[TowerTalk] Chicago Tribune: Antenna Stirs Static Among Neighbors

[Jim White, K4OJ]

Bill Turner wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:44:20 -0400, "Jim White, K4OJ"
> <k4oj at tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>>WHAT?
>>
>>You want his towers limited????
> 
> I said no such thing.  Read my post again.
> 

I read that you thought he was asking a lot - and I replied that you 
were telling him to cut back on what he wanted, which amounts to 
limiting his freedom to put up what he wanted!



> 
> 
>>It does not matter how high they are to the neighbors... 
> 
> Of course it does.  An attitude like yours is why there are "neighbor
> problems" in the first place.
> 
> 
> 

WRONG - The neighbors will ask why does it have to be that tall no 
matter how tall it is!  They have no concept of why we would want taller 
towers - it is not because we want to spend more money for everything 
that goes into taller towers it is because we want more effective 
antennas on those towers and to make them taller is a prerequisite at 
the lower frequencies!




>>the difference 
>>between 50 foot and 150 foot as far as height is irrelevant to them... 
>>it is a tower and to THEIR insensitive bigotry they are all the same...
> 
> More nonsense.  A 50 foot tower is quite a different thing from a 150
> footer.
> 

In the eyes of the neighbor if they can already see it it is too tall, 
can it be shorter, do you really need it at all... it is plain and 
simple discrimination.


> 
> 
>>I can easily understand the need for two high towers minimum, to support 
>>a dipole type antenna between them... but that is only for one pair of 
>>azimuthal options... three towers makes arrays which will be broadside 
>>to six different areas possible!
> 
> Agreed.  The issue here is not radiation effectiveness, it's neighbor
> relations.
> 
> 

So the ham should compromise his needs and then what happen s if the 
bigoted neighbor still thinks the tower is an eyesore?


> 
>>As far as some people are concerned if the neighbor puts up towers it is 
>>like a person of the wrong ethnic background moving into their 
>>neighborhood... they feel unjustifiably incensed and are convinced that 
>>soon hell will freeze over...
> 
> Agreed.
> 
> 

OK - now we are getting someplace


> 
>>Neighbors suck... best option is to find area near a pasture full of 
>>cows - they do not bitch!
> 
> Also agreed.  That's partly why I moved out of the city into the
> desert where my nearest neighbor is 1000' away and the next one beyond
> him is another 1000'.
> 
> 

This is kind of understood - to minimize neighbor interaction you 
ultimately end up buying that property off the beaten path IF your life 
priorities are such that hamming is important to you... in order to 
fulfill your needs you need to minimize the downside which is back to 
our friends the bigoted neighbors!


> 
>>I still cannot believe you told this guy he had nerve asking to have 
>>three towers 90 foot!
> 
> I can not believe you misread my post so badly.  Read it again.  I
> only said I thought he was pushing the neighbors a bit much.
> 

And my reply to you is that I cannot believe you would side with the 
neighbors in thinking he should compromise HIS antennas, every time I 
hear of someone compromising I wonder why they have such low self 
esteem... why has the ham got to be the bad guy - especially when 
elevating his antennas will ultimately lead to LOWER incidences of TVI!!!!!

I am sorry you take umbrage but I am tired of seeing the politically 
correct element infect my life in yet another way  which is what 
kowtowing to the neighbors is.  If they are royal pains in the a** you 
have to make a decision - do you sacrifice what gives you pleasure by 
feeding your passion for radio communication and NOT build the big 
antenna farm you have dreamed and planned for, or do you move.

I think both options suck because you are being forced into something... 
THAT IS MY POINT OF VIEW.

By the way, the next door neighbors just gave us their old refrigerator 
for us to use at our contest station for the multi-operator efforts... 
and the SOB who tried to stop our installation of the towers when we 
first moved in has since moved away - something he was already planning 
on doing when we moved there - his motivation for having illegal red 
flagging of the installation and summoning the board of county 
commissioners is now very clear - he did not object to the antennas he 
felt he would see less profit when he went to sell his house should 
there be antennas in the back yard neighbors yard.

The station has a 50 footer, and 110 footer and a 140 footer with the 45 
footer about to be extend to 75 foot in a few weeks.

73,

Jim, K4OJ

Hams have rights, too!  We are NOT bad guys by default!!