I have a friend who a few years ago, for some very odd reason, decided out of the blue to acquire a ham radio operator’s license. Naturally, I made fun of him.

“Hey, Nerdo,” I said to him, “we don’t need ham radios, CBs or Morse Code anymore. There’s a thing out there nowadays called the Internet. We also have something called e-mail”

His curt response to me was, “You’ll see, someday ham radio operators will take over the world.”

Now, looking at the neighborhood of Greengate, I’m starting to think he had a valid point.

As reported by Rochelle Eisenberg in this week’s Jewish Times, Vitaly Galilov, a Greengate resident, has many of his neighbors up in arms. Why? Seems that Mr. Galilov, a ham radio enthusiast, built a pair of ham radio towers on his property. An attorney for the neighbors claims that one tower exceeds Baltimore County Zoning regulations, while the height of the other is in question.

Last spring, Mr. Galilov says he received a permit to erect a 50-foot ham radio tower with antennae. But upon installation, his installers said he needed a taller tower – I hate when that happens!—because his house backs up to a wooded lot. They said it needed to be least 70 feet in height to be effective, so he went ahead and had the larger tower installed. Afterwards, he said he applied for a variance with the Baltimore County Zoning Office.

In other words, shoot first and ask questions later.

Usually not a good policy with one’s neighbors.

The second tower, which is 65 feet high, should not have received a permit, since any tower built must be less than 60 feet, based on county zoning regulations, according to the neighbors’ lawyer.

Should the Greengate residents be concerned that one of their neighbors has an interest in ham radios?

Definitely.

But Mr. Galilov’s response to Rochelle Eisenberg’s question about how he will proceed if a zoning hearing for the towers doesn’t go in his favor—“I spent a lot of money, and I will not stop. If I have to, I will appeal.” – also gives pause for concern.

That’s called not being a very good neighbor.

Re: Amateur Radio Antennae
MEMA has reorganized its volunteer-based emergency communications resources into
a new “Maryland Auxiliary Communications Service” (MACS). Organized within the Maryland
Joint Operations Center, the MACS utilizes professional volunteers to supplement
communications during an emergency. Amateur radio is a key component to MACS
operations and as such the state government RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency
Service) unit is organized within the MACS. The MACS is also supported by the Army Military
Affiliate Radio System and a memorandum of understanding is being prepared to formalize
this relationship. During an emergency that impacts communications infrastructure, the MACS
provides a critical link among state agencies, incident scenes, and local emergency operations
centers.

wierd story