In the US, the FCC rules trump any planning commission or homeowners'
association, etc., allowing the licensed operator to erect an antenna
that isn't subject to any restrictions on height, length, etc., as
long as it doesn't extend beyond the land the owner controls, of
course.

Same for antennas for television reception, unless cable TV is
supplied at no charge to the occupant.

That doesn't mean that we wouldn't have to spend some time and trouble
fighting to assert our rights, though, even though we are protected by
law here in the US.

The reasoning behind the law is that amateur radio is very useful in
times of disaster or local emergencies and that anything impeding the
use of such is counter to the public's general interests.

Many amateur radio operators here skirt the issue and just erect
"stealth antennas" that either can't be easily seen or aren't ugly
(like a flagpole vertical). In doing so, rather than ask for
permission, they just put it up and wait to see if the homeowner's
association or local code enforcer decides to press the issue. If the
amateur asks for permission, they increase the probability that
everything they do from then on will be scrutinized carefully.

Don



On Sun, 6 Oct 2013 17:56:28 +0100, "gareth"
wrote:

Looking at the way that antennae on spacecraft unwrap into
elaborate structures from a near-perfect spheroid, (not unlike the
Japanese / Chinese tissue paper flowers when dropped into water),
I wonder if there is scope for we amateurs (Brit) / Hams (Yank) to
produce similar structures, but with the added capacity to fold back
into a tight ball?

That way, we could all have extensive antennae farms, but then being
of a temporary nature, would not fall foul of the bureaucrato******s
that plague local government (especially here in Brit).