Need info on antenna issues in Minneapolis area
 

Greetings all,

I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, and
would like to know if there are any communities that I should
specifically "look at" or "avoid" due to restrictions on ham radio
antennas or other issues.

Even apart from ham radio issues, I prefer rural to urban, but commute
time to the areas on the west side of downtown is an issue preventing
me from being too far out. Mound is probably the western limit of
what I am willing to consider.

Right now I am looking at Mound, Champlin, and Maple Grove. My
realtor is generally helpful, but amateur radio is a mystery to her
and I do not think she is used to getting such requests.


73,

Cathy (N5WVR)

On 19 Apr 2004 05:45:27 -0700, Cathy James wrote:
Greetings all,

I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, and
would like to know if there are any communities that I should
specifically "look at" or "avoid" due to restrictions on ham radio
antennas or other issues.

Even apart from ham radio issues, I prefer rural to urban, but commute
time to the areas on the west side of downtown is an issue preventing
me from being too far out. Mound is probably the western limit of
what I am willing to consider.

Right now I am looking at Mound, Champlin, and Maple Grove. My
realtor is generally helpful, but amateur radio is a mystery to her
and I do not think she is used to getting such requests.


73,

Cathy (N5WVR)

Cathy: this doesn't answer your question, but might give you some food
for thought. If amateur radio and antennas are very important to you
then I think you are making the wrong decision about suburbs. I moved
from a city into the country a few years back; not only did I not have
any hassles putting up antennas but I could not believe the difference
in how QUIET all the bands were. Cities are full of QRN: in fact, it is
unbelievable how much QRN is generated by thousands of appliances, power
lines, computers and cars. I went from a continuous S4-5 background
noise level to maybe S1 on 160-20 metres. It made a HUGE difference to
the pleasure of amateur radio. I was able to work stations I could not
even hear in the city. It was a revelation. You could test this for
yourself with a mobile HF setup if you have access to one.

These days it matters little what suburb you move into - there will
always be someone who does not like tall "ugly" structures "in their
neighbourhood".

Good luck with your decision.

Larry VE7EA

--
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to reply via email remove "fake"

Cathy James wrote:
Greetings all,

I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, and
would like to know if there are any communities that I should
specifically "look at" or "avoid" due to restrictions on ham radio
antennas or other issues.

Even apart from ham radio issues, I prefer rural to urban, but commute
time to the areas on the west side of downtown is an issue preventing
me from being too far out. Mound is probably the western limit of
what I am willing to consider.

Right now I am looking at Mound, Champlin, and Maple Grove. My
realtor is generally helpful, but amateur radio is a mystery to her
and I do not think she is used to getting such requests.


She should understand covenants. Have her look into that. Other than
that, there can be township restrictions on antenna towers. Those
usually don't prohibit them, but put limits on height. And you can often
get allowances or exceptions.

Your requests are reasonable and to be expected. Other people make
requests to find out if dogs are allowed in the neighborhood, etc, so
the realtor needs to do their job. You are paying them a lot of money
when you buy your house, so if they can't seem to find covenant and
zoning laws, you might want to mention about finding a realtor that can.


Remember - Mr or Ms Realtor is NOT your friend.



- Mike KB3EIA -

"Cathy James" wrote

| Greetings all,
|
| I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, and
| would like to know if there are any communities that I should
| specifically "look at" or "avoid" due to restrictions on ham radio
| antennas or other issues.

The city of Plymouth should be on your list of candidates. We have a
very ham-friendly antenna ordinance which I wrote. You can put up a
70-foot antenna support structure without any variance needed.

Regardless of which city you select, be aware that a particular
developer or homeowners association may have restrictive covenants in
the property deed. Your realtor should be able to uncover those on
properties which interest you.

73, and welcome to Minnesota,

de Hans, K0HB

On 19 Apr 2004 05:45:27 -0700, (Cathy James)
wrote:

Greetings all,

I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, ...... My
realtor is generally helpful, but amateur radio is a mystery to her
and I do not think she is used to getting such requests.


73,

Cathy (N5WVR)

You might start by getting the ARRL book, "Antenna Zoning for the
Radio Amateur." And then hire a Minneapolis attorney who specializes
in real estate issues.

Bob
k5qwg

I don't know anything about Minneapolis in particular (except for MSP,
with which I am too well acquainted), but I recommend that you *insist*
on getting information about any CC&Rs and/or Home Owners' Associations
that pertain to the particular subdivision or lot in which you are
interested.

We bought a house in W. Michigan last year in a 30-yr old subdivision
with minimal CC&Rs (with no mention of antennas or transmitters), no
HOA, and underground utilities. Although most municipalities around here
exempt amateur radio towers/antennas up to 70ft from any zoning
ordinances (and the township in which we bought does not even require a
building permit for a tower to ensure that it is safe), all the newer
properties we looked at had draconian CC&Rs specifically outlawing
anything more than a small satellite dish mounted no more than a few
feet above the roof. You *must* check out the CC&Rs before signing
anything, as they typically "run with the land," are recorded at the
local "Registry of Deeds" (or whatever), and are enforceable even if you
have never seen them -- the CC&Rs for the property we bought were not
even made available at the closing (and even if they had been, that
would have been a little late to back out of the deal).

