Calif. Supreme Ct. denies review of Palmdale ruling appeal

[K5UJ]

http://www.arrl.org/news/view/california-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-antenna-zoning-case

Calif. Sup. Court. let stand decision that the City of Palmdale reasonably accommodated a ham by allowing him to have a tiny VHF antenna which they deemed enough for satisfactory enjoyment of ham radio.

Pretty disturbing in my opinion.

[W1AEX]

That case reads like the script from a Three Stooges movie. Zubarau played by the rules and did everything by the book and still got burned. Unfortunately, this misinterpretation and misapplication of PRB-1 leaves a nasty precedent out there. I would agree Rob, it's very disturbing when things are twisted this badly.

[Fred k2dx]

Somehow it being California isn't that surprising. Now will the ARRL put some of their assets to use and appeal it all the way? Would there be constitutional questions that could be raised?

[k4kyv]

He should be able to appeal through the federal courts, since the state court clearly ruled beyond its jurisdiction.

Unfortunately, that will cost money, loads of it.  In this country (and in most other countries as well) justice is a commodity that is bought and sold for a price. Hence, the "legal industry" (lawyers, court fees, etc.)

He should load up his rain gutters, upstairs plumbing, house wiring, air conditioner ductwork, or anything else that would radiate, fire up a KW, and find out which frequencies cause the most RFI, and generate as much RFI as possible, then explain that the interference is the result of his inability to install a proper antenna.

[Fred k2dx]

I recall seeing how one ham worked around a local governing board by obtaining a trailer mounted large (mabe 70') crankup tower and since it wasn't a permanent structure he gave them something to appreciate. I realize a trailer could be prohibited some places, but a 'temporary' antenna support, without concrete, using earth anchors or a telephone pole might be tough to regulate.

The trailer tower was located in the guy's driveway, quite visible for the neighbors.

Let's see if ARRL antes up with this one! It seems clearly big enough to warrant their attention and resources. That's why I keep my dues up, it certainly isn't to read the advertising magazine. 

 

[K5WLF]

After all the rhetoric the ARRL has put forth over the years about PRB-1, it will be interesting to see if they'll spend some of our dues money on this case. I'd much rather my dues went to help a fellow ham than have been spent on the new website that's made it pretty much impossible to find anything. And every month when I get QST, I'm tempted to apologize to the trees that gave their lives for the paper. It's disturbing when the writer's guidelines for an amateur radio magazine specifically state that "this is not a technical magazine". We gripe about the 'dumbing down' of the tests and of our hobby in general, but yet the most widely read ham magazine seems to be proud that it's not a technical publication. OK, ARRL, it's time to spend some of our money on something worthwhile for once.

[W1RKW]

I have my first QST mag from March of 1977.  When I compare issues from the 70's and 80's to what QST is now there is indeed a difference in the content in the publications.  My membership lapsed 5 months ago.  And all truthfulness I don't miss QST.  I do remember the days when I couldn't wait to get it but that was before the change to the current bland and boring format. I will admit, when I was receiving QST and having sleepless night, I could fall asleep fairly fast and go through it cover to cover in no time.  One can only take so many PVC fabricated 2m antenna articles. QEX and ER are more captivating.  But when I read articles like what Rob posted then I think about membership. It does make one wonder though if membership does really help hams. In Mr. Zubaru's case it looks like it didn't. Probably just luck of the draw and being in CA.

[k4kyv]

After all the rhetoric the ARRL has put forth over the years about PRB-1, it will be interesting to see if they'll spend some of our dues money on this case. I'd much rather my dues went to help a fellow ham than have been spent on the new website that's made it pretty much impossible to find anything.

Particularly considering the precedent in CA and elsewhere that this case could end up setting.

And every month when I get QST, I'm tempted to apologize to the trees that gave their lives for the paper. It's disturbing when the writer's guidelines for an amateur radio magazine specifically state that "this is not a technical magazine". We gripe about the 'dumbing down' of the tests and of our hobby in general, but yet the most widely read ham magazine seems to be proud that it's not a technical publication. OK, ARRL, it's time to spend some of our money on something worthwhile for once.

I couldn't agree more.   QST used to be full of technical articles, but now, even the dumbed-down rag it has become still brings in complaints from readers that it is "too technical".  That says as much about what amateur radio has become as it does about what QST has become.

