, prompted
most of the stations to halt operations, and only a few got back on the
air after the weather had cleared.
Like its counterpart at the national parks level, which it helped inspire,
the Ohio state contest encourages outdoor and portable operations, and is
also viewed as a good way for hams involved in emergency communications to
assure that their gear is functioning. It was created in 2008 by the
Portage County Amateur Radio Society.
According to the event's chairman, Tom KB8UUZ, even as organizers await
arrival of final scores and statistics by November 1, they are already
working on the event for 2017, which will be held September 9. They're
hoping for the usual high level of participation, and definitely better
weather.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephen Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth, Ohio.
(OHIO STATE PARKS ON THE AIR)
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