Another article about kid with cerebral palsy and his fight to keep his tower. The one thing that this article mentions that the others did not is that his father is also a ham. Think about it. The funny thing is that the neighbors are complaining about RFI. Well I have a news flash for the neighbors… taking down the tower is not going to fix the RFI problem.
Beauty they say is in the eye of the beholder. To me towers are great structural works of art but I am biased I suppose since I am radio amateur, general radio nut and a guy who makes his living in the steel industry. But when the busy body neighborhood gestapos are in your town then look out! Here are a few stories that struck my eye today.
South Carolina: Sun City Tunes Out Ham Radio Operator’s Request For 8-foot Antenna
This guy wants to put up a modest little antenna because he lives next to the shore and is in the USCG Auxiliary. Seems reasonable enough to me. Though the article doesn’t make mention of it, until recently membership in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary required that you be a boat owner. The only exception was for radio amateurs. Wonder why? That rule has since been dropped.
Wisconsin: Village Concerned About Safety of Ham Radio Tower
Nothing empowers the neighborhood tower gestapo more than picking on a kid with cerebral palsy. The big mistake this kid (and his parents) made was not getting the zoning permits. Cover Your Ass rules always on tower construction but no doubt the village idiots would have a more difficult time taking on a local business that may not have a permit on a project who can afford a lawyer. This kid has already proven himself to be more of a public service radio amateur than most. Here are two other articles you can read about this situation. 10-Year-Old’s Radio Tower May be Illegal and Mount Pleasant Officials Will Decide on Boy’s Ham Radio Tower Wednesday Good luck little buddy. I hope you win your case.
Pacific Ocean: Three 14.300 MHz Amateur Radio ‘Networks’ respond to an urgent ‘PAN PAN’ call for emergency assistance from David KF7GWI, one of five crewmen aboard the (36) foot recreational vessel, “S/V Wind Child”, enroute to the Marquesas Islands. Read the Southgate ARC article.
The Digital Economy Act (doesn’t that sound Orwellian?) is set to make analog radio obsolete by 2015. Read the Telegraph article.
Well not really but interesting never the less. Last week one of my compadres, NG3O, tipped me off that someone on ebay was selling Marlon Brando’s amateur radio set up, a milspec HF Xcvr Sunair GSB-900DX. Few knew that Brando (aka Martin KE6PZH and FO5GJ) was a radio amateur while he was alive. No one bid apparently on the $25,000 opening price so it’s likely we will see this radio pop up again somewhere. Never the less it’s worth a look at the expired ebay auction while it’s still up to see the photos which includes the original receipt for the radio gear.
One of the most fantastic and well filmed DXpedition movies I’ve ever seen is the hour long Lost Islands DXpedition movie. Fortunately DXWorld.net is hosting it on their site. This movie features Russian radio amateurs visiting and activating on the air (IOTA) abandoned Soviet polar ice stations on remote arctic islands. Even for someone who is not a radio amateur or shortwave listener this documentary can easily be enjoyed for its very well filmed National Geographicish type presentation.
C. Crane is importing a real “Nostalgia Radio” from Roberts of the UK.
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