Customer Reviews

Antenna Zoning : For the Radio Amateur

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For those who find themselves facing potential new, adverse local government regulation, ARRL has recently released a new publication, Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur by Fred Hopengarten, K1VR. This is an excellent new publication that provides a lot of material to help you as you approach local governing bodies to be able to put up an antenna.

There is a CD ROM with documents you can use directly to aid your efforts. The book may seem a bit pricey ..., but if you find that you are in need of an attorney's services in your quest, you can save more than the cost of this book in attorney's fees because the book provides a treasure chest of material your attorney will not have to search out! I highly recommend this book!

I am really excited about this book. I get a lot of e-mails and telephone calls asking for zoning information. This new ARRL book is a MUST read for anyone planning to put up a tower. Get the book and read it before you even look at an antenna catalog.

Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, a communications lawyer and contester, has written a truly fine book designed to save the serious amateur a lot of money, time and grief. It is a must read for any ham who plans to buy a house and put up a dream antenna system. Even before you buy the house or begin looking at tower and antenna catalogs you should get a copy of the book. There is practical advice on selecting a real estate agent, dealing with a town clerk, and getting a copy of the local building codes. Fred covers every subject you can think of and then adds quite a few you didn't think of but should have.

Don't be put of by the ... price tag as it will be the best money you will spend on the entire house and antenna project. Your initial reaction may be that this is way too much for a book that is only 286 pages long, but be aware that you also get a CD-ROM crammed full of precedent setting cases, sample letters and documents designed to help you and your lawyer prepare you zoning application and or appeal. Director Jay Bellows, KØQB, a Minnesota lawyer who serves on the Tower Assistance Committee with me, feels that the CD-ROM is the best part of the book as you or your lawyer can edit the PDF files using Word and tailor them to your needs.

Even for an old veteran of many tower battles this a truly invaluable book. Fred takes us through the entire process providing detailed guides along the way with tips on how to talk to town officials and what not to say. These are very important things easily forgotten. He makes the point that you should at all times be the good guy in the white hat who lets the town know what he is doing an why. It is surprisingly easy to read which is a real accomplishment with a subject as detailed and complicated.

The book is designed to give you a view of the entire process and help you avoid the pitfalls that others have fallen into along the way. It is a college course in the subject at a graduate level. Some few may discover after reading it that they came across the book too late in the process and would be better off changing their plans or looking for a second dream house.

It will save me hours on the telephone when a local ham calls for advice. But even for them the book may be helpful in making that decision possible. The best advice I can now give is before you even begin to look for a house, read Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur. Failure to buy and read it is almost certainly guaranteed to cost you many times more in money and time wasted.

This is a delightful book and CDROM which are full of useful tips and info. Hopengarten impressively thought of everything and still expresses interest in learning and sharing more.

We're certainly fortunate in this wonderful hobby of ours to have talented individuals like Fred Hopengarten, Jim O'Connell and other volunteer counsels to share valuable insight into the various aspects of our hobby.

Whenever another ham knocks the ARRL, my response always includes remarks to the effect that everything I know about ham radio comes from ARRL literature. This magnum opus certainly further justifies my thoughts in this regard.

This book is several years old, and a new edition is available at less that half the price. The new edition is the best source of information and guidance available. If you are putting up an antenna, you need this book, just don't buy the outdated editions they are selling here on ebay at 2 or more times the price of the current edition. I hope this helps others avoid falling into this trap.