Guess I need a Baofeng or FT-60 programmable radio now?

James331

James331

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James331
Looks like the fcc is scared of them and is banning all the things, and if someone says you don’t need something, history has shown you probably need at least 2 or 3 lol

Anyone know anything about these radios? Or what’s up with the hysteria and banning?

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-18-980A1.pdf

Did something bad actually happen or is this more “future crimes department” stuff?
 
Your usual suspects are ok. It’s the China clone market that they are taking concern with. This notice is a year old. Go on amazon and see what is still there.......
 
That notice from the FCC is a year old. And, no, you may not import "stuff" into the US that requires FCC approval prior to receiving said approval. That's nothing new, at least not in the past 40 years or so.
 
The radios are not locked into the Amateur band, so they can transmit on frequencies that are both unlicensed and reserved for commercial certificate holders. The issue is that a few retailers were selling them as part 90 commercial radios, which they are not.

An Amateur operator can use any radio to transmit, as long as they stay within the privileges of their class of certificate.

The FRS bands are unlicensed, but they overlap with frequencies that are used for public service or commercial paid service. A proper FRS radio has a very low power emission and a fixed, tiny antenna to keep them legal. Using an unlocked, non-certified radio for these services as well as commercial part 90 service is prohibited and those radios cannot be imported for that use.

It is an honor system that Licensed Amateurs stay withing their authorized bands, power levels and modulation types. They can and often do lose their license for violations of 47 CFR part 97.

As with most technical subjects involving hobbyists, there are plenty of idiots on the internet who have not read the details of this complaint and are spewing uninformed nonsense on the usual social media cesspools, like Facebook and probably a few aviation forums! :popcorn:
 
The FCC is taking the position that if they can be programmed out of the ham bands, they are illegal. That's a pretty liberal reading of the rules and long standing policy: hams are allowed to modify their equipment or operate with VFOs as long as the operation is not out of band. Most modern ham rigs can be programmed or modified to go out of band - heck, to operate MARS one could usually cut a jumper or some such.

Having said all that, I have a couple of the cheapo Baofengs. One of the two does not come close to the spectral purity requirements on 2 meters - it's ok on 440. The other seems to be OK on both bands. Without measuring it on a spectrum analyzer (or similar) you're taking a real chance. The Spurs were down only like 30 dB which is not satisfactory.
 
wsuffa said:
The FCC is taking the position that if they can be programmed out of the ham bands, they are illegal. That's a pretty liberal reading of the rules and long standing policy: hams are allowed to modify their equipment or operate with VFOs as long as the operation is not out of band. Most modern ham rigs can be programmed or modified to go out of band - heck, to operate MARS one could usually cut a jumper or some such.

Having said all that, I have a couple of the cheapo Baofengs. One of the two does not come close to the spectral purity requirements on 2 meters - it's ok on 440. The other seems to be OK on both bands. Without measuring it on a spectrum analyzer (or similar) you're taking a real chance. The Spurs were down only like 30 dB which is not satisfactory.
Click to expand...

So what are they scared now?

My understanding is this isn’t exactly new tech
 
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