Is it Legal or illegal to Program radio to Recieve Police/Fire RX only?

Question: Is it Legal or illegal to program a radio say like CP200 or HT1000 to Police/Fire Frequency's to use like a Scanner if set to Receive only?
Please only answer this if you only Know 100 % sure, and also Please provide the FCC Part rule or Law that can prove your statement.
I have no interest in programming my radio to use as a police scanner, they make really nice scanners for that purpose, yet I have few friends on GMRS who program their radios to Police/Fire Frequency's.
Yet... I find this really concerning and illegal, because programmable radios are able to transmit back if you know what your doing.
Id rather obey and abide my the law... Its not worth the trouble if it just happens to be illegal but, what are your thoughts and what does the law say about this. I have convinced my G-Mers buddies that just having police freqs on their radios which looks really suspicious to me... they are asking for trouble and im sure it is illegal but i cant find any information online.

I've thought about utilizing the remaining empty un-programmed channels on my cp200 to use like a scanner, but for ham repeaters, but i like to know the Law first.
Thanks God Bless

I would say as long as they cannot transmit on frequencies it is legal. Many years back I was in a firebuff group and my portable had extra channels left over. I had County Fire frequencies put in just receive only. IF this had been illegal the guys at the radio shop would never have installed them in it. I ALSO had some UHF ham repeaters in it as well[since I had my HAM ticket it was legal]

It's legal, because it has not been made illegal. You won't find a specific law stating it's ok, but you will find specific rules prohibiting programming of transmitters on frequencies you're not authorized for.

Most Motorola radios, HT1000s included, allow you to enter "blank" as a transmit frequency.

As long as the jurisdiction in question doesn't have a mobile scanner law it is perfectly legal.

In the UK you can program what you like into any receiver / scanner.

The offence, if any, is "unauthorised listening and/or transfer/publication" of what you heard.

Possession of a scanner is legal. If it is programmed with private frequencies then this is I believe technically legal but you / they are left with proving (beyond reasonable doubt" that you did or did not illegally listen. This is possibly where scanners or software programs with logging facilities my defend or finger you.

There in no Law that states, you can't Recieve Police/Fire on any radio. If you use it to TX without permission, then yes that's not legal.

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter

Part-90.427 Precautions against unauthorized
operation.
Except for frequencies used in accordance
with § 90.417, no person shall
program into a transmitter frequencies
for which the licensee using the transmitter
is not authorized.

WQWG712 said:

Question: Is it Legal or illegal to program a radio say like CP200 or HT1000 to Police/Fire Frequency's to use like a Scanner if set to Receive only?
Please only answer this if you only Know 100 % sure, and also Please provide the FCC Part rule or Law that can prove your statement.
I have no interest in programming my radio to use as a police scanner, they make really nice scanners for that purpose, yet I have few friends on GMRS who program their radios to Police/Fire Frequency's.
Yet... I find this really concerning and illegal, because programmable radios are able to transmit back if you know what your doing.
Id rather obey and abide my the law... Its not worth the trouble if it just happens to be illegal but, what are your thoughts and what does the law say about this. I have convinced my G-Mers buddies that just having police freqs on their radios which looks really suspicious to me... they are asking for trouble and im sure it is illegal but i cant find any information online.

I've thought about utilizing the remaining empty un-programmed channels on my cp200 to use like a scanner, but for ham repeaters, but i like to know the Law first.
Thanks God Bless

Click to expand...

In the US, it depends on local laws and ordinances regarding scanners, but in general there is no prohibition. The FCC does not have a specific prohibition on that sort of thing; they simply authorize a radio to be used in a particular radio service on the designed frequency band(s), but specific programming is up to the end user. The only thing that could get you in trouble with the FCC would be transmitting, because there is a specific prohibition against unauthorized/unlicensed transmitting.

You might get some funny looks if you happen to be lurking about an emergency scene holding a "police radio" with police or fire traffic blaring out of it (to the point that the local constabulary might ask you some pointed questions), but if you can prove it's RX only they will generally move along, especially if you show a ham license.

I use a Motorola Saber and Motorola XTS5000 for VHF monitoring (primarily ham, but also railroad and some public safety), but everything is set to RX only except the ham stuff, and I've never had a problem except for the occasional aforementioned funny looks. In fact, the only time a police officer asked me about it he thought it was pretty cool.

Firebuff66 said:

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter

Part-90.427 Precautions against unauthorized
operation.
Except for frequencies used in accordance
with § 90.417, no person shall
program into a transmitter frequencies
for which the licensee using the transmitter
is not authorized.

Click to expand...

I guess the bubble pack FRS radios, Marine radios and CBs with weather channels are illegal then

Firebuff66 said:

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter

Part-90.427 Precautions against unauthorized
operation.
Except for frequencies used in accordance
with § 90.417, no person shall
program into a transmitter frequencies
for which the licensee using the transmitter
is not authorized.

Click to expand...

