[TowerTalk] Remote Ham Radio

[Larry Loen]

On Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 4:40 PM, K8RI <K8RI-on-TowerTalk at tm.net> wrote:

> On 8/5/2013 3:36 PM, Patrick Greenlee wrote:
>
>> While I'm not going to rent a station, I fail to see how the FCC rules
>> are broken.  Consider if you went to "RENT-ALL" and rented the
>> components, transceiver, tower, and antenna. Whether or not the rental
>> clerk, his boss, or the owner or stockholders are lisc hams is
>> immaterial as they aren't doing any transmitting. So long as the
>> equipment is operated within the rules no harm no foul.
>>
>
>  The difference is the station license and operator license are different.
>>
>
> Normally a club station is considered incidental to the operation of the
> club.
>

My local club's repeater suggests otherwise.

If you're the FCC, you have to consider more than HF.

How is a typical repeater, put up by ham radio club XXX, different than
this situation?  For many clubs, the repeater is the main reason to have
said club.  You're basically leasing the equipment via the club, which you
contribute to.  You don't own anything -- the club does.  And, the club's
repeater is going to have way better amenities than someone's local "ego
box" (which are also widely disparaged).  For VHF repeaters, clubs are the
norm.

And, you may say it is voluntary, but if you don't "volunteer" your money,
the repeater has a way of disappearing from the airwaves.  Something that
both we and the FCC understand.

In any case, it directly contradicts the idea that we have to own all our
own equipment.  It's clear enough that we don't.

Moreover, I've had access to HF club stations since I was licensed in '86.
Two of them, in fact, in one town.  And, used them when I didn't have "the
big station" and needed it.  _That is why we had them_.  So that the
HOA-bound and others could operate.  Heck, in the case of my company's
radio club, we _explicitly_ encouraged our out of town guests from
elsewhere in the company to operate the station.  It was part of the
purpose.  And, many did.  Every year.

Sorry, the only thing that really is different here is that the cost
recovery is more overt and it's upsetting someone's delicate sensibilities.

Truth is, we've pooled our money in all sorts of ways -- from repeaters to
AMSAT.  This one is just more "in you face" than the others.

And, the FCC can hardly be ignorant about all of this over so many years.


Larry WO7R