[TowerTalk] tower restrictions

[Scott McClements]

On Fri, Jul 18, 2008 at 2:12 PM, Kelly Johnson <n6kj.kelly at gmail.com> wrote:
> Some cities will try to
> regulate amateur radio towers under the same ordinance that covers
> cell towers.  That's not a good thing for hams.  Most cell tower
> ordinances require special use permits, public hearings, excessive
> screening requirements, and often limit you to a "monopole" design.

In my case my city has verbage that ham towers are exempt from the
height limits and setbacks laws. It differentiates between a cell
tower and ham tower. That's good. What is not good is that building a
ham tower in my town goes against the same specs as the cell phone
towers. In my case TIA222 Rev F.  At that speed my HDX572 tower is
only allowed to carry 10sq/ft of windload. With TIA222 Rev G, my
HDX572 won't even carry its own weight. I am all for thought/planning
and safety, but I think we are getting to the point where most hams
will no longer be able to afford a tower that meets the building
requirements.  Not a problem for a cell phone company who is putting
up a tower to pull in revenue. Furthermore, if we had the weather
conditions specified in TIA222 Rev G, does it matter that I would come
home after a weather event and find my tower standing and all trees
and my house leveled?

-Scott, WU2X