Covenants, Restrictions

[RKILE at delphi.com]

    Covenants, and restrictions are a modern day result of money and greed.
If you eliminated exclusive rights for cable distribution in new
developements you would eliminate many of the covenants regarding radio and 
TV antennas. (Problem at the source)
    There are only two other ways to beat them. (1) By default of the
developer before transfer of control to home owners groups. This by default
my be considered an under the table agreement and failure to respond to a
specific request of variance as specified in the covenant and deed
restrictions. You simply follow the specified procedures and wait for
response time to run out. Provided there are no city or county orders to
overcome.
    The last and by far most successfull way to beat em, is not buy em. Look
for resale property in areas with major covenant and restriction violations
that have not been enforced, or preferrably don't exist at all. By looking
for an older property several things will happen. They are as follows: (1)
you will get a better constructed home unless your extremely wealthy and can
afford anything. (2) You will have more property as in larger lot. (3) You
will find a community where people don't give a ----.
    The bottom line is only you can make the decision whether or not you
want to continue to pursue Ham Radio.

73, Bob KG7D temporarily QRT, in apartment

internet "rkile at delphi.com"


>From Norton, Richard" <nortonr at MRD.SRL.dsto.gov.au  Wed Jun 15 21:10:00 1994
From: Norton, Richard" <nortonr at MRD.SRL.dsto.gov.au (Norton, Richard)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 13:10:00 PDT
Subject: Unwarranted Attacks on FR5DX
Message-ID: <2DFF61F9 at msmail.dsto.gov.au>


 Tony Brock-Fisher <fisher at hp-and.an.hp.com> writes:
>
> > >How about someone like FR5DX? I submit he is guilty of thousands of
> > >counts of petty larceny and mail fraud. We send greenstamps for QSLs, 
he
> > >sends nothing back. Should he be disqualfied?
> >
> > If he sends nothing back, who cares if he qualifies?
> >
> > -Tony, K1KP
>
> If it is a known fact that he doesn't count, then nobody will send him
> greenstamps. As long as he counts, we keep sending the bucks and then
> hope for the best.
>
> Barry N. Kutner, W2UP
. . .

A few years ago I spent a week and a half at FR5DX's and operated the CQ WW 
CW DX Contest. Almost every day, he would show me envelopes with QSL cards 
that had been tampered with. In most cases, absolutely no attempt was made 
to hide the fact that the envelope had been opened. None of the tampered 
envelopes had any money or IRCs in them.

He did not show me any envelopes that he did not receive. From the large 
percentage I saw that were tampered with, I assume many more are just 
emptied and tossed away by postal workers.

I saw letters to Herrick from the USA stamped at intermediate places in 
Africa like Douala, Cameroons. There is no reason to send a letter from the 
USA, addressed to Reunion, via the Cameroons, or any other continental 
African city, other than Nairobi. There are no direct airplane flights 
between them.  Yet, for some reason, US postal workers continue to do so. I 
hope this is simply because of stupidity or lazyness, and not collaboration 
in providing  small amounts of foreign aid to friends.

One can greatly increase the chances that FR5DX will receive your QSL by not 
including the words Reunion, Reunion Island, Indian Ocean, or Africa on the 
envelope. Just put his name, address, city, ZIP CODE, and France. It will be 
handled by the French post office, who are reported to be trustworthy. This 
is similar to addressing an envelope to someone using Anchorage, 99901, USA. 
The post office can figure it out. Reunion is a part of France, not a French 
possession. The envelope will go from the US to Paris, where there is 
usually more than one 747 each day to Reunion.

Note also that five years ago, when I was there, one US dollar did not cover 
the cost of airmail postage to the US. The QSL cards also cost him about 35 
cents each to get printed locally. To appreciate the low value of the US 
dollar, buy a Big-Mac in Paris. Then apply a remote island surcharge to the 
price, similar to what we experience in Honolulu.

Not many US stations spend a couple hours a day working JAs. Even fewer 
enjoy answering QSL cards from them. FR5DX has worked thousands of  Ws, year 
after year, and from what I saw answers the cards he actually receives. Most 
DX stations tire of working Ws after a much shorter DX career.

As a result of my activity 5 years ago, I somehow remain on lists as the 
FR5DX QSL manager. I am not now, have never been, nor will be his manager in 
the future. People who QSL to me get a note stating: QSL direct, with the 
France information. I keep the dollars sent in a futile attempt to get 
people to tell their friends to not QSL for FR5DX to me, and to get me off 
QSL manager lists. Sometimes my QSL manager for overseas trips, K6VNX, gets 
ahold of the envelopes and returns the dollars. This both adversely affects 
the mean reputation  I am attempting to develop regarding this, and results 
in more *&^%$ FR5DX QSL cards. Seriously, over the years, guys have wasted 
thousands of dollars sending FR5DX cards to me.

