On Wed, Jan 2, 2019 at 4:03 AM Chris Burford <[email protected]> wrote: > My current residence does not allow a permanent GPS antenna therefore I am > limited in its use.
[separate thread since I'm not answering the question that was actually asked.] Perhaps not applicable to your situation, but in the US federal law (47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000) substantially prohibits any restriction-- be it a local ordnance, zoning, deed covenant, private contract as part of a lease, etc-- that prevents installing or using small (<1m) antennas for data services in locations where you otherwise have exclusive use. [AFAIK, it doesn't help if you're buried in a basement and just don't have sky access at all] My understanding is that originally the law went was created to protect satellite TV services which were being impacted by cable companies paying off developers to add deed restrictions that prohibited any satellite TV dish, but over time it was amended to cover more things including data services. The FCC has a FAQ: https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule I've never previously considered the application of this rule to GPS antennas, since they're small and inconspicuous enough that I've never run into much of a concern with them. I am not a lawyer but it seems to me that the rule plausibly enough covers a fixed GPS antenna. Someone having an issue getting approval to install one could potentially make use of the rule in a couple different ways: * By arguing that the GPS timing receiver is covered by the current rule and that federal law pre-empts any rule preventing the installation, or * Putting up an antenna under another service which is more obviously covered (e.g. there are a number of L-band data services...) and swapping out for the GPS after the fact, or * By negotiating using the position that your alternative to running the timing antenna would be installing a much more conspicuous 95cm satellite TV dish ... "So, wouldn't everyone be happier if I could just install the GPS antenna". If a time-nut in the US has found themselves in the unfortunate situation where a small-minded authority (such as a HOA) is capriciously denying setting up a tastefully placed timing antenna one of the above strategies might be useful. _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com and follow the instructions there.
