Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
|
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:01:45 EDT, Dave Heil
wrote: Here in Marshall County, *no permit of any kind* is required to put up a tower. When Beaverton decided to rewrite its Wireless Communications Facility ordinance about 6 years ago, I made sure that I got on the committee that was doing it (my bona fides were that as an attorney I had drafted several in California). When it came to Ham Radio issues, it was like shooting fish in a barrel - besides myself, the ATT Wireless rep was a ham, and best of all, the Assistant City Attorney handling it was the son of an active ham. As a result, no use or zoning permit is required for towers under 70 feet, and only notification is required for towers above that height. Building permits are something else, though. The main problem here are CC&Rs and HOA issues. -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane ARRL Volunteer Counsel email: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
Dave Heil wrote:
wrote: It seems to me that a lot of amateurs insist on a new house, or at least a newer house, meaning something no older than 10-20 years. Older homes are simply off the radar, for some reason. Is it just me, or is this a real trend? What's behind it? A lot of it might be in heating and cooling costs. Most newer homes are super insulated--built with 2x6 walls, wrapped with Tyvek and have joints sealed with expanding foam. I wish I could say the same for my area. Many of the largest, most expensive houses have very little insulation. There is a dead giveaway - after a snowstorm, they are the first houses to lose the snow on the roof. A good bit of my wife's work comes from designing remodels on 2 or 3 year old McMansions. I think maybe that during the 80's and early 90's home construction related to insulation was pretty good, but as the housing market took off, and people seemed to be willing to buy anything for any amount of money, the quality dropped. Many of them offer geothermal heating/cooling systems as well. One of my pals lives in Indiana. His total energy bills this past year have averaged $125 per month with his geothermal system. That is for a five year old, all electric home with a geothermal system. That isn't bad for lights, cooking, heating water, watching TV, ham radio, computers, etc. It is truly impressive what can be done with a little work. The caveat it that when you have a tightly sealed house, you have to be very careful about chemical exposure. My sister has something fairly similar. She lives in a large modified A frame with one side all glass. Has a wind generator, Geothermal heat system, and uses a wood pellet stove for the comfy glow you get from radiant heat. She lives on the first hill south of Lake Erie shore near Erie, so there is always some wind. I would love to be able to put up a tower in the back yard I've owned only two homes in my life. My Cincinnati home was a full masonry brick house (plaster inside directly attached to two courses of brick). That place was costing me $200-$250 per month during the winter for natural gas in the late seventies/early eighties. I don't like to think about what the gas bill might be these days. That's the only place I ever lived where I could find frost on a closet wall on a cold day. brrrr.. Was that the averaged out bill per month? |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
Michael Coslo wrote:
Dave Heil wrote: wrote: It seems to me that a lot of amateurs insist on a new house, or at least a newer house, meaning something no older than 10-20 years. Older homes are simply off the radar, for some reason. Is it just me, or is this a real trend? What's behind it? A lot of it might be in heating and cooling costs. Most newer homes are super insulated--built with 2x6 walls, wrapped with Tyvek and have joints sealed with expanding foam. I wish I could say the same for my area. Many of the largest, most expensive houses have very little insulation. There is a dead giveaway - after a snowstorm, they are the first houses to lose the snow on the roof. A good bit of my wife's work comes from designing remodels on 2 or 3 year old McMansions. Wow, Mike, I don't know of many houses anywhere which are being built with other than 2x6 walls. Ceiling insulation is, of course, one of the cheapest and easiest things to fix. You can always add more. It is tougher to do much about wall insulation if the wall is already full of the stuff. I think maybe that during the 80's and early 90's home construction related to insulation was pretty good, but as the housing market took off, and people seemed to be willing to buy anything for any amount of money, the quality dropped. Maybe folks in some areas aren't paying enough attention to the plans they see from their contractor. Many of them offer geothermal heating/cooling systems as well. One of my pals lives in Indiana. His total energy bills this past year have averaged $125 per month with his geothermal system. That is for a five year old, all electric home with a geothermal system. That isn't bad for lights, cooking, heating water, watching TV, ham radio, computers, etc. It is truly impressive what can be done with a little work. The caveat it that when you have a tightly sealed house, you have to be very careful about chemical exposure. It can be an issue, especially for the first couple of years with the new flooring, carpeting and the like. My sister has something fairly similar. She lives in a large modified A frame with one side all glass. Has a wind generator, Geothermal heat system, and uses a wood pellet stove for the comfy glow you get from radiant heat. She lives on the first hill south of Lake Erie shore near Erie, so there is always some wind. She's a good bit straight north of us. I wouldn't want to do an Erie winter. In