ARRL contacted me & said GMRS licensees who sign list , will be removed. Citing that the letter to lawmakers is written as from Hams. So, I thought it would be the least confusing thing , would be to delete the post.

[WRMS528]

 

 

[WSJX263]

Done 1 for each license.

[WRUE951]

Done..   This does not effect me but there was a time when it did and i have many friends it will help..  Everyone here PLEASE file this letter, encourage your friends to do the same. ..  Its easy, all you need is your call sign..   I actually filed one for HAM and one for GMRS..   

[WRUE951]

4 hours ago, WRMS528 said:

ARRL Launches Nationwide Grassroots Campaign to Pass Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

If passed it will protect individuals rights to erect antennas while within HOAs.

They are asking Hams (but may apply to GMRS licensees ) (I put in my GMRS license & it pulled up my info in the form.)

So, if you are a ham do for sure , but it looks to me like it will accept GMRS as well, though the page doesn't say either way. 

Here is the ARRL page link :  

https://www.arrl.org/current-legislation?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ARRL&_zs=SQvQm&_zl=OlgT3

 

thanks WRMS528 / KX4MIK

Thanks for positing this..   I encourage oure friends here to follow through.. 

[WRKC935]

Be VERY careful what you wish for.  It might happen. 

If this goes through and the federal government tells the HOA's to pound sand with their antenna rules, it's only going to make them mad. 

While your antenna's may be OK at that point.  Your grass, garage door, and any other regulated item in the HOA bylaws will be watched like a hawk. Any sort of violation of their other rules will be dealt with swiftly to the point of being excessive.  I wish people would understand this.  Yes, it's the federal government that would be pulling their teeth when it comes to antennas and towers.  But it's YOU that they are pulling the teeth to protect.  And it's a direct attack on the HOA, or it will be seen as such by the HOA.

 

[GreggInFL]

Smart HOAs will recognize this as an opportunity to offer a community tower as an amenity. Why bother putting up your own antenna when you can just hit the HOA's repeater with your $20 HT? Slightly off topic I know, but a radio head wishing to establish a tower can sell this as a community asset, not a liability.

"Do you want twenty people hanging antennae off their balconies, or one antenna at the maintenance building?"

[WRKC935]

21 minutes ago, GreggInFL said:

Smart HOAs will recognize this as an opportunity to offer a community tower as an amenity. Why bother putting up your own antenna when you can just hit the HOA's repeater with your $20 HT? Slightly off topic I know, but a radio head wishing to establish a tower can sell this as a community asset, not a liability.

"Do you want twenty people hanging antennae off their balconies, or one antenna at the maintenance building?"

Well, there could be, if there was enough interest HAM specific communities with an HOA.  And the HOA would provide a 'club house' with an antenna system they would install and maintain.  

I would say if this passes that there will be an at least temporary increase in folks looking to get their license.  If it's under the guise of 'Emergency Preparedness' then people would want to hear whats going on on the 'emergency channels'.  We see this now to some degree.  Some mid-level or better disaster happens and a bunch of people get into ham radio feeling that they will somehow be better informed about a situation as it's occurring.  

Is that actually the case?  Sometimes.  But not always.  BUT, until they figure out that they are not getting any better info until they have a license, they will at least make the effort.  

 

But, if this happens, I can see HOA's selling the idea of their neighborhood being 'safer and better informed' due to having a tower and some radios connected to it.  My guess would be that they will skate around letting every other house in the neighborhood have an antenna by putting in a ham shack in the back corner and allowing members to operate from there.  Now, will that cause issues? Sure.  But that's a different discussion.

 

[WSJW650]

It has been my experience that HOAs in Texas believe their rules supercede Federal and State laws.  Our HOA only allows solar panels that don’t face the street. This is a bummer for all south facing front door homes. 
 

HOAs lose in court and will fold if legally pressured; but hourly rates add up quickly. 

[WSAQ296]

Or, reword it to say "ARRL Membership is at an all time low so they're trying to resurrect this issue in an effort to gain members".   We all fell for this once, and we got nothing in return other than a strongly worded act that had no legal backing to it. 
 

 

[WRUE951]

9 hours ago, GreggInFL said:

Smart HOAs will recognize this as an opportunity to offer a community tower as an amenity. Why bother putting up your own antenna when you can just hit the HOA's repeater with your $20 HT? Slightly off topic I know, but a radio head wishing to establish a tower can sell this as a community asset, not a liability.

"Do you want twenty people hanging antennae off their balconies, or one antenna at the maintenance building?"

Can you imange how many houses a HAM specific community would sell..  People woulld be standing in line for a lottery to get in..   

 

[WRUE951]

58 minutes ago, WSJW650 said:

It has been my experience that HOAs in Texas believe their rules supercede Federal and State laws.  Our HOA only allows solar panels that don’t face the street. This is a bummer for all south facing front door homes. 
 

