On Feb 13, 1:52 pm, Jeffrey D Angus wrote:
March 2010 issue of QST, page 35:
"After moving in, I was told this CR also applied to any outside
antennas, because the might possibly be visible to the neighbors.
Drat -- time to come up with a compact stealth mode antenna..."

I read this too, but if the contract says what he claimed it seems as
if the FCC overruled the contract at least for some kinds of broadcast
reception. For instance, they cannot forbid small satellite TV
dishes. However, his solution is still not legal as the FCC
specifically did not address ham radio antenna restrictions in private
contracts in their OTARD rules.

See: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

Here we go again. Another signed contract and another evasive
maneuver around it.

PRB-1 does not void any private contracts (CC&Rs, lease agreements
etc) like this and yes he seems to be violating the terms of his
lease. Not that I would recommend breaking terms in contracts, his
solution was interesting and does get him on the air.

Am I missing something here?

It doesn't look like it. My reading of the QST article seems to say
that this guy is in violation of his lease as he understands it and as
the landlord explained it when he asked. Now the landlord may be
partially mistaken (that TV reception satellite antennas are really
effectively banned by his lease), but everybody (the tenant and the
landlord) both seem to agree that the lease restricts ham radio
antennas. Clearly they would both believe that the stealth antenna is
a violation of the lease, which puts the ham on bad legal footing.

Personally, I'd not recommend willingly violating *any* contract terms
without legal advice about the risks you are taking. Sure the
landlord may not care in the long run but you *don't* want to end up
in a legal battle if you can possibly avoid it. They are costly, time
consuming and usually frustrating for all involved (except for the
lawyers of course who get to bill by the hour.) If a ham wants to
take the legal risk and put up stealth antennas to get on the air, I’m
not going to complain. I may even come over and help you with the
setup… I just don’t recommend taking legal risks…

-= bob =-