Alan AB2OS


On 04/19/04 08:45 am Cathy James put fingers to keyboard and launched
the following message into cyberspace:

I am planning to move to the western suburbs of Minneapolis soon, and
would like to know if there are any communities that I should
specifically "look at" or "avoid" due to restrictions on ham radio
antennas or other issues.

Even apart from ham radio issues, I prefer rural to urban, but commute
time to the areas on the west side of downtown is an issue preventing
me from being too far out. Mound is probably the western limit of
what I am willing to consider.

Right now I am looking at Mound, Champlin, and Maple Grove. My
realtor is generally helpful, but amateur radio is a mystery to her
and I do not think she is used to getting such requests.

Cathy,

From experience, I would advise you not to depend on realtors, or
anyone else who has an interest in the sale, to inform you concerning
restrictive covenants. It's really not in their interest. The best thing
to do when you find a property in which you are interested is to go to
the courthouse and look up the information yourself.

73,
Bob AD3K

KØHB wrote:

... Your realtor should be able to uncover those on
properties which interest you.

73, and welcome to Minnesota,

de Hans, K0HB




--
Robert L. Spooner
Registered Professional Engineer
Associate Research Engineer
Intelligent Control Systems Department

Applied Research Laboratory Phone: (814) 863-4120
The Pennsylvania State University FAX: (814) 863-7841
P. O. Box 30
State College, PA 16804-0030

Larry Gagnon wrote:
Cathy: this doesn't answer your question, but might give you some food
for thought. If amateur radio and antennas are very important to you
then I think you are making the wrong decision about suburbs. I moved
from a city into the country a few years back; not only did I not have
any hassles putting up antennas but I could not believe the difference
in how QUIET all the bands were.

I have lived in the countryside (1 acre lot, well, septic system, yagi
on roof for TV reception) for years and loved it, but I fear that the
commute time in the Twin Cities will be significantly longer per mile,
and I am not willing to buy into 1 hour+ commutes each way. What
good does it do to get quieter living space (both radio and sound)
if all my free time gets taken up by the commute?

These days it matters little what suburb you move into - there will
always be someone who does not like tall "ugly" structures "in their
neighbourhood".

Well, I wasn't planning to put towers up. But I am hearing horror
stories of people who have been hassled just for stringing a few wires
around their yards. I also have personal memories of causing QRN
to the neighbors back when I lived in an apartment, and that experience
was negative enough to push me out of the HF spectrum for a few years.
I am just now getting back in. (Those consumer lamps that are switched
on and off by touching them think that a passing wave on 15 meters
is a hand touching them and telling them to turn on...makes CW very
interesting to the lamp owner. I fixed that problem by putting chokes
on the neighbor's lamp cords, but I'd hate to do that for every neighbor,
and the problem still existed on 40 meters.)

Getting back to Minneapolis: I would appreciate it if someone
living in the area could give me some very specific guidance on
issues such as "how far west do I have to go to escape the worst QRN",
"how far do I have to go before the area feels rural," and "can I
get a rural feel with a commute to downtown of less than 1 hour
each way". I am in a position where I will probably end up buying a
home without living in the Minneapolis first (coming in from out of
state), and I do not want to make a mistake.

Cathy (N5WVR)

On 19 Apr 2004 14:03:51 -0700, (N2EY) wrote:

Cathy:


Third, try to educate the realtor. Show her some typical amateur
antenna installations so she has a better idea of what it is you want
to put up. Terms like "antenna tower" mean different things to
different people.

Just as an aside, it might be worthwhile to drive around a
prospective purchase area and just look for antennas. A couple of
polite questions might tell you a lot about what is possible.

It might also be worthwhile to Google for amateur radio clubs
in the area to see if they have a feel for local conditions. While
neither of these will necessarily be binding on your particular
property, they might give you a general clue to the area.

For what it's worth, I live in Daly City, a suburb of San
Francisco. This area was built across the 60s. I'm not aware of any
local restrictions, but I have two ham friends within a few blocks,
one of whom has a few slopers and verticals on his roof and the other
of which has about a 60 foot crank-up tower in his back yard with a
yagi that barely fits within his own property lines (maybe a 25' x
150' lot).

Westlake, an area closer to San Francisco, maybe even part of
Daly City for all I know, has extensive CC&Rs, including requirements
to keep your house painted in an acceptable color and to keep a living
palm tree on your living green (grass only) lawn (even those whose
houses are sliding into the Pacific Ocean, aided by pumping all that
water into the ground. Some of the earlier restrictions, like those
restricting sales to certain ethnic groups have been overturned by
courts and some sections of that subdivision are now easing or
abandoning some of the restrictions as the opportunity for the
residents to re-vote on them comes up.

All of which is to say that conditions may vary greatly within
short distances, whether in urban or rural areas. So I have to agree
with the earlier posts which note that the Realtor (tm) -- yes it is a
restricted term than just anyone may not use -- is working for the
seller and that involving a knowledgeabla local real estate attorney
is your only guarantee.