Baofeng UV-5X is apparently FCC Certified for GMRS

[K4EET]

This is interesting:

 

[danesgs]

I am not surprised. China has a market here in radio, why not be FCC certified along the way. Sells more radios.

 

[FPR1981]

I see they note "antenna is fixed" and further state that it is illegal to sell a GMRS with a detachable antenna, but just how "fixed" is it really? I can remove an antenna on a Cobra Micro Talk and replace it with an SMA jack pretty easily, allowing me to use the antenna of my choice.

 

[chief21]

I see they note "antenna is fixed" and further state that it is illegal to sell a GMRS with a detachable antenna <snip>

Just to keep the record straight, radios that are type-accepted for licensed GMRS use are permitted to have removable antennas. It's the "License-by-Rule" FRS radios that are required to have lower TX power and fixed antennas.

 

[MTS2000des]

You still can't polish a turd.

 

[ko6jw_2]

B-Tech does make, as we know, legal GMRS radios. Legal because they cannot transmit other than on GMRS frequencies. No FRS. Wideband receive. The only thing you can program are PL tones for repeaters and receive only channels. No Baofeng that can transmit outside GMRS channels will be type accepted for GMRS. No ham radios either if they have MARS mods done.

If you watch the video all the way through, she never really says that the radios can only be used on GMRS just that they have GMRS channels pre-programed. Are they really type accepted? She says so. Needs more research I think.

 

[KD8DVR]

Just to keep the record straight, radios that are type-accepted for licensed GMRS use are permitted to have removable antennas. It's the "License-by-Rule" FRS radios that are required to have lower TX power and fixed antennas.

Leave it to Baofeng to screw something up

 

[mmckenna]

Are they really type accepted? She says so. Needs more research I think.

I did some digging and found several FCC type acceptance grants for the radio.

They show 11K0F3E, so narrow band FM only. I'm also suspect since the CCR's usually show some odd emission designator rather than the commonly used one. To me that's a red flag.

We know the CCR manufacturers have cheated on the type acceptance filings before. These seem to have been filed by a US based lab, so maybe they are attempting to gain some credibility.

I agree, you can polish a turd, but all you end up with is a shiny turd. Underneath the shiny new type acceptance is still a POS radio.

Remember, the only reason they did this was to sell more radios to unsuspecting US consumers.

 

[nd5y]

GMRS version of the UV-82 certified.

https://fccid.io/2AJGM-UV82

 

[K4EET]

GMRS version of the UV-82 certified.

https://fccid.io/2AJGM-UV82

More polishing going on...

 

[FPR1981]

I suppose it would be better than this? LOL

Surprisingly, simply ditching the thing inside one of these Cobras that they call an antenna and adding an SMA jack and a 15.6 inch antenna makes quite a difference. Can't wait to see how it performs between a dual band ground plane 25 feet up and a mobile.

 

[nd5y]

In case anybody didn't know, making unauthorized modifications to any FCC certified device voids the certification and renders the device illegal to operate.

 

[FPR1981]

Yep. But at a half watt, appropriate use wouldn't cause any disruptions to anyone, therefore it would be next to impossible to catch someone.

You're talking about a band that allows up to 50 watts, and Midland makes a 40-watt mobile. I highly doubt that keying up on a half-watt walkie talkie with a better antenna is going to alert anyone of anything to get you a knock on your door.

It's not like a CB guy who decides to run 300 watts of output power and causes harmful interference.

I've been up and down the FCC's records of enforcement action, and there's never been a single individual cited for GMRS misuse. A manufacturer, however, did receive some FCC correspondence.

 

[bill4long]

B-Tech does make, as we know, legal GMRS radios. Legal because they cannot transmit other than on GMRS frequencies. No FRS.

GMRS radios can legally transmit on all 22 FRS/GMRS channels. (They must have fixed antennas if they are going to transmit on channels 8 thru 14.) There is no such thing as an "FRS only" channel.

General Mobile Radio Service - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[tweiss3]

Yep. But at a half watt, appropriate use wouldn't cause any disruptions to anyone, therefore it would be next to impossible to catch someone.

You're talking about a band that allows up to 50 watts, and Midland makes a 40-watt mobile. I highly doubt that keying up on a half-watt walkie talkie with a better antenna is going to alert anyone of anything to get you a knock on your door.

It's not like a CB guy who decides to run 300 watts of output power and causes harmful interference.

I've been up and down the FCC's records of enforcement action, and there's never been a single individual cited for GMRS misuse. A manufacturer, however, did receive some FCC correspondence.

Actually when you are using FRS equipment, the limit is half a watt for multiple channels.

 

[FPR1981]

Actually when you are using FRS equipment, the limit is half a watt for multiple channels.

I'm speaking solely about the GMRS channels

 

[bill4long]

More polishing going on...

I have a one of the GMRS-V1 (UV-82 variant.) They work just fine. They have them for MURS as well.

 

[bill4long]

[delete duplicate]

 

[bill4long]

Leave it to Baofeng to screw something up

How did they screw this up?

 

[iMONITOR]

Prices will increase soon.