Note to Tony Brock-Fisher, with no callsign:  I did not see your  initial 
message regarding this topic on the contest reflector. If this topic 
initiated on another reflector, and this response is useful, it might be 
worth forwarding there.

73,

Dick N6AA
nortonr at MRD.SRL.DSTO.GOV.AU

>From Field, Don" <field at btq2ec.igw.bt.co.uk  Wed Jun 15 16:02:00 1994
From: Field, Don" <field at btq2ec.igw.bt.co.uk (Field, Don)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 08:02:00 PDT
Subject: Covenants, & Yaesu interfacing
Message-ID: <2DFF181F at smtpgate.agw.bt.co.uk>


Just to put the record straight on the status of DBS satellite dishes in the 
UK - to encourage competition in the TV "market", the then Thatcher 
government made it legal to install these satellite dishes. This national 
statute overrides any local restrictions (there may be exceptions for so-
called "listed" properties of a historical nature), but applies only to DBS 
dishes, so does nothing for amateur radio antennas. And, yes, these dishes 
are very small indeed and rarely need to be above roof height so long as they 
have a clear view of the satellite (mine is on the garage roof, about 8ft 
above ground, and well below the height of the house roof, so it can barely 
be seen from the road - the same cannot be said of my HF Yagi at 55ft!). 
Incidentally, there is a rumour that the UK may get something similar to 
PRB1, by way of a new law which makes it illegal to try to stop people 
pursuing their legitimate activities. This is designed to outlaw the hunt 
saboteurs who use various methods to stop fox hunting (not a big issue in the 
US I guess!?), but I gather the wording is sufficiently general that amateurs 
may be able to use it to argue against those who try to stop us putting up 
"reasonable" antenna systems. We can live in hope ...

On another topic, there has been comment in the past and recently about 
interfacing to FT-990 and FT-1000 radios. I don't know all the ins and outs, 
but I do know that my friend G3WGV, who markets a sophisticated station 
logging/PacketCluster/datacomms program (Turbolog), had this one cracked even 
before CT users persuaded Yaesu to change the ROM chip. He and I both have FT-
1000's and the interfacing to his program works great (the program can also 
do things with the K1EA DVP which even CT doesn't do, so I guess he knows a 
thing or two about writing software!).

73 Don G3XTT
field at btq2ec.igw.bt.co.uk

>From gjk at hogpa.ho.att.com (Gerald J Kersus)  Wed Jun 15 13:20:13 1994
From: gjk at hogpa.ho.att.com (Gerald J Kersus) (Gerald J Kersus)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 08:20:13 EDT
Subject: Launching wrist rocket line
Message-ID: <9406151220.AA21293 at hogpc.ho.att.com>

Since my last two houses were/are in heavily wooded areas, I, too, found
the "wrist-rocket" (illegal in NJ where's the NWRA when you need them?) 
to be the weapon of choice to put up high wire antennas in the trees.
I tried tried a bow and arrow, but found the arrow tended to get deflected
small branches and leaves near the top of it's trajectory.  Using the
smaller 1-oz sinker as also described by Ken, WM2C, I find it much
easier to get the antenna up where I want it.

As far as paying out the monofilament line, my first exposure to the wrist
rocket was from Bill, KG2U.  He had a set up like that described by Rick,
N6XI:  a spincast reel attached to the wrist rocket itself.  This was a
neat, compact setup.  Since I seem to have an over abundance of freshwater
rods/reels in my garage, I use one of these instead.  Using a rod & reel
lets you keep proper tension on the fishing line when retrieving the rope
or mason's line.(The bad side-effect is neighbors just can't seem to pass
up comments about fishing for trees!)  There are several options for
holding the rod:  get a helper, use a sand spike in the ground
to hold the rod, or, as I do, hold it in a folding step ladder.  The rod
fits nicely between the slats on the small shelf on a folding step ladder.
A folding lawn chair works, too.  Using this approach, I find that I
can do things myself (and only have myself to blame when the line goes
awry) and I can take it into the woods, or on the roof.  To put up my 160
inverted-L, I climbed the towere, wedged the rod into the tower and shot
the line 70 feet or so over the trees.

(I realize that, in some parts of the country,  e.g., Colorado, guys may 
not be familiar with the term "trees" ot "tall trees", but I'll leave that 
for another discussion thread.)


