San Luis Obispo County (CA) Supervisors Ban Ham Radio (April 1, 2009):

San Luis Obispo county supervisors took drastic and unprecedented action
yesterday by passing an ordinance that would prohibit amateur radio operators,
known as hams, from operating their transmitting stations. The measure was put
in place to eliminate what officials said were health risks associated with
transmitters located close to children. A legal struggle is expected.

This is outrageous. You'd better believe were going to fight back and win. This
is a totalitarian seizure of our rights that is totally illegal and can't stand
up, said Frank Wilson, a local ham club president.

Wilson claims that a federal preemption of local zoning ordinances, called
PRB-1, delineates three rules for local municipalities to follow in
accommodating antenna structures such as are used by hams. Most area hams were
totally unaware of the new law and Wilson believes there will be a revolt when
they discover it. I will be speaking about it at our club meeting on Friday. We
would normally disseminate the information by radio, but of course that's
illegal for the moment.

Amateur radio operator Clay Collins of Pismo Beach, was incredulous. We provide
free emergency communications for the county, we assist the police department,
we help out several times a year on all manner of public events, and this is
the thanks we get. Someone is badly informed. Next thing you know, we'll be
accused of being responsible for global warming.

Another radio ham who identified himself only as Deke said that although a
number of hams were mobilizing to do what they could he was pessimistic. I
actually know that Nyborg guy.[E. Duane Nyborg, an attorney] He walks around
twelve hours a day with a cell phone up to his head and yet he's worried about
the tiny amount of radiation from my transmitter. Deke claims that the
frequencies of a cell phone are close to that of a microwave oven. You hold a
[cell] phone up to your head, you're cooking your brain slowly, he warned.

Collins, a ham of fifty-three years and grandfather of six, lives in a housing
tract with a homeowners association that already regulates ham radio operators.
He says that restrictive HOA agreements exacerbate the problem. By prohibiting
high antenna towers, [the HOA rules] force me to place my antennas lower and
closer to my neighbors, and force me to use higher power to make up for the
difference in performance. He said that his antenna, which is located in his
attic, creates far more radiation on the ground than if it were up on a 50-foot
tower-the same type of tower Collins applied for in 1997 but was denied a
permit for.

Hams are required by the FCC to keep track of the amount of radiation from
their antennas but Collins station is far below the allowable limits, he says.
In the next earthquake, all of my neighbors will be running to my house to send
messages out to their loved ones in other places. I hope they remember this.

Dick Henley, a member of the Electronic Industries Association who lives in Ann
Arbor, Michigan, claims that most of the interference to appliances,
televisions, and phones cant be blamed on hams going about their normal
activity. The vast majority of these appliances is insufficiently shielded
against external fields. The slightest interference- even from a garage door
opener or a cell phone-can disrupt it. In most cases, its not the hams fault.
He said that on the contrary, hams are usually the ones who must suffer with
interference from these electronic devices. Most of the stuff coming out of
China spews interference to radios, but the hams have just learned to live with
it. Homeowners are totally oblivious to this, he said.

Dr. V. Subrahaminayalakshminirayana, head of neurology at Kaiser Permanente in
San Francisco. There is absolutely no conclusive evidence in the literature to
support an ambitious and imaginative theory that ionizing radiation can
deleteriously and negatively affect behavior in children whether the exposure
is at a relatively constant low-level or periodic. He believes that attention
deficit hyperactivity is more likely a function of exhaustive over-stimulation
of the brain by video games, texting, and television viewing. Ask the Asian
parents of your child's playmate why they never seem to have this problem, he
laughed..

In fact, a Stanford study found that Hispanic children were fourteen times as
likely to suffer the effects of radio waves than were Asian children.

Hydra Brock-Parker, dean of sociology at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a
consultant named in the Stanford study, says If you've got, you know, a ham
serial-killer type next door flooding your apartment with high-intensity radio
waves, you have no choice but to sit there and get sick.

A similar measure was introduced into the L.A. County Boards docket on Monday
and may be considered at the next session in May.