Business License Holder Interoperability

[Beefire9]

I've started a small radio accessory supply business and I'm still learning the ins and outs of business communications. I'd like to break into the radio market here in a while, as I have had multiple requests for personal units. I'm still learning the legalities of doing so, specifically for individuals who are employed by Business License Holders.

Let's say a guy works for ABC Well Servicing, who provides him a two way radio for use at work. He buys a Baofeng he wants to program to use in place of his work radio. ABC contracts to XYZ Pressure Pumping on a regular basis. He asks me if I can program his radio to talk to XYZ as well as ABC. I don't know where to begin looking for the legalities of this. I just need a direction to begin. I don't even know what to search! I'd love some input from the forum users with experience in this arena.

 

[TampaTyron]

We always required a letter on business letterhead of the licensee stating it was ok to program XYZ contractor on their frequencies until further notice. We required a renewal letter each year, so it was a little cumbersome. But, in the oilfield, there were hundreds and hundreds of contractors, subcontractors, and sub-subcontractors. It was nuts. TT

 

[fwradio]

In addition to the licensing requirement... make sure that the radios you are selling are actually legal for use in the US. A lot of cheap Chinese radios have the FCC logo on the back of them that does not mean anything. I've asked them about type acceptance while at the IWCE shows and they point me to the FCC logo. The radios do not have a FCC ID number on the back of them in most cases. If they don't have the number on the label, they are not legal to import, sell, or use in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of cheap Chinese radios that are not type accepted (illegal) and have very loose operating specifications have made it into this country.

I've also noticed that the cheap Chinese radio products have been a trap for a lot of dealers trying to compete with online sales. I've seen a few brick and mortar dealers who have started selling those radios to compete with cheap radios online only to end up going out of business because there is no margin to support business operations unless the volume is ridiculously high (1000+ units/month). After all, the purpose of being in business is to make a little money.

 

[byndhlptom]

per your example.... and implied in TampaTyron's response

You should not program either of the two frequencies (for TX) with out permission of the licensee's (ABC & XYZ). They are responsible for FCC compliance in order to keep their licenses valid. I also believe that the FCC has restrictions on radio shops/dealers that require them to confirm license's before programming radios.... may just be good business practice....

$.02

 

[ladn]

Let's say a guy works for ABC Well Servicing, who provides him a two way radio for use at work. He buys a Baofeng he wants to program to use in place of his work radio. ABC contracts to XYZ Pressure Pumping on a regular basis. He asks me if I can program his radio to talk to XYZ as well as ABC.

In addition to the afore mentioned licensing and type acceptance issues, the guy who wants the interopperable radio programming would need to provide a radio that's compatible with both ABC and XYZ systems in terms of frequencies and modulation. AND both ABC and XYZ would need to have sufficient "extra" unit allocations on their licenses to allow for the addition of another radio.

In addition to the authorization letters, you would do well to check the FCC ULS for he license information yourself.

 

[speedway_navigator]

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

(b) 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.

 

[fwradio]

eCFR — Code of Federal Regulations

(b) 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.

I was searching everywhere for that one. I knew I had seen it before. I use it to justify to customers that we will not program frequencies that they are not licensed or authorized in writing to transmit on.

 

[speedway_navigator]

I keep a text file of these snippets of part 90 because little parts like this are buried and my search terms seldom match what how the code is written.