Wound up the landlord again - HAM radio

[janoc]

I am a HAM myself I don't find this "joke" funny in the slightest.

If you didn't have to deal with abusive clauses in rental contracts, great. I am not allowed to even dry laundry on my balcony, for example, because the owner's association doesn't want the look of the facade "spoiled". 

All it takes is one fool (who even isn't a HAM himself!) and good luck for any HAM trying to rent from that landlord in the future, regardless whether they will want to set up an antenna or not. The landlord may know squat about amateur radio but now he for sure knows that HAMs are assholes

[Mechanical Menace]

The landlord may know squat about amateur radio but now he for sure knows that HAMs are assholes

If he see's the ham's responses to this thread maybe...

He knows that someone who isn't an ham was once a bit of (soupcon at most)  an arsehole to him with a joke involving ham radio. Even if he got the impression that all ham's are arseholes from that that wouldn't be Death's fault but a result of his own stupidity. Should we always censor everything we say in case some idiot can not or will not get their head around it?


EDIT: Oh noes, I just commented "Was Firefly that Buffy spinoff?" on a Joss Whedon fanboy video on youtube. I shouldn't have done that, a landlord somewhere may think that means everyone on the internet is an arse so might not let let future tenants install it!!!! Now I'm going to hit some Trekkie sites and ask why Kirk's son is a bald Frenchman.

[Howardlong]

I owned a flat in a listed building for about 12 years, but it was in a built up area and had a flat roof. The antennas weren't visible ground level unless you specifically knew exactly where to look.

I worked Australia, Japan, and both North and South America with that setup, via satellite on L and S band.

[Tac Eht Xilef]

What's the pair of giant orange testicles in the first pic - counterweight?

[Howardlong]

What's the pair of giant orange testicles in the first pic - counterweight?

Zactly. Sainsburys bag with two bags of rice.

[EEMarc]

All it takes is one fool (who even isn't a HAM himself!) and good luck for any HAM trying to rent from that landlord in the future, regardless whether they will want to set up an antenna or not. The landlord may know squat about amateur radio but now he for sure knows that HAMs are assholes

It's actually worse than that. If it upsets a landlord enough, he might tell his landlord friends and it might spread. Area HAM operators may actually lose their privilege as well.

When I was in college, I started a small business. The second year I moved to a house with a number of other college students. The contract said something like " No business operation without written permission!" I didn't sign it, I didn't get asked to sign it, nor did I volunteer that I hadn't signed it. I ran my business there no problem for that year. When I went to go for another year, they figured out that I didn't sign it and asked me to sign it. I talked with the landlord about my business and he gave me permission. The reason he put the clause in was he heard about another landlord in the area that had a renter run a business with many clients coming in all day long every day. It caused major problems with all of the other renters. He put it in to avoid. He knew immediately that my business wouldn't interfere with other renters. A business is something a landlord understands because they are business owners. A HAM radio is more obscure so they aren't likely to know what it is. The nature of people is they tend to reject things they don't understand.

[Deathwish]

You never know, he may even have a chat with God and send the ten plagues of Egypt upon anyone wanting to be a HAM as well.  Maybe I should ask him if he has seen Frankenstein, and ask if his religious beliefs would be worried I may create such a monster with my electronics kit if I run a wire to the roof, he may run round starting a campaign against that too. Personally i think he is more interested in ensuring he gets his £260 per week rent whilst ensuring his tenants have no rights and bullying them or such.

I wonder if landlords worry about tenants owning a soldering iron and burning their property down or causing electrical shorts or such with their kit, time to ban electronics in their property too. Talk about taking things to its extreme because you feel ire at something and lost a sense of humour or it doesn't fit your definition of humour. I am often amazed at how a group of people will try throwing all kinds of examples of how life will come to an end at something in order to vent their spleen, the world stopped being flat long ago you know.  Thank god life and people are diverse, it is nice to know not everyone is a puritan and some took their disco shoes with them in life.

If you feel that butt hurt over my joke with my landlord, or you want your personal idea / definition of what is a joke made law I am sure you can send a personal message of outrage and a petition to David Cameron at 10 downing street, London. I am sure he will give your concerns and opinions as much serious consideration as you demand.