QST is fine if you want to see how to build a novelty QRP CW rig in a cat-food tin or construct an LED-illuminated "On The Air" sign. For anything that goes into greater depth, you have to pay extra money to subscribe to QEX. QEX was fine when the concept was first introduced in about 1980. It was supposed to be devoted to highly technical articles on an engineering level that would have always been beyond the scope of QST, material on the order of what you would find in IEEE Proceedings. But gradually, QEX has admitted technical articles more and more at the ordinary amateur level, and excluded from QST anything that goes very far beyond beginner's level.  In other words, QST has morphed into something more like the old Ham Radio Horizons magazine that Ham Radio Magazine (more of a dedicated technical publication) began to put out as a sister publication, oriented almost exclusively towards beginners.

I used to keep QST archives on file, and have paper issues going all the way back to 1922.  But in recent years, I have not found them worth the shelf space they occupy, so I usually tear out any pages that I think might be of any lasting interest, trash the rest, and store the saved pages in a folder.  A form of "data compression".

What really pisses me off about QEX is that until a few years ago, one could purchase all the back issues in CD form.  Since it is a thin magazine that comes out only bi-monthly, one CD will hold several years worth of magazines.  The entire set consisted 4 or 5 discs IIRC, and sold for about $30. Now, they offer them only in annual "publications" CDs, that contain not only QEX, but all the issues of QST and the monthly contesting rag. The annual discs for one year cost almost as much as the entire archive of QEX did when they first made them available.  What's the point of purchasing QST archives when I already have the paper version?  And I couldn't care less about the QuaRMtesting rag.

[W2ZE]

It does make one wonder though if membership does really help hams. In Mr. Zubaru's case it looks like it didn't.

I beg to differ since most, if not all of the legal work done on his behalf was pro bono. All courtesy of the the ARRL, volunteer counsel, and donations/membership.
Without legal representation, he would have been totally railroaded; and without volunteer counsel, this would have cost him an arm and a leg.

[k4kyv]

Not just on his behalf, but on the behalf of all of us.  If this decision stands up in federal court, or if no appeal is filed, we are all in deep doo-doo.

[W1RKW]

I beg to differ since most, if not all of the legal work done on his behalf was pro bono. All courtesy of the the ARRL, volunteer counsel, and donations/membership.
Without legal representation, he would have been totally railroaded; and without volunteer counsel, this would have cost him an arm and a leg.

Not just on his behalf, but on the behalf of all of us.  If this decision stands up in federal court, or if no appeal is filed, we are all in deep doo-doo.

Tis' true on all of the above though the end result is what it is. Certainly, ham members benefit from the ARRL legal counsel pro bono. No doubt about it. I 'm not denying that.  Hopefully, Mr. Zubaru and the ARRL will continue on and the final outcome is positive. Hopefully Mr. Zubaru continues to pursue this and hope he does succeed.  I remain pessimistic though given the current political/enviro/NIMBY/elitist/commie/MSDS climate.

[K5UJ]

I don't know both sides of this; I don't know what the ham's property looks like or how he handled himself when dealing with officials and neighbors.

But it certainly appears that this town bullied this ham and got away with it for now.   You can have all the PRB-1s you want, but if a local gov't has deep pockets and wants to hammer you, you will be in for a tough fight. 

The sad outcome is that this kind of thing results in the further balkanization of ham radio because there are usually two outcomes (which we never hear about--we only hear about legal fights):  the ham goes underground with a "stealth" antenna such as an attic dipole, and operates weak signal modes with a PC and low power silicon and plastic.  Or the ham folds up and moves to the sticks.  But this solution is available only to the lucky few with the passion, freedom, and money needed to relocate.  Most can't do it for various reasons such as jobs, XYL vetos, family commitments, the housing market etc.   

This in turn lowers the already dwindling number of "traditional hams," i.e. hams with good antennas (what were once considered average), workshops, operating high power analog modes.

The only way this bullying gets fought off is with organization.   It happens because there's no push back.   While there's a lot about the ARRL that doesn't wind my watch, they are pretty much the only ham national organization we have.  Look at how effective the NRA is, in winning against gun control advocates.   I am far from being a NRA fan, but I admire organized success in any special interest group whether I agree with the agenda or not.   The NRA is successful partly because they have money.  Lots of it, from a membership of generous donors who also get on the horn and call and write and fax etc. legislators.   If every ham gave the ARRL 10 bucks for a legal war chest that would make a big difference.   Of course they might blow it on some other b.s. but that is not guaranteed; what is guaranteed is death by 1000 cuts if no one does anything at all.   ARRL has something called the "Spectrum Defense Fund."   If they have not already done it, they should set up a legal and lobbying war chest called the Antenna Rights Fund (or something along those lines). 