talking to those who know, those geothermal systems can easily be retrofitted to existing homes. They cost a couple of thousand more than if installed at the time the home is built. For small yards, the drill vertical holes rather than horizontal trenching. I would love to be able to put up a tower in the back yard And there's simply no way to do it? Did I miss something? I thought you had no antenna restrictions. The Indiana fellow I wrote about is W8RHM. He's in farming country near Milan and is populating the first of his two heavy duty crank up towers. Roger will have hard line runs from the tower bases to the house. He has metal bulkheads fitted with antenna and rotor cable disconnects. I've owned only two homes in my life. My Cincinnati home was a full masonry brick house (plaster inside directly attached to two courses of brick). That place was costing me $200-$250 per month during the winter for natural gas in the late seventies/early eighties. I don't like to think about what the gas bill might be these days. That's the only place I ever lived where I could find frost on a closet wall on a cold day. brrrr.. Was that the averaged out bill per month? No, that was the typical monthly bill in winter. I never got on the even billing plan. I liked having lower rates in summer for a few months. I eventually installed a wood stove system but that was messy coming into the basement and messay hauling the ashes out. The upstairs never got warm enough at night though the first floor and the basement shack were toasty. Almost all of the basement except for a 10x10 storage area and the laundry room was ham shack. Collecting boat anchor rigs takes lots of ROOM. Dave K8MN |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
David G. Nagel wrote:
Dave Heil wrote: Phil Kane wrote: We had a builder put up a MaxiMansion near here for his own residence. They had to put in a new gas line up the street to provide enough gas to heat the place. He has his own pole-pig too. The price was several mills three years ago. Out here on Signal Hill, I have to share a pole pig with the neighbor across the road. The house across the road from that is 35 rooms occupied by a couple in their 90s - the largest car dealer in the Portland area. I would suspect that both of those places have live-in help. See! I could live in one of those places--as live-in help. Isn't it nice to have money? I'd love to have the opportunity to find out if wealth could mess up my life. Though indoor plumbing came to this area long ago, there's still a WPA-built privy on our property. When I can afford to do it up in gold leaf, I will know that I've arrived. Dave K8MN Your name isn't Al Gore and you haven't purchased 10,000 acres of carbon credits in West Ubanga Banga..... You may write those things on my grave stone! I saw Al's daddy once when he flew into the Palm Beach County airport in late 1957 or early 1958. I plan to create some massive carbon footprints when the Consol Coal Company buys me out (that could be anywhere from now until eight years away). Those carbon diggin' rascals are buying people out right and left at rather handsome prices. When my carbon ship comes in, I plan to live out my days in showy ostentation. I'd planned on two of those heavy duty crank up towers with the tilt feature but if Consol's price is right, I may opt for three. Of course you always have to plan for the event that the coal company changes its mind. If that happens, I'll be a little less ostentatious and will just retain my two Rohn 25 towers and will continue to burn free natural gas like it was goin' out of style. 73, Dave K8MN |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
Dave Heil wrote:
Michael Coslo wrote: Dave Heil wrote: wrote: It seems to me that a lot of amateurs insist on a new house, or at least a newer house, meaning something no older than 10-20 years. Older homes are simply off the radar, for some reason. Is it just me, or is this a real trend? What's behind it? A lot of it might be in heating and cooling costs. Most newer homes are super insulated--built with 2x6 walls, wrapped with Tyvek and have joints sealed with expanding foam. I wish I could say the same for my area. Many of the largest, most expensive houses have very little insulation. There is a dead giveaway - after a snowstorm, they are the first houses to lose the snow on the roof. A good bit of my wife's work comes from designing remodels on 2 or 3 year old McMansions. Wow, Mike, I don't know of many houses anywhere which are being built with other than 2x6 walls. Ceiling insulation is, of course, one of the cheapest and easiest things to fix. You can always add more. It is tougher to do much about wall insulation if the wall is already full of the stuff. It's the poor construction, not the specific size of the walls. I think maybe that during the 80's and early 90's home construction related to insulation was pretty good, but as the housing market took off, and people seemed to be willing to buy anything for any amount of money, the quality dropped. Maybe folks in some areas aren't paying enough attention to the plans they see from their contractor. And how! Here we have had people "build" a house and move to th earea after it was finished. Did you ever see those commercials where someone says "Just tell me what to do!" That was them. In boom times, some not very good contractors show up, and when coupled with those inattentive buyers, a lot of really poorly constructed houses have been put up. Many of them offer geothermal heating/cooling systems as well. One of my pals lives in Indiana. His total energy bills this past year have averaged $125 per month with his geothermal system. That is for a five year old, all electric home with a geothermal system. That isn't bad for lights, cooking, heating water, watching TV, ham radio, computers, etc. It