HOAs lose in court and will fold if legally pressured; but hourly rates add up quickly. 

You said it right, its all control.   I have a friend living in a Del Webb in Sacramento..   He put up a stealth flag pole with a hidden 1.25 mtr antenna.. He says no one has complained but worries if anyone finds out he has a HAM antenna hidden they will force him to take it down.   

[WRXB215]

I don't live in an HOA but some of the comments here make it sound like tyranny.

[Bogieboy01]

16 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

I don't live in an HOA but some of the comments here make it sound like tyranny.

And people wonder why i just bought an acre and a half on the side of a mountain in TN.... i can do pretty much whatever i want here.....

[WSJW650]

HOAs tend to be represented by the real estate agent extremist in the neighborhood….who ironically seem to get the most leeway on their own guidelines. 
 

Very similar to most political structures. 
 

They do some good from time to time; but will waste money on silly entrance fountains and other superficialities while banning practicalities like no water needed rock and pebble yards.  

[WRKC935]

32 minutes ago, WRXB215 said:

I don't live in an HOA but some of the comments here make it sound like tyranny.

HOA's in concept are NOT the issue.  The problem is with the people that run them.  If the folks in charge are normal folks that maintain the HOA rules to keep hill billies from having 3 cars in their yard sitting on blocks and painting their siding in rainbow colors, it's not an issue.   However if the folks running the show are narcissists or some other power seeking lunatic, then then tyranny is certainly the order of the day.  

There are stories of some pretty extreme things that HOA's believe they are entitled to do that are illegal.  Trespassing is the big one.  But some feel that there is no 'private' property.  At least it's not private to the HOA board members.  And that creates a dangerous situation. 

But, if you bought in an HOA community and signed off that you would abide by their regulations and then decided you wanted to take up radio as a hobby, YOU choose to buy in a regulated neighborhood.  You need to move if you want to put up towers and antenna's

 

[WSAQ296]

7 hours ago, WRUE951 said:

Can you imange how many houses a HAM specific community would sell..  People woulld be standing in line for a lottery to get in..   

 

Yeah, and the local drugstore could replace the hygiene products with more snacks.   I camped once in a large campground for a swap meet. Enough space for many of us to set up for HF.  Luckily most of us played nice and alternated bands so as not to clobber thy neighbor.  But when the wind hit just right, it got gamey! 

[Milifidel]

Just sent my letters to my Representative and Senators, I hope it does help and the more the merrier as I always say ... we need to be able to put up towers so we can be able to send and receive messages, especially in an emergency situation or disaster ... 

[Lscott]

On 9/20/2025 at 6:22 PM, WRMS528 said:

ARRL Launches Nationwide Grassroots Campaign to Pass Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

If passed it will protect individuals rights to erect antennas while within HOAs.

They are asking Hams (but may apply to GMRS licensees ) (I put in my GMRS license & it pulled up my info in the form.)

So, if you are a ham do for sure , but it looks to me like it will accept GMRS as well, though the page doesn't say either way. 

Here is the ARRL page link :  

https://www.arrl.org/current-legislation?utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ARRL&_zs=SQvQm&_zl=OlgT3

 

thanks WRMS528 / KX4MIK

The form took my Ham license and auto-filled in the rest. My GMRS license No.

[WSJX263]

4 minutes ago, Lscott said:

The form took my Ham license and auto-filled in the rest. My GMRS license No.

It took both of mine.

[Lscott]

26 minutes ago, WSJX263 said:

It took both of mine.

Hummm.. Might be because I'm using Firefox on a Linux system why the GMRS one didn't work.

[SteveShannon]

12 minutes ago, Lscott said:

Hummm.. Might be because I'm using Firefox on a Linux system why the GMRS one didn't work.

Lawmakers are probably focused on the number of voters.  Two letters coming from the same voter, one for each license, could be seen as trying to pad the results. Maybe it’s better that only one was taken.  I assume your ham license and GMRS license are linked to the same FRN.  That might be how the process filtered out your second license.

[SteveShannon]

44 minutes ago, WSJX263 said:

It took both of mine.

Hmmm, so much for my idea that they’re filtering based on FRN.  I don’t know.  Seems like a bug.

[WSJX263]

11 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Lawmakers are probably focused on the number of voters.  Two letters coming from the same voter, one for each license, could be seen as trying to pad the results. Maybe it’s better that only one was taken.  I assume your ham license and GMRS license are linked to the same FRN.  That might be how the process filtered out your second license.

You could be right on that. One of my 2 may be filtered out, even though it took both.

 

[SteveShannon]

19 minutes ago, WSJX263 said:

You could be right on that. One of my 2 may be filtered out, even though it took both.

 

Thanks for doing it no matter what.  Maybe this year it stands a chance of being passed. Hope springs eternal!

[Lscott]

5 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

 I assume your ham license and GMRS license are linked to the same FRN.  That might be how the process filtered out your second license.

Yeah, both are using the same FRN.