Gerry, W1GD
gjk at hogpa.att.com

>From McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com  Wed Jun 15 14:27:22 1994
From: McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com (McCarty, DK 'Dav)
Date: 15 Jun 94 06:27:22 PDT
Subject: WRIST ROCKET TIPS
Message-ID: <199406151327.AA19962 at portal.chevron.com>


From: McCarty, DK 'David'
To:  OPEN ADDRESSING SERVI-OPENADDR
Subject:  RE: WRIST ROCKET TIPS
Date: 1994-06-15 08:14
Priority:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>Bert, W1IHN/4:
>Secondly, when you reel it back, tie a larger-than-the-
>monofilament (light) line to the other end of the insulator.

Au contraire:  when the projectile reaches the ground on the other side
of the tree, REMOVE IT.  Tie the light line to the monofilament
directly so that there is only a little bump as the junction passes back
through the tree. Then use the light line to pull up the main rope
you will use to hold up the antenna.

Also, your goal normally will be to go over the top of the tree, unless a
specific branch makes more sense.

73,

Dave

David K. McCarty, K5GN
dkmc at chevron.com


>From McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com  Wed Jun 15 14:27:22 1994
From: McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com (McCarty, DK 'Dav)
Date: 15 Jun 94 06:27:22 PDT
Subject: NOTE 06/15/94 06:26:00
Message-ID: <199406151327.AA26363 at portal.chevron.com>


From: McCarty, DK 'David'
To:  OPEN ADDRESSING SERVI-OPENADDR
Date: 1994-06-15 08:18
Priority:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>The method I use it to find a clear patch of ground (about 10' x 10')
between
>me and the desired tree.  I then pull the line off the spool, and lay it
out
>in a zig zag pattern on the ground.  You gotta watch out that it wont get
>caught on anything, and that you dont step on it and get all tangled up
>yourself.  In a windy day, it will also drag on the ground.  (this method
>has also worked for me on the roof of the house, but you gotta watch out
that
>the line doesnt get snagged on the corner of a roof tile)
>
>Not pretty, but again it works with practice.  There's gotta be a better
way,
>but I havent found it.

I use a heavy plastic dropcloth laid out on the ground to keep the line from

being tangled in the grass and other stuff on the ground.

David K. McCarty, K5GN
dkmc at chevron.com



>From McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com  Wed Jun 15 14:46:20 1994
From: McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com (McCarty, DK 'Dav)
Date: 15 Jun 94 06:46:20 PDT
Subject: Unwarranted Attacks on FR5DX
Message-ID: <199406151346.AA10827 at portal.chevron.com>


From: McCarty, DK 'David'
To:  OPEN ADDRESSING SERVI-OPENADDR
Subject:  Re: Unwarranted Attacks on FR5DX
Date: 1994-06-15 08:37
Priority:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Dick Norton, N6AA, wrote:
>A few years ago I spent a week and a half at FR5DX's and operated the CQ WW
>CW DX Contest. Almost every day, he would show me envelopes with QSL cards
>that had been tampered with. In most cases, absolutely no attempt was made
>to hide the fact that the envelope had been opened. None of the tampered
>envelopes had any money or IRCs in them.
>
<...Deleted...>

WELL SAID,  DICK.

And from my point of view (as a contester):

He's on in the contest and in the log for a two-fer.  That's what counts in
my book, and I get more satisfaction from that, year to year, than from
receiving a QSL card once.


David K. McCarty, K5GN
dkmc at chevron.com



>From Skelton, Tom" <TSkelton at engineer.clemsonsc.NCR.COM  Wed Jun 15 17:42:00 1994
From: Skelton, Tom" <TSkelton at engineer.clemsonsc.NCR.COM (Skelton, Tom)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 09:42:00 PDT
Subject: Summary:  Covenants and Restrictions
Message-ID: <2DFF30DB at admin.ClemsonSC.NCR.COM>


I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my query on the possible
changes to CCR's based on upcoming DBS antennae.  The
comments can generally be summarized as follows:

1.  Don't do it!  CCR's are immune from PRB1 and when you
buy a house in this neighborhood you have to live with it.  No
amount of lawsuits can change this.
I was aware of this from the previous thread, but  1 person
who responded of the 30 or so had worked around it.  However,
he went to a great deal of trouble to work with the city to make
it happen, and was an experienced lawyer to boot.

2.  DBS antennae are so small you could probably put one in
your back yard and not have a neighbor complain.

3.  In the UK, it seems it is a government right for a citizen to
install a DBS antenna and thus local rules can't override it.
The exception may be for historical sites.

