<story><title>Amateur Radio Parity Act Passes in the US House of Representatives</title><url>http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-parity-act-passes-in-the-us-house-of-representatives</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>AstroJetson</author><text>This is to give hams some leverage over HOA&amp;#x2F;COA to be allowed to put up antennas.  This will also help with some communities that have not allowed antennas, even with the FCC coverage.  It&amp;#x27;s a huge expense &amp;#x2F; pain to go to lots of zoning hearings.&lt;p&gt;Lots of hams put up HF towers and beams now days.  On the other hand lots of hams also use hidden antennas or something like a vertical that&amp;#x27;s not as obtrusive.  The ability to put up something that&amp;#x27;s small or not obtrusive is a big win for people living in HOA&amp;#x27;s.&lt;p&gt;The existing ham base is excited for two reason, one it gives new hams the chance to put antennas up.  The other is as hams move into retirement communities that have a HOA&amp;#x2F;COA they can still be part of the hobby.&lt;p&gt;The ARRL is amazing, it&amp;#x27;s not &amp;quot;just a hobby&amp;quot; to them.  They have been working on this for years and they have been very diligent about keeping on top of this.  As a ham, I&amp;#x27;ve helped by sending letters to my congress people.&lt;p&gt;Someone mentioned frequency assignments, the ARRL guards ours like a mother bear watching cubs. They have successfully fought off multiple attempts across decades. We have also gotten some new band access, those efforts have been appreciated.&lt;p&gt;While the vote passed by a voice vote in the House, the Senate isn&amp;#x27;t a done deal.  It would be possible for an amendment to be added that will kill it off.  If you are a ham send a letter&amp;#x2F;email to your Senator, we can still use all the help we can muster.</text></comment>
<story><title>Amateur Radio Parity Act Passes in the US House of Representatives</title><url>http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-parity-act-passes-in-the-us-house-of-representatives</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jMyles</author><text>Is there a Ham radio comeback happening right now?  I&amp;#x27;m hearing about it more and more.  Can anyone recommend a post or series of posts about the process of obtaining the license?</text></comment>