I went to bed laughing at it, and I woke up laughing at it, now I am going to go find some dustbin lids to hang out my windows to convince him I am into satellite communication. Don't want to be my friend anymore or talk to me, I am sure I can go sulk in a corner.

[Stupid Beard]

I went to bed laughing at it, and I woke up laughing at it, now I am going to go find some dustbin lids to hang out my windows to convince him I am into satellite communication.

Bonus points if you can do that with wheely bins

Edit: Extra bonus points if the bin is still attached to the lid

[tautech]

  Let's take a step back for a moment. Death played a prank on a curmudgeonly old git who we know has often changed the contract for his tenants mid-term, often making their lives harder (only one car, for example). And better yet, it's on topic (vaguely involving electronics and RF and all that jazz). So anyway, he had some fun, thought he'd share it with us and some of us got the joke. Yeah, not everyone did, but not everyone gets every other joke, so let it be. He was obviously not acting to 'hurt' other people's chances of getting something, and you need to know something about Wales: there's really not much there. I'm assuming the old vicar does not really belong to any Union or the like, and even if he did what you suggested really has very very little to nil chance of changing anything. So stop taking it out of context, it's a joke, and either share your amusement or just quietly dismiss it. Please, it stops these kinds of online 'battles' where people think they can say whatever they want, just for thrills.

  Besides, I like Death (never thought I'd say that!), his threads and responses often make me chuckle, especially his banter with Tautech!

  I realise I'm gonna get shot down for trying to be a peacekeeper, and someone's gonna pick apart my argument, but hey-ho, that's the interwebz for y'all.

I see both sides of this story.......
Being a practical sort of guy and with family having lived here for nearly one hundred years, we're often banging our heads against some new fucked up local authority rule.....cant do this can't do that. 
ElectroIrradiator's 'boil the frog slowly' is just the remedy for these twats. 

Anyway if you're on a journey  , youre always gunna rock the boat.

Just imagine the old poor vicar Googling for all he can find about HAM aerials.     

Death have some fun    EEVblog is better for your presence.

[Deathwish]

I don't think Plastic wheelie bins work very well. Mind you, it would bring a new definition to mobile comms,

Tautech, I doubt my landlord can google, he doesn't like paying for anything, so he doesn't have the internet, he may even believe it is a devils toy. Probably crosses himself and prays every time he passes a computer shop

[McBryce]

Wow Howard, you own a lightsword!!  Deathwish, how about getting one of those? I want one too

McBryce.

[Deathwish]

Lightsword ?,  I would rather have a phaser, much safer. If I had a lightsword I would probably run around looking like Darth Vader.

[TerraHertz]

You never know, he may even have a chat with God and send the ten plagues of Egypt upon anyone wanting to be a HAM as well.
  ....

I went to bed laughing at it, and I woke up laughing at it, now I am going to go find some dustbin lids to hang out my windows to convince him I am into satellite communication. Don't want to be my friend anymore or talk to me, I am sure I can go sulk in a corner.

Your landlord sounds like the kind of fine fellow who could do with receiving a water melon canon salvo. How far from your back yard (if any) to his front door? Is he a punctual person?

There are some fine books, like 'Don't get mad, get even', and 'big book of dirty tricks'.

Shame he doesn't have a computer. Are you sure? So many avenues of fun if he did.
How about a lawn? Does he have one?

[Deathwish]

No idea, he doesn't live here, he has more sense I think, he upsets too many people with his rule changes and then using them to work around the place for free and dumping them after. I have visions of him dressed like someone from the triple K band carrying a burning cross when he visits us all. We aren't allowed pets either, not even a fish tank.

I had a visit today from officials in other govt depts to say they are going to get me moved out because of the mold and other health things, so i'm happy

[G7PSK]

Cover the  wheelie bin in baco foil and it might pass as an early type microwave horn with the lid propped half open. If you got a scope put a few signals on it and tell him you are in contact with aliens or the Chinese government or some such.  

