A very silly question re: receiving UHF broadcasts

[WQWW905]

My apologies in advance for what I know is a very silly question but I am dealing with a very silly situation and could use some help.

Long story short, company uses Motorola handhelds on 451.3775 to communicate. they're licensed through the FCC and are allowed to operate up to 10 radios on site.

Their stance is, no one else may listen to or receive their frequency. Trying to explain public airwaves and reception vs actively transmitting is like talking to a refrigerator.

I've looked through the FCC site but can't find quite what I'm looking for but maybe you can point me in a good direction - I'm trying to find something from the FCC, ideally on their site or a printable PDF, explaining the legality of receiving/passively listening to any frequency. I know I've seen something like this in the past but I can't seem to find it now.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can assist me here.

 

[mmckenna]

I'm not aware of any such document.

If they don't want others to listen, then they need to encrypt.
If someone with a scanner is on their own private property, they can ask them to leave, but that won't stop the RF from leaking outside their property lines.

Not sure what your goal is here? Were you listening to their traffic and they approached you with this statement?

 

[RaleighGuy]

Their stance is, no one else may listen to or receive their frequency. Trying to explain public airwaves and reception vs actively transmitting is like talking to a refrigerator.

Unless you are in their face with it how would they know? They aren't going to make an issue about it unless someone brings it to their attention. As @mmckenna said, if they really don't want people listening then they need to go with encryption.

 

[ecps92]

My apologies in advance for what I know is a very silly question but I am dealing with a very silly situation and could use some help.

Long story short, company uses Motorola handhelds on 451.3775 to communicate. they're licensed through the FCC and are allowed to operate up to 10 radios on site.

Their stance is, no one else may listen to or receive their frequency. Trying to explain public airwaves and reception vs actively transmitting is like talking to a refrigerator.

I've looked through the FCC site but can't find quite what I'm looking for but maybe you can point me in a good direction - I'm trying to find something from the FCC, ideally on their site or a printable PDF, explaining the legality of receiving/passively listening to any frequency. I know I've seen something like this in the past but I can't seem to find it now.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can assist me here.

451.3775 would not be a valid FCC allocation

However, if it Transmits it can be intercepted there is no (as others indicated) rule, law etc to stop this.

There are some laws that rule listening to Cellular, Broadcast Aux etc, but nothing for a Part 90 license protects them from being intercepted
There sounds like more to this story... as Paul Harvey would say, where is the rest of the story....

 

[16b]

I've had people ask me this sort of question before, and the best answer I can give is that you're not going to find an official document from the government explaining that something is legal because that's not really the way laws work. In other words, if somebody wants to tell you something is illegal, it's kinda on them to show you which law said activity violates. The company isn't going to be able to do that unless there is some sort of local ordinance that applies.

I have also dealt with situations where an employee of a company thinks he/she is entitled to use a personal device to monitor the company's radio communications just because it's "not illegal." This is an entirely different issue and has nothing to do with what is legal or illegal. The company telling you that you can't listen to their radio system on the job isn't really any different than telling you that you can't smoke on the job.

 

[ecps92]

Going out on a limb that it is

ULS License - Industrial/Business Pool, Conventional License - WRUX664 - SNH LINCOLN TENANT, LLC - Frequencies Summary

90.35a - APPLICANT IS ENGAGED IN THE OPERATIONS OF AN ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY AS A COMMERCIAL BUSINESS. RADIOS WILL BE USED TO COORDINATE FACILITY MAINTENANCE AND SECURITY OPERATIONS

 

[tvengr]

I've looked through the FCC site but can't find quite what I'm looking for but maybe you can point me in a good direction.

Please click on the red envelope to the right of your username at the top of the page.