But that entire section specifically refers to the transmitter, not the receiver. The intent is to prevent unauthorized transmission, and if you look through the FCC rules closely, you'll find that there aren't many references to reception; the FCC is concerned with preventing unauthorized transmission and not so much about reception.

In fact, I forget the exact section and wording, but the Code of Federal Regulations authorizes reception of "frequencies readily available to the general public" unless those frequencies are specifically forbidden.

RX-only is permitted (at least, isn't specifically forbidden). I have yet to see a radio where a specific channel could not have the TX frequency left blank, or the entire channel set to RX only. If it weren't permitted, that capability probably wouldn't be there; the NWS frequencies are a pretty good example of the need for the capability.

Good Lord, some of you guys can over complicate things. And some of what's been posted is just wrong.

To the OP... just program the desired receive frequencies and put "blank" in the transmit frequencies. If nothing else, it would indicate a reasonable and rational effort to NOT transmit where you're not allowed to. No one cares beyond that, and it doesn't need to be complicated beyond that.

Firebuff66 said:

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter

Part-90.427 Precautions against unauthorized
operation.
Except for frequencies used in accordance
with § 90.417, no person shall
program into a transmitter frequencies
for which the licensee using the transmitter
is not authorized.

Click to expand...

It specifies transmitters. Programming a receive frequency and leaving the transmit side blank or otherwise disabled is fine. No, really... it is.

Hey Jeff..

I use an XTS3000 for GMRS and my monitoring. I have 1 zone dedicated to GMRS, 2 zones for Dallas Police and Dallas Fire, another one for Ham. Everything that is not on zone 1 is set for RX only and the input frequencies are 550 if anything messed up for some reason.

To my knowledge the only law I ever saw was Florida or somewhere in Florida, were you can't have a scanner in your vehicle, something to that sort.

Otherwise I can't find anything specifically in Texas (where your GMRS license comes back to)

Firebuff66 said:

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter...

Click to expand...

You are looking at Part 90 rules.
The receiver operates under Part 15.
If you look at 90.427, it refers to "transmitters".

WQWG712,
It is not -illegal- to program in frequencies as "receive only".

WQWG712 said:

Question: Is it Legal or illegal to program a radio say like CP200 or HT1000 to Police/Fire Frequency's to use like a Scanner if set to Receive only?
Please only answer this if you only Know 100 % sure, and also Please provide the FCC Part rule or Law that can prove your statement.
I have no interest in programming my radio to use as a police scanner, they make really nice scanners for that purpose, yet I have few friends on GMRS who program their radios to Police/Fire Frequency's.
Yet... I find this really concerning and illegal, because programmable radios are able to transmit back if you know what your doing.
Id rather obey and abide my the law... Its not worth the trouble if it just happens to be illegal but, what are your thoughts and what does the law say about this. I have convinced my G-Mers buddies that just having police freqs on their radios which looks really suspicious to me... they are asking for trouble and im sure it is illegal but i cant find any information online.

I've thought about utilizing the remaining empty un-programmed channels on my cp200 to use like a scanner, but for ham repeaters, but i like to know the Law first.
Thanks God Bless

Click to expand...

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UPDATE:

based on a Question: Is it Legal or illegal to program a radio say like CP200 or HT1000 to Police/Fire Frequency's to use like a Scanner if set to Receive only?

I find based on Poles it is Legal to Receive on a Radio with a built in Transmitter.
Although It is illegal to have the radios Frequency on Transmit even if selected as RX only, but legal if TX is set to different frequency and RX only

Thank you all for the great responses

RX only is always legal, unless you are operating the radio in a vehicle in a jurisdiction that outlaws mobile scanning.

I've purchased numerous 100W HF transceivers over the years, fully capable of transmitting, but I only used them as high-end receivers. It is not illegal to buy them or use them as receivers, even if all it takes pushing the mic transmit button to transmit.

False

Firebuff66 said:

Illegal according to the FCC...Putting a channel in RX only in a radio that can TX is still programming a frequency into a transmitter

Part-90.427 Precautions against unauthorized
operation.
Except for frequencies used in accordance
with § 90.417, no person shall
program into a transmitter frequencies
for which the licensee using the transmitter
is not authorized.

Click to expand...

A transmitter is a transmitter. A receiver is a receiver.

A transceiver incorporates BOTH. But for legal purposes, the transmitter and receiver portions are separate and they are addressed by different parts of the FCC rules and regulations.

It is NOT illegal to program any receive only frequencies into a transceiver!
But it may be illegal to program some transmit frequencies into a transceiver.

Don't make this more complicated than it is. Rare as that may be when it comes to regulations created by the US Government, the FCC regulations are almost always common sense rules, in context.

Licensee

Okay, let's say I programmed a radio that included the FRS and GMRS frequencies, such as my UV5R. Okay, now since FRS does not need a license, no legal consequence could occur by such programming, because no "licensee" exists. As to the GMRS, I am not "licensed" for that, and since it is illegal for a "licensee" to program it, there is also no legal consequence.