4.  Some municipalities are trying to ignore/discount PRB1.

5.  It's not going to get any better for us hams/dxers/contesters
who desire to continually put up more/bigger/better/taller towers.

On a positive note, my wife and I saw a great house last night on
about an acre lot "in town" in an older neighborhood that has no
pre-existing covenants/restrictions/fanatic citizens committees.
All we need to do is sell one of my 2 properties and it's off to the
races.   (  HHMMMM..... where is that Clemson U professor's PO
box that does government consulting?    ;-}  )

73....Tom WB4iUX (Tom.Skelton at ClemsonSC.NCR.COM)

>From fhmoore at nemed.b11.ingr.com (frank moore)  Wed Jun 15 15:18:05 1994
From: fhmoore at nemed.b11.ingr.com (frank moore) (frank moore)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 9:18:05 CDT
Subject: Covenants, Restrictions
Message-ID: <199406151418.AA07397 at nemed.b11.ingr.com>

Bob KG7D writes:

>    The bottom line is only you can make the decision whether or not you
>want to continue to pursue Ham Radio.

I would be glad if it was only me that made the decision! But unfortunately
my family has some say about where we live. It is difficult to ask them to
forgo much for just a hobby. Also, as the CQ article pointed out, if virtually
every subdivision has restrictive convenants against antennas then there is no
choice (ie Houston). In this case the CCRs are tantamount to restrictive 
ordinances. 
I agree that in general older subdivisions don't have CCRs that address 
antennas and I agree that the motivation seems to be to protect property 
values. I also believe that any developer worth his salt will have convenants
written to exclude ham radio antennas and that these covenants will go
unchallenged due to the hassle.
I believe that it is in the contest communities best interest to make it as 
easy as possible to put up a contest station so that we can attract more
contesters to our part of the hobby. I would like to see the ARRL become more
active in this area. I would like to see them push the FCC to strengthen
PRB-1 and even help hams defend court cases if the ham has acted in accordance
with ordinances and CCRs. Finally, I would like to see the ARRL more actively
promote our hobby to the general public.
I wrote Dave Sumner with these ideas but haven't gotten a response. I guess
I ask alot especially when the majority of the ARRL members are not contesters.
I suspect that a no-code hams' antenna requirements are easier to meet than
mine! Sorry for the soapbox guys...

                       Frank "when will this raw nerve get better" Moore, KE4GY
                       fhmoore at ingr.com

>From Steve Harrison <sharriso at sysplan.com>  Wed Jun 15 15:15:57 1994
From: Steve Harrison <sharriso at sysplan.com> (Steve Harrison)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 10:15:57 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Launching wrist rocket line
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9406151057.A8969-0100000 at eagle>

I, too have used the methods mentioned by WM2C, and have not found any 
improvements on them. Several years ago, I used a wrist-rocket to get a 
line over a tree branch up around 85 feet with a relatively small sinker 
and small monofilament line. The tree was in a moderately-dense woods 
with underbrush, so I stripped leaves and small branches off a bush limb 
that was pointing at the target branch, and slipped the spool over it. 
The line unwound from the spool beautifully, and I lucked out since the 
line went exactly where I wanted it the first time. A most critical item, 
as Ken has pointed out, is not to try to pull the line back with the 
sinker attached; cut the sinker and knot in the line off, THEN pull the 
line through.

As for knots, if you are a fisherman, you already know how to tie 
monofilament line securely. I'm not, and had to experiment. A standard 
bow knot works for moderate tension if you double or triple the second 
tie. While this tends to increase the size of the knot so that it seems 
more prone to get hung-up in the crook of a branch, I have not had a 
problem with the type of trees in my area.

I've tried a 35-lb bow, but have never gotten the arrow to fly higher 
than 60 feet or so. I've also lost all of my arrows. My old QTH had at 
least 3 of them hanging from various branches in one old oak tree, and I 
tried everything I could think of to get them down since, sooner or 
later, they WILL come down, and will spear anything under them at the 
time! I've got small kids, so I won't use a bow for this purpose again; 
it doesn't work very well. A compound bow may work better, and I've heard 
stories of guys using regular 35-lb bows getting lines up 90 feet, but 
I've also watched several of those same legends repeatedly fail when put 
to the test at Field Days.

K-Mart had a lightweight fishing pole/reel set which dissaembled to the 
point that you could tie the handle with the spool to something stuck in 
the ground and leave off the pole entirely. I've used this in woods where 
you can't let the line lie on the ground; the reel sure cuts down the labor
when retrieving the line.