is truly impressive what can be done with a little work. The caveat it that when you have a tightly sealed house, you have to be very careful about chemical exposure. It can be an issue, especially for the first couple of years with the new flooring, carpeting and the like. My sister has something fairly similar. She lives in a large modified A frame with one side all glass. Has a wind generator, Geothermal heat system, and uses a wood pellet stove for the comfy glow you get from radiant heat. She lives on the first hill south of Lake Erie shore near Erie, so there is always some wind. She's a good bit straight north of us. I wouldn't want to do an Erie winter. She agrees! The odd thing about Erie is that the part right next to the shore isn't too bad, but within a mile of the shore, it gets brutal. The odd thing is that they hope for cold winters, so that the lake freezes over and stops putting so much moisture in the air. In the summer it is gorgeous though, so they get a little compensation. In talking to those who know, those geothermal systems can easily be retrofitted to existing homes. They cost a couple of thousand more than if installed at the time the home is built. For small yards, the drill vertical holes rather than horizontal trenching. I would love to be able to put up a tower in the back yard And there's simply no way to do it? Did I miss something? I thought you had no antenna restrictions. Oops, wrong context. I'd love to put up a tower in *her* back yard. It's just about the highest place in that neck of the woods. Of course I'd have to travel to Erie to do it. I can still do it in our yard if I wanted to. The Indiana fellow I wrote about is W8RHM. He's in farming country near Milan and is populating the first of his two heavy duty crank up towers. Roger will have hard line runs from the tower bases to the house. He has metal bulkheads fitted with antenna and rotor cable disconnects. This sounds like an excellent setup all the way around - he should look into giving tours! hi I've owned only two homes in my life. My Cincinnati home was a full masonry brick house (plaster inside directly attached to two courses of brick). That place was costing me $200-$250 per month during the winter for natural gas in the late seventies/early eighties. I don't like to think about what the gas bill might be these days. That's the only place I ever lived where I could find frost on a closet wall on a cold day. brrrr.. Was that the averaged out bill per month? No, that was the typical monthly bill in winter. I never got on the even billing plan. I liked having lower rates in summer for a few months. Okay, that is still quite the bill for the time. Don't you have access to Natural gas now from the gas company? Sounds like Karma compensating for the earlier expense. I eventually installed a wood stove system but that was messy coming into the basement and messay hauling the ashes out. The upstairs never got warm enough at night though the first floor and the basement shack were toasty. Almost all of the basement except for a 10x10 storage area and the laundry room was ham shack. Collecting boat anchor rigs takes lots of ROOM. Wood does indeed heat you several times - cutting it, splitting it, stacking it, burning it, and hauling it out at the end. Yet still, I like our fireplace. - 73 de Mike N3LI - |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
"Michael Coslo" wrote Wow, Mike, I don't know of many houses anywhere which are being built with other than 2x6 walls. Ceiling insulation is, of course, one of the cheapest and easiest things to fix. You can always add more. It is tougher to do much about wall insulation if the wall is already full of the stuff. It's the poor construction, not the specific size of the walls. Right. Apparently, regardless how much insulation is installed between the studs, if the house isn't very well sealed, that insulation's effectiveness is going to be reduced. I asked a builder in NY what their typical R-value is. He said it's not about R-value, but how well the house is sealed, inside and out. If I do have a new house built when I move to 1-land, it'll have expanding foam insulation to make sure the exterior shell is all well-sealed. That'll be done after the coax and ladder-line feed throughs are installed, of course. :-) Howard N7SO |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
KC4UAI wrote in
: On Jul 22, 12:57 pm, Michael Coslo wrote: Contrast that to demanding your right to put up whatever you darn well please, and if the neighbors don't like it, they can can it. We all know which one works better. Well I don't know about you but my wife has a LOT more to say about my antenna aspirations than the neighbors ever will. She's not going to allow anything she considers an eyesore to go up. She sees me gawking at some of the antenna farms around and makes it clear I won't have one that looks like that! My XYL alsp takes a dim view of some of the more gaudy antennas. I've bounced ideas off her, and over time have come up with what is acceptable. I've ended up with wire dipoles, a J-pole for 2 meter repeater work, and a Butternut vertical. The Butternut was bought at a Hamfest for a paltry 35.00 It needed one of the tube insulators and a HV cap. Simple stuff. I took a chance and we made a deal if she didn't like it, I'd take it down. Oddly enough, it didin't bother her as much as I thoght it would - it only got the "rolled eyes" treatment. So we kept it. Of course this puts me in a difficult situation. When I retire to the country and get the 20 acres on the hill side. She's going to want the house on the top of the hill and the antenna farm someplace else. Doesn't she know that the best place is down the hill a bit? Warmer in winter, and less likely to have lightning strikes? hehe - 73 de Mike N3LI - |
Jesus knew about ham radio guys!
