Forest Service site fee proposal

[mmckenna]

Hey mmckenna, my apologies as my post wasn't directed at you - just some general comments based off of your comments.

Yeah, I didn't feel any offense by your post, I was just answering it.

And I have a pretty good idea where that is. I bought a dirt bike for my son from someone who lived on Pozo Road last year. Earlier this year, I went back down there to do some exploring and spent the night at Navajo Flat staging area. Went up to the Black Mountain radar site as well as the adjacent tower site.

Nice looking site you have. Would love to know more about it.

 

[ShawnInPaso]

And I have a pretty good idea where that is. I bought a dirt bike for my son from someone who lived on Pozo Road last year. Earlier this year, I went back down there to do some exploring and spent the night at Navajo Flat staging area. Went up to the Black Mountain radar site as well as the adjacent tower site.

Nice looking site you have. Would love to know more about it.

Oh that's very cool you're in the area. And yes, the site is south east a ways from Black Mountain, overlooking the Carrizo. Here's a little info about it .

Ham Radio

 

[mmckenna]

Oh that's very cool you're in the area. And yes, the site is south east a ways from Black Mountain, overlooking the Carrizo. Here's a little info about it .

Ham Radio

Nice. Hard to beat the Central Coast.

How do you keep the buried vault dry?

 

[ShawnInPaso]

How do you keep the buried vault dry?

There is six inches or more of concrete surrounding the vault and a 4x4' by 3/4" plywood box inserted into the vault. The plywood was treated with a water proof coating. Regardless, it's been a long time and during heavy rain years some water seeps into the vault and eventually goes down a little drain on the bottom. Thus, all of the radio equipment is kept dry with this:

 

[mmckenna]

There is six inches or more of concrete surrounding the vault and a 4x4' by 3/4" plywood box inserted into the vault. The plywood was treated with a water proof coating. Regardless, it's been a long time and during heavy rain years some water seeps into the vault and eventually goes down a little drain on the bottom. Thus, all of the radio equipment is kept dry with this:

View attachment 130914View attachment 130915

That is awesome.

 

[APX8000]

Well, I can tell you I know countless entities that charge feds to use their systems just like every other user, others that allow free access for interoperability (no primary talkgroup) and others that just say sure and charge nothing. Really depends on the system admin, the bosses at County and/or State and sometimes handshakes. DHS was actually incorporating language into grants to allow access to systems if that system receives funding. Makes sense...here's a million but charge $29/month for subscribers. Regardless, someone has to pay for system maintenance costs, upgrades, etc.

 

[MTS2000des]

We don't charge Federal agencies to use our county 800MHz system, I actually created talkgroups for DHS, FBI and ATF. They are there for free 99 via an IGA approved by the county. It's that concept of mutual aid.
Site access is another animal. Sites cost money. Big money. The days of plopping down equipment under "gentleman's agreements" and using the "ham radio saves lives" mantra are long over.

Commercial tower site slumlords charge everyone. We pay $2300 a month to have our RF subsites at just ONE key site. Let that sink in. We are a public safety user. ATC, Crown Castle, et al don't care. They are real estate moguls and want money. USFS sees the light and follows the lead. Pay up or get lost.

 

[N4JKD]

A bunch of garbage if you ask me. As a park or forest is public land, and maintained by taxpayer dollars, I will not pay to use my radio at a forest or park.

 

[jeepsandradios]

A bunch of garbage if you ask me. As a park or forest is public land, and maintained by taxpayer dollars, I will not pay to use my radio at a forest or park.

What are you talking about ? Did you even read the thread ? This is about having a repeater site on the park not using your handheld or mobile while there.

 

[MTS2000des]

No one likes rules. That is the central issue with today's society. Entitlement mentality on display. Lots of things are paid for with taxpayer dollars, all of it has stipulations and rules to follow! Welcome to the adult world folks!

 

[N4JKD]

Please disregard my comment. It was meant for another post in another forum.🤦‍♂️ It was one where I had read about some state parks wanting to charge for parking for people wanting to do parks on the air activations.

 

[jeepsandradios]

Please disregard my comment. It was meant for another post in another forum.🤦‍♂️ It was one where I had read about some state parks wanting to charge for parking for people wanting to do parks on the air activations.

So again you dont want to pay for use of a park ? I dont get it. If I go for a picnic I pay for parking but a ham is supposed to get it for free ? I dont follow that logic.

 

[AK9R]

Comments related to Parks on the Air (POTA) or Summits on the Air (SOTA) are off topic for this thread. This thread is about Forest Service site fees for access to repeater sites.