73, Steve KO0U/4 <sharrison at sysplan.com>



>From peterj at netcom.com (Peter Jennings)  Wed Jun 15 15:45:20 1994
From: peterj at netcom.com (Peter Jennings) (Peter Jennings)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 07:45:20 -0700
Subject: Wrist rocket or sling shot.
Message-ID: <199406151445.HAA09681 at netcom.com>

>
> I dispence the mono filament line from a fly rod's reel.  This can be
> a one man operation by mounting the reel on only half the rod and
> positioning the rod toward the target tree using a simple holding jig.
> My highest tree is about 90 feet and I have been able to put a mono
> filament line over it.  For best results pick a time of the day with
> minimum wind.
> Harvey, N6MM  (HDHETLAND at PACCD.CC.CA.US)
>

As a non-fisherman, I used to use the cheapest reel I could come across at
K-Mart (where the sling shots are around $5 and the reels are not much
more, if I remember correctly). Most of the time, it worked fine.
Once in a while, the line would bind, and the shot would fall short.

Last year, I came across a suggestion somewhere (sorry I forget where, so I
can't credit the originator of this idea) which has worked very well for
the lines I have shot over trees. Instead of paying extra for a good fly
reel, use a medium sized container such as a small plastic wastepaper
basket or equivalent. Attach one end of the line to something nearby.
Play out into this container a sufficient length of line to reach the
branch and back down to the ground on the other side. Connect a 1 to 2
ounce weight to the free end of the line. Aim and shoot.

When I first heard this suggestion, I was sure that the line would get all
tangled up, but remarkably, it has worked perfectly every time I have tried
it.

I am surprised that the rubber on the slingshot ages so quickly. After
leaving one in the garage all winter, it broke as soon as I went to use it
this spring. <ouch!> Fortunately, you can also buy replacements at K-Mart.

Having seen this, I guess I should replace the ones in my wallet, eh? :-)

Peter
--        AB6WM  -  VE3SUN                             peterj at netcom.com

>From McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com  Wed Jun 15 17:00:23 1994
From: McCarty, DK 'Dav" <DKMC at chevron.com (McCarty, DK 'Dav)
Date: 15 Jun 94 09:00:23 PDT
Subject: Heat Shrink Tubing for Coax
Message-ID: <199406151600.AA21951 at portal.chevron.com>


From: McCarty, DK 'David'
To:  OPEN ADDRESSING SERVI-OPENADDR
Subject:  Heat Shrink Tubing for Coax
Date: 1994-06-15 10:46
Priority:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Where does one purchase the heat shrink tubing with the sealant goop inside
for
permanent weatherproofing of connections?


David K. McCarty, K5GN
dkmc at chevron.com



>From clay torsten <rtclay at uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>  Wed Jun 15 17:06:31 1994
From: clay torsten <rtclay at uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> (clay torsten)
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 11:06:31 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Launching wrist rocket line (arrows)
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9406151130.A7855-b100000 at uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>

Well, the bow/arrow method has always worked better for me, although I do agree
that it is more dangerous. Here are some tips:
	-use long enough arrows...with shorter arrows, you don't get enough pull
from the bow to go very high. The best are the aluminum hunting arrows (minus
the sharp point of course).
	-you must weight the arrows...the best method I have found is to wrap
fine-gauge solder around the arrow shaft, then wrap tape over the solder.

R. Torsten Clay, N4OGW/9   n4ogw at uiuc.edu  

On Wed, 15 Jun 1994, Steve Harrison wrote:

> 
> I've tried a 35-lb bow, but have never gotten the arrow to fly higher 
> than 60 feet or so. I've also lost all of my arrows. My old QTH had at 
> least 3 of them hanging from various branches in one old oak tree, and I 
> tried everything I could think of to get them down since, sooner or 
> later, they WILL come down, and will spear anything under them at the 
> time! I've got small kids, so I won't use a bow for this purpose again; 
> it doesn't work very well. A compound bow may work better, and I've heard 
> stories of guys using regular 35-lb bows getting lines up 90 feet, but 
> I've also watched several of those same legends repeatedly fail when put 
> to the test at Field Days.
> 
> K-Mart had a lightweight fishing pole/reel set which dissaembled to the 
> point that you could tie the handle with the spool to something stuck in 
> the ground and leave off the pole entirely. I've used this in woods where 
> you can't let the line lie on the ground; the reel sure cuts down the labor
> when retrieving the line.
> 
> 73, Steve KO0U/4 <sharrison at sysplan.com>
> 
>