It is a matter of technical fact that the higher an amateur antenna, the less likely it is that RFI will appear in home electronic equipment. The higher that antenna is, the farther away is it from consumer equipment, and the less the interference potential is. On the contrary, antenna height is inversely related to the strength of the radio signal that serves as a catalyst for interference in susceptible home electronic equipment. The FCC has gone on record as stating that there is no reasonable connection between requiring an amateur to reduce the height of his tower and reducing the amount of interference to his neighbor's home electronic equipment. How does this affect RFI? Some local governments mistakenly believe that if an amateur antenna is lowered, the potential for interference decreases. Though not an amateur case, it is very helpful as an FCC statement of policy with respect to RFI. A good statement of FCC preemption of RFI appears in the Memorandum Opinion and Order in WT Docket 02-100. We'll discuss this in detail in the next section. Local governments may not, however, base their regulation of amateur service antenna structures on the causation of interference to home electronic equipment-an area regulated exclusively by the Commission. Local authorities may adopt regulations pertaining to placement, screening, or height of antennas, if such regulations are based on health, safety, or aesthetic considerations and reasonably accommodate amateur communications. See the specific wording later in this chapter. § 97.15 provides that an amateur station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate effective amateur service communications. Local governments must reasonably accommodate amateur operations in zoning decisions as documented by the partial preemption called PRB-1.

Local zoning bodies sometimes try and overstep their legal bounds when it comes to zoning and it can cause headaches for amateurs. In many cases, neighbors who are concerned about amateur tower installations may focus on possible RFI problems as part of their concerns.

Fort carson zoning map