Are radios required to be FCC certified?

[mmckenna]

Some salesmen will say anything...

Yeah, that's my concern. It's one thing for someone to misunderstand/ignore the rules and put a Part 90 radio on GMRS. It's a different thing to misrepresent a product for the purpose of sales.

I think we've all run into those calibre of sales people.


I've done some more searching on this and I found a post over on BatLabs.com where a poster claimed that they had talked to the FCC EB and were told that if a Part 90 radio met all the requirements for Part 95, it was legal.
Makes a bit of sense since it would be impossible to differentiate the type acceptance of a radio that met all the specs without having the radio in your hand.
On the other hand, it wouldn't take much for the FCC to clarify this and publish it for all of us to see.

I'm not one to take the word of some stranger on the internet, and I certainly wouldn't expect for someone to take my word. I'd -really- feel good if the FCC published this.

The other part that chaps my hide is that many don't understand the GMRS rules or never bother to read them. It's really easy to buy a 100 watt UHF mobile off e-Bay and program it up and go. So many seem to think that if it can be done and they don't get caught, it's OK. I don't trust the average citizen or even average amateur radio operator to fully understand the rules and follow them. I've known far to many amateurs that are more than willing to hack an amateur radio for use on GMRS or Part 90 and see absolutely nothing wrong with it. I've known many that also will encourage others to do the same thing. The argument varies between "I'm an X class amateur, so it's OK" to "They'll never catch you". Those sorts of attitudes from people that really should know better is disappointing and corrupts/pollutes the hobby and industry for many of us.

 

[N4GIX]

Check this out...

BCR-40U UHF(450-520 MHz) FM Repeater – BridgeCom Systems, Inc.

"It is also a perfect fit for GMRS and your commercial LTR and Conventional applications."

Also, the Product Spec sheet:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0833/9095/files/BCRRepeaterSpecsheet.pdf?17887393459448054123[FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold][FONT=TimesNewRoman,Bold]

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External Peripherals:​

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Easily connect a telephone interconnect, DC remote, tone/code panel, paging board, and telemetry devices.​

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Link-Radio Ready:​

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Connect a "Link-Radio" for cross-band applications and interoperability.​

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GMRS Ready:​

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Add a tuned internal duplexer.​

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Customizable: [/FONT][/FONT]Flash Memory permits updates. Contact us if you have a need that is not mentioned here.

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[N4GIX]

Never hurts to ask. Maybe they did ask and they have an answer already. I suspect we'll find out.

It's interesting that prior emails to Ron were answered within hours. This latest email remains un-replied to over 24 hours after being sent... :roll:

 

[Voyager]

On the other hand, it wouldn't take much for the FCC to clarify this and publish it for all of us to see.

True, however TODAY there is the added issue that no NEW Part 90 radios are "acceptable for GMRS" since they will not be T/A'ed for NBFM. Granted, I believe GMRS CAN legally run in SNFM mode, but how many would want to do that? After all, there is nothing in the rules that prevents lower deviation than "normal". It would make GMRS and FRS live more peacefully, too with the more narrow filters.

 

[KN0JI]

No transmitter requires FCC "certification" for amateur use

One of the purposes of "amateur" radio is experimentation, and no transmitter of ANY kind requires any FCC certification for amateur use. Here's a quote from their website :

" The FCC equipment authorization program does not generally apply to amateur station transmitters."

Here's the link = https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service

And BTW, the term "Type Accepted" has been superseded by the FCC to be "Certificated"

 

[majoco]

For Amateur radio use, NO Part 97 approval is required. I don't even think there is an equipment certification for Part 97. Part 97 primarily covers operating rules, although there are some equipment rules. Since amateur operators can use *almost* all equipment, other rule parts dealing with equipment come into play. Part 97 does cover proper engineering practices that are required to make sure equipment is within tolerance.

How many hams, especially newly licensed 'technician' class, have the ability or the knowledge to check that their cheapo handhelds or even bench top transceivers, are performing within specification, are on frequency, not radiating spurious signals and so on - precious few I would anticipate. When hams made their own gear, it was a prerequisite to own sufficient test equipment to ensure compliance. Now that so many are just appliance operators and not technically qualified enough, who knows?

 

[Rred]

"One of the purposes of "amateur" radio is experimentation, and no transmitter of ANY kind requires any FCC certification for amateur use. Here's a quote from their website :

" The FCC equipment authorization program does not generally apply to amateur station transmitters." "

Yesbut. People forget the flip side to the new [sic] dismissal of authorization for ham equipment. Unlike the other services, it places the burden of technical conformance ON THE LICENSEE rather than on an equipment maker. Folks who are new to ham radio will not realize that, and like most hams, they will have no idea of how to test their equipment, let alone the ability to maintain it within technical spec.

As shown by the ARRL, who field tested h/t's that were walking by at Dayton last year, and found that pretty much all the ones from the Big Three were still in conformance, while almost all of the cheap chinese radios were OUT of conformance.

As a practical matter...Does a falling tree make noise if there's no one there to hear it? But sooner or later, having a large number of radios causing interference and being out of conformance, is likely to become an issue. This is one of the "technical" aspects of the ARS that hams are expected to take care of on their own. If we don't...then Uncle eventually will. And that's rarely a good thing. Personally, I'd rather they went back to the old ways, of requiring any gear advertised or commercially marketed as "ham radios" needing to be tested and signed off in some way. Approved, certified, whatever, but at least put up a minimal bar for the stuff that is not home made.

 

[mmckenna]

That's a good point.
Designing proper filtering into home built equipment and having ability to test it was key. Also one of the reasons why some amateur bands were set up as harmonics of each other.

To make things worse, the FCC has not kept control over the private TCB's that get to certify the equipment. There have been some instances of the low buck Chinese radios that the TCB's said were meeting FCC part 90 that were actually not. The FCC pulled the certifications.

Add in e-Bay, Amazon and the like, it's way to easy for inexperienced users to purchase the wrong gear for GMRS, MURS and commercial use. Often all they see is the price and a few misguided reviews on QRZ and the like.

 

[Voyager]

One of the purposes of "amateur" radio is experimentation, and no transmitter of ANY kind requires any FCC certification for amateur use.

Not exactly true. While homebrew transmitter do not require "certification", commercially sold units to require at minimum Part 15 certification.

As for the Megahertz/Megacycles debate (semantics), both Type Acceptance and Certification are acceptable in such a conversation.

 

[Star2BarryN]

The most recent FCC bulletin and the current FCC administration's interpretation of the rules is:

All commercially sold radios, including amateur radios require some form of certification.
It is illegal to modify any certified radio after it is sold.
Home brew equipment is only allowed if it is not based on any existing commercial radio.

https://medium.com/@lucky225/fcc-ba...ting-on-frequencies-that-require-40377a3722c5

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

Personally I have a very low opinion of this interpretation of the rules.

If you wish to ask for clarification please contact the FCC at:
1 (888) 225-5322