On Jul 24, 3:16�pm, Dave Heil wrote:
wrote: It seems to me that a lot of amateurs insist on a new house, or at least a newer house, meaning something no older than 10-20 years. A lot of it might be in heating and cooling costs. � Most newer homes are super insulated--built with 2x6 walls, wrapped with Tyvek and have joints sealed with expanding foam. *Some* of them are. And the effectiveness of those things is highly dependent on the quality of the work and the design of the house. I've seen/heard of some pretty shoddy work in newer homes. �Many of them offer geothermal heating/cooling systems as well. Geothermal is the way of the future for both A/C and heating in many places. �One of my pals lives in Indiana. �His total energy bills this past year have averaged $125 per month with his geothermal system. �That is for a five year old, all electric home with a geothermal system. �That isn't bad for lights, cooking, heating water, watching TV, ham radio, computers, etc. But how many kWh per month? The price of residential electricity varies all over the place in CONUS; from almost 20 cents per kWh from ConEd to a nickle or so in some parts of the South and Pacific Northwest. Imagine if gasoline was $1 in some places and $4 in some other places, all in the USA. There's also the issue of how big the place is, how many people live there and how they live. Things such as how much laundry they generate (kids who play certain sports tend to generate a lot of really dirty laundry), and whether they use a clothesline can make a big difference. Stuff like old inefficient appliances and leaving things on/doors open can be real money-wasters. Older homes can be refitted to improve their efficiency, too. New double-insulate windows are not a big deal and can reduce maintenance cost. Insulation can be blown into the walls of a frame house from the inside or outside at low cost. Geothermal can be retrofitted too. This all has a direct bearing on the subject, because too many folks (IMHO) set their house-choice criteria too narrowly. At the same time, as the price-of-electricity variation shows, what is true in one place may not be true elsewhere. I know places where $300,000 will buy you a big house on a big lot in an excellent location, with all the modern stuff in excellent condition. And I know other places, maybe an hour or two away, where $300,000 will get you a tiny fixer-upper on a postage-stamp lot - if you're lucky. I've owned only two homes in my life. �My Cincinnati home was a full masonry brick house (plaster inside directly attached to two courses of brick). �That place was costing me $200-$250 per month during the winter for natural gas in the late seventies/early eighties. �I don't li ke to think about what the gas bill might be these days. �That's the on ly place I ever lived where I could find frost on a closet wall on a cold day. When I moved to western New York State in the late 1970s I lived for a time in a rented two-bedroom all-electric townhome of then-recent construction. $300 electric bills in the winter were normal, even though there were two party walls and the thermostat was kept low. My first house, a wood-frame single just a few miles away in New York State, was built in 1900 and had gas heat with radiators, gas hot water and gas stove. $85/month for gas in the winter was a big bill. The house on RadioTelegraph Hill was a stone-and-stucco twin built in 1923. It cost a little more to heat and cool than the New York State house. Present location was built in 1950, original heater replaced in 2000 and the whole house heavily modified/upgraded in 2005. There's an easy test for how well insulated/sealed your house is: When it's very cold or very hot outside, let the heat or A/C run long enough to get the house to a reasonable temperature. Then turn off the heat or A/C and see how long it takes for the house to cool off or heat up a certain number of degrees. Use the thermostat indication for uniformity. I've had a setback-thermostat since the new heater was installed, but since 2005 it doesn't do much because the house doesn't cool or heat more than a couple of degrees in several hours with the thermostat on the maximum "nobody home" setting. We hams have lots of options, but as it was said in the first post of this thread, we have to plan from the beginning. 73 de Jim, N2EY |
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