Meanwhile, if you live anywhere in or near a metropolitan area, you are probably going to have some sort of difficulty erecting a good antenna.  I am lucky where I am (so far) due to a combination of circumstances, blessings and dumb luck.   But the days of libertarian tolerance are coming to an end in many towns.   What about all those towers and beams you see in suburbs?   In almost all cases, they are grandfathered in, having been there for 10 or more years.   As those hams become SKs, and those towers come down, new ones don't go up.

[WA1GFZ]

I drove buy that guy's house a number of times and didn't think his tower was a big deal. Ca. is full of A.H.'s that is why I didn't stay out there. This is in a neighborhood where the Skunkworks and Dreamworks build cool airplanes and make lots of noise.

[k4kyv]

The only way this bullying gets fought off is with organization.   It happens because there's no push back.   While there's a lot about the ARRL that doesn't wind my watch, they are pretty much the only ham national organization we have.

Especially true, considering that local governments have their own unions. Two that come to mind are the National League of Cities and National Association of Counties, plus numerous state municipal leagues.  I recall they lobbied hard against the FCC's PRB-1 before it was incorporated in the rules, and they have intervened on behalf of city and county authorities in several high profile tower and antenna cases, not to mention supporting local governments in other disputes with their citizenry. Naturally, they have continued to lobby against proposals to limit the force of deed restrictions and HOA rules, including attempts to place them under the jurisdiction of PRB-1.

To me, that reeks of impropriety or even unconstitutionality, when local governments, each elected by the people living under their jurisdictions, get together to collectively conspire against the very people who elected them. If I find myself in a dispute with the local county or city government, my fight should be with local officials and their constituents, not with every county and city government in the nation.

Considering the recent moves in Wisconsin and elsewhere to limit public employees' rights to collectively bargain, shouldn't the rights of public entities like local governments, to collectively lobby and intervene on each other's behalf, likewise be limited?

[KB2WIG]

Goin' back home
To the Village of the Sun
Out in back of Palmdale
Where the turkey farmers run, I done
Made up my mind
And I know I'm gonna go to Sun
Village, good God I hope the
Wind don't blow

It take the paint off your car
And wreck your windshield too,
I don't know how the people stand it,
But I guess they do
Cause they're all still there,
Even Johnny Franklin too
In the Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun
Village of the Sun, son
(Sun Village to you-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo, well!)

[WA1GFZ]

I don't think you will find any turkey farms in Palmdale, only chicken coop style housing. It is sick how city planners pack people in so tightly. 50 by 50 foot lots with a fence around them. Who wants to live like that. All of So. Ca. is set up that way to pick people in like chickens. it really sucks.

[k4kyv]

When you live in one of those concentration camps like that with dense population and all kinds of rules and restrictions on what you can do on your own property, even down to the species of lawn grass and shrubs you are allowed to plant, the exact maximum dimensions of your backyard vegetable garden (if you are even allowed to plant one) and how many minutes you are allowed to keep your garage door open, you are not a property owner. You are a tenant.

[K5UJ]

I am always amazed at how people willingly sign away their liberty and freedom to live in a HOA.   Life liberty and pursuit of happiness is turning into Life, HOAs and pursuit of control of others.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

you could just alter the HOA at signing... I was told about a gentleman who demanded he be allowed to read the entire document (>100 pages or so single sided) and the other party was either not paying close attention or had left the room etc.  He systematically when through and single lined out, initialed and dated certain things that he did not agree with.  He then signed the document with 'as amended" or similar verbage.   The representative for the HOA, for what ever reason just signed the document with out raising an issue (probably signed them so often etc).  Later on, the modified document supposedly stood up in court as a signed contract agreed to by both parties...

I doubt that everyone could get away with that, or should even try, but still... it's just plausible enough to make one think.  Personally I wouldn't have my permanent residence in a HOA controlled area, but I understand that for some it's just not an option. 

I do recal that a big stink was raised because some HOA agreements actually state they can take your house as a settlement in a disagreement, and they took this soldiers house from his family while he was deployed...  even Banks can't do that under Federal law.