[SFDXA] A Message from Jeff Beals WA4AW

[Bill]

Hope everyone had a safe and pleasant July 4th holiday.

Field Day 2014 is now history. SFL SEC David, K4DLF and I traveled
almost 500 miles during the weekend in our annual SFL FD Tour. We
visited 16 FD sites in 6 counties. As our section contains 3 of the
largest counties (in area) in the state, it is physically impossible to
cover all of the sites during the FD weekend. If we missed you this
year, we’ll see you on the next trip. The WX seemed to hold out for
most of our tour, however, it would not be FD in SFL without some rain
on someone’s parade. Murphy struck at some of the sites; however,
everyone took it in stride as that is a part of an emergency
preparedness exercise. A great time was had by all!  Thanks to Broward
EC Carol, KJ4AWB for touring the FD sites in the county.

In conjunction with FD, Gov. Rick Scott has proclaimed the week of June
23-29 as Amateur Radio Week in Florida. Our thanks to Gov. Scott for
recognizing the contributions made by Florida amateurs providing
communications support to the citizens of our state.  You can view the
proclamation on our SFL Section page on the ARRL website
http://www.arrl.org/sections/view/southern-florida


My other travels consisted of a visit with members of the Martin County
ARA who were operating special event station N4V at the Road to Victory
Museum in downtown Stuart commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

David and I visited with the FL East Coast DX Club at their quarterly
luncheon in Fellsmere and with members of the ARA of SW FL in Naples,
Fort Myers ARC and the ECs serving Hendry, Glades and Lee counties at
the Hendry County EOC in LaBelle.

Member contact is very important to me and between our regional ASMs,
section staff and myself; we will get to visit with everyone during the
year. If your club is sponsoring a special event or needs a speaker for
a club meeting, just let us know.

SFL Section staff appointments were conferred upon former SFL SM Sherri
Brower, W4STB as our new State Government Liaison. Sherri will also be
working with PIC Dan, AI4GK with our PR program as Assistant PIC.
Sherri’s email is w4stb at arrl.org

Lee County EC Larry Zimmer, W4LWZ will represent the Gulf Coast
District as regional Assistant Section Manager. The district consists
of Collier, Lee, Hendry and Glades counties. Larry can be contacted via
email at w4lwz at arrl.net

Welcome Sherri and Larry to our SFL Section management team!

For info on Field Organization volunteer opportunities, visit
http://www.arrl.org/field-organization. I welcome your interest in
joining the SFL team. Please contact me or any of my staff with any
questions.

Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014

" A bill with bipartisan support has been introduced in the US House of
Representatives that calls on the FCC to apply the “reasonable
accommodation” three-part test of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption
policy to private land-use restrictions. HR.4969, the “Amateur Radio
Parity Act of 2014” was introduced on June 25 at the request of the
ARRL, which worked with House staffers to draft the proposed
legislation. The bill’s sponsor is Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). It has
initial co-sponsorship from Rep Joe Courtney (D-CT). If the measure
passes the 113th Congress, it would require the FCC, within 120 days of
the Bill’s passage, to amend the Part 97 Amateur Service rules to
apply PRB-1 coverage to include homeowners’ association regulations
and deed restrictions, often referred to as “covenants, conditions,
and restrictions” (CC&Rs). Presently, PRB-1 only applies to state and
local zoning laws and ordinances.
“There is a strong federal interest in the effective performance of
Amateur Radio stations established at the residences of licensees,”
the bill states. “Such stations have been shown to be frequently and
increasingly precluded by unreasonable private land-use restrictions,
including restrictive covenants.”
The 11-page PRB-1 FCC Memorandum Opinion and Order is codified at
§97.15(b) in the FCC Amateur Service rules, giving the regulation the
same effect as a federal statute. In short, PRB-1 states that local
governments cannot preclude Amateur Radio communications; they must
“reasonably accommodate” amateur operations, and the state and
local regulations must be the minimum practicable regulation to
accomplish a legitimate governmental interest. Subject to those
guidelines, municipalities may still establish regulations with respect
to height, safety, and aesthetic concerns.
For 28 years, FCC regulations have “prohibited the application to
Amateur Radio stations of state and local regulations that preclude or
fail to reasonably accommodate Amateur Service communications,” the
bill points out, “or that do not constitute the minimum practicable
regulation to accomplish a legitimate state or local purpose.” Since
PRB-1 was enacted, the FCC has said several times that it would prefer
to have some guidance from Congress before extending the policy to
private land-use regulations.
HR.4969 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), chairs that panel’s Communications and
Technology Subcommittee, which will consider the measure.
ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, is a principal
advocate for the current legislative initiative to gain PRB-1
recognition for CC&Rs. Lisenco said the most urgent task now is to get
additional co-sponsors to sign onto HR.4969."


In South Florida, CC and R restrictions have been a major impediment to
our enjoyment of amateur radio as well as the ability to provide
effective public service communications. SFL SGL Sherri, W4STB offers
the following additional info to assist us in support of HR 4969.
Please support the passage of HR 4969 by contacting your representative
in Congress.

HR 4969 has been introduced in the U.S. House as "The Amateur Radio
Parity Act"
In reads, in part: "To direct the Federal Communications Commission to
extend to private land use restrictions its rule relating to
reasonable
accommodation of amateur service communications."

If the measure passes the 113th Congress, it would require the FCC,
within 120 days of the Bill passage, to amend the Part 97 Amateur
Service rules to apply PRB-1 coverage to include homeowners association
regulations and deed restrictions, often referred to as covenants,
conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs). Presently, PRB-1 only applies to
state and local zoning laws and ordinances.

The most urgent task now is to get additional co-sponsors to sign onto
HR.4969.   Everyone should send an e-mail, visit or phone their local
Representative.  Include your street address so the staff knows you are
a voter in that district.  To find your Representative and the preferred
means of contact visit the website: house.gov  and enter your zip code,
click on the name of your Representative and you will connected to
his/her site.

If you would like some talking points and tips for visiting a
Congressional office email Sherri Brower at W4STB at arrl.net (Please put
HR 4969 in the subject line so the messages can be found easily.
Thanks).


Our congratulations to Pete Rimmel, N8PR who won the June QST Cover
Plaque Award for his article “ A Portable Two-Element 6 Meter Quad
Antenna “ Pete will receive his award at the ARRL Centennial
Convention in Hartford, CT

Karen Anderson, KK4ENM, a member of the Jupiter Lighthouse Radio Group,
has penned an interesting article entitled “ Florida Scouts Make (
Radio ) Waves “ which has been published on the ARRL website. A good
read ! You can find it at
http://www.arrl.org/florida-scouts-make-radio-waves   Congratulations,
Karen!

In mid July, I will be traveling to Hartford, CT to attend the ARRL
Centennial Convention. There is still time for you to join me and 4000
other attendees in Hartford for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
celebrate the 100th birthday of ARRL.

I’m sad to report the passing of long time SFL Technical Specialist
Joe Mitchell, K4AW. Joe was active in south Brevard County and a member
of the Platinum Coast ARC and Harris Intersil ARC. He always had a
friendly smile and warm handshake when we met at the Melbourne Hamfest
over the years. Joe will be missed by his many ham friends around the
world.


Well, I guess that’s about it for now. My thanks for all that you do
for Amateur Radio. Get on the air, Elmer a new ham, support your local
club and ARES group but most of all, have fun.


Vy 73,

Jeff, WA4AW

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ARRL Southern Florida Section
Section Manager: Jeff Beals, WA4AW
wa4aw at arrl.org
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