Joe and the rest of Tower Talk.
Unfortunately, this sounds very similar to the beginning of the situation
I find myself in (other than the $2600 filing fee!!) There was no set process
in the City of Mendota Height for specifically dealing with towers in a
residential area. (It has since transpired that the City Council finds this
sort of activity utterly inappropriate!)
I, too, was advised by some of my ham friends to just "put it up". It was
only a 30 foot tower with small antennas. Even after all the people in the
neighborhood have turned against me, defaming me, my intentions, and the
amateur radio service, I have not once regretted the fact that I went through
the process as defined.
If you don't go through the process with the City, chances are they can
"tag" your illegal installation, sometimes at a rate of $500 per day or
more (until you take it down). If the City is nice and a wind storm
comes up and something falls on your house, your insurance company may
not cover you because you did not have an engineer licensed in the state
go over it and sign it off. Usually that means that it did not conform
to the building codes in the area. If it comes down and hurts someone else,
or destroys some of their property, you are in BIG TROUBLE!
I'd be careful, Joe. Do **detailed** engineering drawings and analysis of
of the installation. Check the local wind statistics with the local airport.
Give yourself a margin of safety in the installation. But "Physical Designs
of Yagi Antennas" through the ARRL (that was supposed to be "Buy", not "But".)
Be prepared to be the scourge of the neighborhood. All it takes is one
person to yell "Property values are falling!" or "It'll interfere with all
your home electronics!" to whip the whole bunch into a fenzy. It generally
dies down in less than a year. But, if your situation parallels mine
(and I hope it doesn't, Joe!), you'll pay your dues for that tower with
many a sleepless night.
Best 73's
... and GO for it!!!!
Paul Beckmann
wa0rse@amsat.org
P.S. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THERE ARE NO COVENANTS ON THE LAND THAT
PRECLUDE YOUR PUTTING UP AN ANTENNA SUPPORT. The FCC and PRB-1 can do you
NO GOOD if there are! Dig out the abstract search that was done on the
land when you bought the house and see if any CC&R's show up on it. Obtain
the REAL copy of record from the County. It's the only one that counts!
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