RE: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the OKsignal

["Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>]

Further, it should be noted that Wheaton is the town where the late Grote 
Reber made history when he assembled, in his backyard, the world's first 
parabolic dish radio telescope, which is now on permanent display at the 
American National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  Reber, who may be turning 
over in his grave now, probably didn't have neighbors putting NO RADIO TOWER 
signs on their front lawns.

Rob/K5UJ


From: "tom.dixon" <tom.dixon@xtra.co.nz>
To: <N8DCJ@YAHOO.COM>,"'Rob Atkinson, K5UJ'" 
<k5uj@hotmail.com>,<towertalk@contesting.com>
Subject: RE: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the 
OKsignal
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 06:59:25 +1200

Pity we don't have Mr Bill Robertson's address. We could all send him a
qsl card....

Tom Dixon
zl2hgr@xtra.co.nz
IRLP 6931


-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dan Bookwalter
Sent: Friday, 24 September 2004 5:39 a.m.
To: Rob Atkinson, K5UJ; towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune news: Ham radio tower has the
OKsignal

"The
federal government in its infinite wisdom interceded
years ago on
behalf of
a small
minority of radio operators when they might have been
relevant to some
national
emergency and defense.


i wonder how the guy would feel had he been in the
path of one of those hurricanes or a  major tornado
etc... we are irrelevant until needed then we are a
indispensable...

i actually had someone welcome my tower since in the
case of an emergency we might have a viable
communication path....

Dan N8DCJ
--- "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com> wrote:

> another PRB1 victory of sorts...de rob/k5uj:
>
>
> Ham radio tower has the OK signal
> Wheaton says it can't deny request
>
> By Bob Goldsborough
> Special to the Tribune
> Published September 23, 2004
>
> Despite opposition from neighbors in [west] Wheaton,
> a proposed 42-foot-high
> ham radio tower can be built in a resident's back
> yard under federal law
> without any
> sign-off from local officials.
>
> John Siepmann, given the go-ahead recently by the
> city attorney, has been
> pitted against dozens of neighbors in the Farnham
> subdivision, many of whom
> have "NO RADIO
> TOWER" yard signs.
>
> Opponents believe the tower would be an eyesore, a
> safety hazard and a
> potential interference to their television and
> telephone reception.
>
> Siepmann, an amateur ham radio operator, first
> approached city officials
> requesting a zoning variation to allow him to build
> a 65-foot-high
> free-standing tower in
> the back yard of his Browning Court home. An initial
> look at the zoning code
> suggested the
> maximum height of such a structure could be 12 feet.
>
> After reviewing Federal Communications Commission
> requirements, which
> pre-empt municipal regulations and force local
> communities to be "reasonably
> accommodating" to
> amateur ham radio operators, city officials
> concluded they have no choice
> but to allow a
> tower of up to 42 feet, said city planner Brad
> Boese.
>
> That height was determined by adding Wheaton's
> 12-foot height limit for
> antennas that sit atop houses to the 30-foot height
> limit for single-family
> houses, Boese said.
>
> "`Reasonable accommodation' isn't really defined
> anywhere, so what we have
> to go by is what other communities in the area have
> permitted," he said.
>
> Siepmann has deferred his request for a zoning
> variation for the 65-foot
> tower, which would require City Council approval,
> until Oct. 12, and is
> asking for a
> building permit to allow a 42-foot-high tower. That
> request, submitted Aug.
> 19, is pending,
> with the Building Department having sent drawings of
> Siepmann's proposed
> tower to a local
> structural engineer for evaluation, said Joe Kreidl,
> director of building
> and code
> enforcement.
>
> Meanwhile, Siepmann's attorney, James O'Connell,
> said Wheaton's present
> ordinance doesn't meet federal requirements. He
> cited other communities that
> allow ham radio
> tower height limits of 65 feet or more.
> Unincorporated DuPage County, which
> is
> immediately to the west of Siepmann's property, has
> a ham radio tower height
> limit of 100 feet, O'Connell said.
>
> With a 42-foot limit, Wheaton officials "are wrong
> under the amateur radio
> law," O'Connell said.
>
> "We may very well petition the City Council to
> create an ordinance that
> meets federal requirements," he said. "I can't tell
> you what Mr. Siepmann
> will eventually
> decide to do. I recommended to him that he take the
> city up on its offer to
> issue him a
> 42-foot permit on the grounds that something right
> now is better than doing
> six months'
> worth of hearings, which can be very expensive. We
> are prepared to do that
> if we have
> to."
>
> Ham radio towers need to be tall, O'Connell said, so
> hobbyists can
> communicate clearly with fellow radio operators
> around the globe.
>
> "If you want to be able to talk internationally, you
> need to have your
> antenna above ground and above the surrounding
> trees," he said. "[Siepmann's
> neighborhood]
> is a wooded area."
>
> Siepmann's neighbors wish the entire issue would go
> away. Bill Robertson,
> spokesman for the neighborhood group that opposes
> the tower, said it could
> reduce property
> values.
>
> "Anybody living in a nice suburb today would assume
> that their neighbor
> couldn't put up a 65-foot tower in their back yard,
> but they'd be wrong,"
> Robertson said. "The
> federal government in its infinite wisdom interceded
> years ago on behalf of
> a small
> minority of radio operators when they might have
> been relevant to some
> national
> emergency and defense.
>
> "Now they're not, but the government hasn't gotten
> around to amending the
> law," he said. "We're hoping the city will find a
> court or a judge who would
> say that this
> is passe, and that it's no longer reasonable to
> expect a city to provide
> this kind of
> accommodation to a hobbyist."
>
>
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