HR2160 is the The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009.
H.R. 2160 instructs the Secretary of Homeland Security to undertake a study, and report its findings to Congress within 180 days, on the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio communications in emergencies and disaster relief. This study should:
- Include recommendations for enhancements in the voluntary deployment of Amateur Radio licensees in disaster and emergency communications and disaster relief efforts;
- Include recommendations for improved integration of Amateur Radio operators in planning and in furtherance of the Department of Homeland Security initiatives;
- Identify unreasonable or unnecessary impediments to enhanced Amateur Radio communications, such as the effects of private land use regulations on residential antenna installations, and make recommendations regarding such impediments;
- Include an evaluation of section 207 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996); and recommend whether section 207 should be modified to prevent unreasonable private land use restrictions that impair the ability of amateurs to conduct, or prepare to conduct, emergency communications.
Info and links to an example letter is at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/05/12/10818. I’ve sent mine in and I hope you do the same.
73,
K2DSL
I’ve sent my comment to our Oklahoma delegation in opposition to HB 2160. We don’t need anymore bureaucratic intervention from Homeland security or any other government agency. Let’em use GMRS or better yet their own radio systems and leave amateur radio alone. The ARRL does NOT speak for me and I conveyed that in my letters to our congressmen.
I sent both of my representatives a letter in support for this important legislation. The issue of CC7R’s and HOA’s (none of which had to pass an FCC test!) placing undue restrictions on how much antenna I put up, is totally unacceptable to me. As a professional in the Wireless industry, I have seen how the untrained, uninformed people have tried to muddy the waters. These same folks would have you believe that only one cell site should cover an entire county with only a 50 foot high antenna! But let that one call that they want to place – fail due to lack of signal and they are up in arms about quality of service and coverage! Do your best to support the legislation to remove these burdens! Amateur Radio is the only hobby that requires a Federal license, yet is regulated by local yokels that do not need to pass the same test at all! Let’s get rid of this, and now is the time to react!
Simply put —
All hams should support this.
It will finally be a federal law over-riding HOA’s and CCR’s that have stopped us from putting up our antennas and associated support structures.
Joe Keith, don’t throw away our piece of the pie just because you don’t like the plate it sits on.