[K3CAL] Fwd: Progress with our HOA bill - Your help needed

[steffeedp at comcast.net]

Done!  Very important and easy to do. Thanks Shawn.

 

V/r,

Dave

KC3RWT

 

From: k3cal-bounces at mailman.qth.net <k3cal-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Shawn Donley via K3CAL
Sent: Wednesday, October 8, 2025 5:14 PM
To: K3CAL Reflector <k3cal at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [K3CAL] Fwd: Progress with our HOA bill - Your help needed

 

Takes less than a quarter minute.  https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/  

---------- Original Message ---------- 

From: ARRL Members Only Web site <memberlist at arrl.org <mailto:memberlist at arrl.org> > 

Date: 10/08/2025 3:31 PM EDT 

Subject: Progress with our HOA bill - Your help needed 

  

  

By now many of you have seen the message to all of our members inviting 
them to participate in the ARRL HOA bill effort we are advancing through 
Congress. If you are not aware of the program or have not yet created 
your letter of support to your Representatives and Senators in DC, 
navigate directly to our website: https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ and see 
how simple it is to send a letter to your US legislators. The website 
will use your call sign to populate the letter with your information and 
automatically select the appropriate legislators to address your 
letters. When you finish and approve the letter on your screen, hit 
send and the rest is automatic. All hams can use this site! It is not 
just for ARRL Members. Pass it on. 

Your letter will be delivered by hand to the DC offices of your 
Representative and Senators by our two DC firms who are shepherding this 
effort. This is important. While sending your own letter to your 
legislators is OK, such letters will likely not end up on the right 
desk, if at all, for some months. However, our ARRL representatives in 
Washington will deliver the letters you create directly to the correct 
office by appointment and to discuss your interests. 

Some members argue that HOA dwellers made their own bed and should not 
have bought a home in an HOA. I would not choose to live in one. But 
this argument ignores that HOA restrictions affect all style family 
homes, even homes with large yards and other style homes in which the 
home owner controls the property around his or her house. Also, many 
new hams were not licensed when they bought their home or had to move to 
an HOA in retirement. Younger hams may have no choice of where they 
live until later years. 

In response to your concerns that we have tried this approach before, 
it is important to understand that our newest bill eliminates the 
serious shortcomings of our last HOA bill attempt. If you are 
interested in the differences from past to present, compare the old 
Parity Act language side by side with our new, well-crafted bill. You 
will understand why we spent years planning the new bill. Our proposal 
is flexible based on the HOA home style and how much room is available 
for simple antennas. 

Towers on smaller HOA lots such as with townhouses with no room in the 
yard will likely never happen. But those homeowners should be able to 
use indoor antennas, minimal impact wire antennas or simple deck mounted 
antennas in certain circumstances. Some HOA rules prohibit any ham 
radio operations at all, even with indoor antennas in single family 
homes. I assist hams suffering with such draconian restrictions and 
they are not uncommon. 

What our new HOA bill also asks for are the same rights HOA dwellers 
already have to install outdoor Over the Air Reception Devices (OTARD) 
for TV, satellite and internet wireless service antennas. Such antennas 
are allowed under existing law without permission and without seeking 
approval of the HOA board. You should have the same rights for similar 
sized antennas. The bill is carefully drafted to be palatable in crowded 
circumstances. We also comply with flagpole laws which supersede HOA 
prohibitions. If you are allowed a flagpole, well, why not a flagpole 
antenna of reasonable height? 

The site is open to ALL licensed radio amateurs, not just ARRL members. 
And before you ask, only individual hams can use the site. No GMRS 
licensees or non-hams can use the site correctly as the letter it 
generates for you is carefully crafted and would not work with non-hams. 
We are considering expansion of the site for such additional support. 

And for our Pennsylvania members, this past summer you heard from our 
PA Section Managers and myself asking for your PA radio club to send us 
separate club endorsements to deliver to certain targeted legislators in 
PA we needed to step up to sponsor the bill to get started. Delaware 
section leaders also stepped up much earlier and collected club letters 
urging their Congress members to support our bill. Those letters have 
been delivered. 

Another campaign for club letters for the other states in our division 
has been rolled out yesterday. See the additional website link: 
https://send-a-letter.org/club contains a revised set of Instructions 
for club letters with a link to the MS Word version of the Club letter. 
Clicking on the link automatically downloads the letter for your use. 
Regardless, please use the site above to create your personal letter 
ASAP. 

If you still have questions or concerns about our legislative push, let 
me know. As time permits I will address your questions or comments. In 
my view, the most important ham radio issues of our time are radio 
spectrum protection, antenna rights and RFI pollution suppression. The 
rest of what we all love about ham radio becomes less important if we do 
not pay attention to these threats. This campaign is meant to address 
one of these issues that currently affects many of you reading this. 
Let’s continue to move forward. 

73, and I will see you on the radio. 

Bob Famiglio, K3RF 

ARRL Atlantic Division Director 
Chairman Legal Defense Committee 
Chairman ARES Subcommittee 
610-359-7300 

www.QRZ.com/db/K3RF <http://www.QRZ.com/db/K3RF>  

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