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r <br />Peri tel is 3n anateur radio operator vho uses radio <br />ccrnunications to ser/e the public interest. After she vas <br />licensed by t.he FCC in December 1938 to operate an anateur radio <br />and a station from her hone, she installed on her roof a vertical <br />radio antenna that reaches a hei-^’ht iron the ground of 56.5 feet. <br />next two '^ears, Pentel was unable to establish relia.^le <br />radio ccinnunications with other amateurs across the United States, <br />and she was able to establish only one international contact. <br />Pentel concluded that her existing antenna thus was not adequate <br />for domestic, much less international, communications. <br />Accordingly, Pentel began preparing to install a more <br />sophisticated antenna. The replacement was to be a retractable <br />steel tower t.hat measured 30 feet when lowered and 63 feet when <br />fully extended. This tower, which Pentel planned to have installed <br />orofessionallv in accordance with its manuracturer's <br />soecifications, was to .have mounted on its top two directional <br />aluminum antennas. <br />Pentel was unaware when she installed her original antenna <br />that she was violating t.he city^s zoning ordinance, which limits <br />all structures, including radio antennas, to a height or twen^j— <br />’pentel's proposed antenna would be more effective than her <br />existing set-up for two reasons. First, Pentel's current vertical <br />antenna dissipates signals in all directions, while her proposed <br />directional antenna would concentrate and collect signals, thus <br />increasing her ability to transmit and receive in a specific <br />direction. Second, an antenna^s effectiveness increases with its <br />height. Pentel's existing antenna is blocked by trees. Her tal-er <br />replacement antenna, when extended, would be at or near the tops or <br />nearby trees, thus i.mprov'ing her signal transmission and reception. <br />J