[Deathwish]

I just had a convo with my next door neighbour Steve in number 3. Steve was hanging out the window ranting at him over his car, it seems the landlord had another go at Steve for parking his car in the car park for tenants, Steve has contacted Shelter and the local CAB about him now, so that is 3 tenants who have now been to shelter over him , Oops. My tenancy states that they supply heating, when asked about why they were not doing this they wriggled and said what they meant was they supply the means for heating .... So much for this being sheltered accommodation, I once got a letter from one of his staff ranting about how someone had asked her a question in reference to something she did not like ( she is a missionary ya know who goes to Africa now and again, she likes to tell those poor African kids what to do as no one here listens ) we all got a letter telling us if we did not like her decisions to basically sod off and live elsewhere, when i asked why she was abusing abused people and sending out threatening letters to women and men that were in need of protection from domestic abuse and violence she got rather snotty and walked off in a huff.

The landlord does drive a nice £20k plus car though, so our rent money is well spent even if we have windows that do not shut in winter. Wonder if I should ... no, naughty, Garry, it would not look nice with a 2 meter dish on top

[SeanB]

Nice car, does it have an exhaust, and can you get to it with a broomstick, some nice firm potatoes and some matt black spray paint without being seen? Just asking is all.................

My old landlord used to like walking out in the mornings like a jaybird, to get his morning watering of the plants done.

[Deathwish]

its big black and shiny. I also have pics of the car park, its big and shiny too, just has no cars in it, it does have the landlords office in it though ( a caravan with steps. ).  I also have pics of the front of the building where some of the tenants have had to park their cars on the pavement next to double yellow lines. Not right but what they do because they are not allowed to park out back.

[Mechanical Menace]

If I was you lot I'd just park follow the tenancy agreement and every time the landlord goes against it bring out a copy. I'd also mark out every illegal clause with highlighter and have an easy to hand explanation of why it's illegal therefore non binding

His assistants refusal to deal with things she finds religiously distasteful is also illegal btw.

[Deathwish]

many of us here are Vulnerable adults for one reason or another, he knows that if he wants to kick us out we have nowhere else to go, and he milks it, £260 per week x 16 tenants plus whatever he gets from local govt for so called support services that really do not exist but they ignore because they cant supply carers and have no other place to put us themselves. He once made the comment to me that it was better than on the streets and I just looked and walked away. I only get away with my electronics kit because I fixed his TV for him, and wired a couple of the flats for networking.

[G7PSK]

Nice car, does it have an exhaust, and can you get to it with a broomstick, some nice firm potatoes and some matt black spray paint without being seen? Just asking is all.................

My old landlord used to like walking out in the mornings like a jaybird, to get his morning watering of the plants done.

Need to be careful with potatoes and exhaust pipes. In 1967 I put an apple up the exhaust pipe of the schools headmasters brand new Honda civic, next day he had the whole school in the main hall and demanded to know who it was that had tried to kill him, the whole exhaust system had blown off the car. Not surprisingly no one owned up and the matter got dropped.

[SeanB]

Our English teacher ( 7ft2in) and his original Mini....... Then there was the time it made it's way to the top of a flight of stairs....... He had removed the front seat for the extra legroom.

Not as bad as going out with the other English teacher, where we got 12 into his Deux Cheval, the rest going into the Mini.

[Mechanical Menace]

Our English teacher ( 7ft2in) and his original Mini.......

Damn, I'm tall enough That I chose to live where I live because the whole building has oversized doors but poor bugger. I can only imagine being that tall being quite horrid.

[McBryce]

Not as bad as going out with the other English teacher, where we got 12 into his Deux Cheval, the rest going into the Mini.

Sorry for being pedantic, but it's "deux chevaux" (Plural of horse)

We tipped our teachers mini 45° to get it through the doors of the assembly hall on our last day of school. The funniest part was that the supposedly "clever" ones had no idea how we got it in or how to get it back out??

McBryce.

[TerraHertz]

many of us here are Vulnerable adults for one reason or another, he knows that if he wants to kick us out we have nowhere else to go, and he milks it, £260 per week x 16 tenants plus whatever he gets from local govt for so called support services that really do not exist but they ignore because they cant supply carers and have no other place to put us themselves. He once made the comment to me that it was better than on the streets and I just looked and walked away. I only get away with my electronics kit because I fixed his TV for him, and wired a couple of the flats for networking.

Wow. I'm getting a clearer picture of your landlord, and it's of a goatse-grade arsehole.

Is that caravan you mentioned, of the flammable variety?