TK-3180s are very fine industrial/public safety grade radios.
Yes, to legally transmit with them, an FCC issued license is needed in the business radio service (aka Part 90). They will also require programming on those frequencies you are licensed for, which can be done by a Kenwood land mobile radio dealer in your area. Getting a part 90 licenses requires both coordinating for frequencies in your area and the FCC license itself. Both have fees associated with them.
These radios can also be used by licensed amateur radio operators in the 440MHz ham band, covered again, under their individual FCC issued amateur radio license of technician class or higher.
They CANNOT legally be used to transmit on FRS (Family Radio Service) frequencies as they are not certified by the FCC as FRS radios and have removable antennas.
You should NOT use them "around the house" or anywhere else for transmitting, as you are transmitting on radio channels that may be in use by someone else in your area (even if you cannot hear them) and may be causing interference. Unlicensed operation of such a radio is a violation of Federal law, and you risk monetary fines and confiscation of equipment if prosecuted.
If all you want is to use them with your family, kids, etc- you can probably sell them for more than enough to buy a set of high quality license free Family Radio Service radios on the used market and have enough left over to take your family to the movies, dinner, etc. :wink:
this is all really new to me and i don't want to come off as rude or ignorant so if this really is a big deal then i might as well just sell these (which is a really great idea by the way, thank you very much) to business oriented personnel since that is what i assume these radio's are meant for as technical and sophisticated as they seem to be, not for just playing or casual purposes.
how much $ can i get for a set of a couple years used, cosmetically defected (wear and tear) but in great working condition? (2 hand helds, w/ 1700mAh batteries "KNB-33L", belt clip, interchangeable "whip" antenna "KRA-27M", optional d-ring ear pieces w/ptt mic "KHS-27", and 1 rapid rate charging dock "KSC-32") so 2 fully functioning walkies and 1 charging dock.
say i was going to sell them, how would i get the zones and channels to delete what it says from the display like a full wipe and reset? i would have to reprogram them before doing so, right? how would one go about doing this? i dont know of any kenwood land mobile radio dealers in my area that would be able to help me so i would have do this on my own.
out of curiosity, what are the license and frequency fee's that are associated with the fcc that you speak of.. or if you can possibly post a link of where i can see this, that would be very nice..
can anyone be an amateur radio operator? (hense the word "amateur") or do you actually have to be trained to become one?
unlike cell phones where they can see who is who with ip/mac addresses and gps how can the fcc tell who has licenses or not and who is who or what they are doing on radios/walkies with all the different frequencies? do they have fcc police that actually come and find you if you jump frequencies without permission or specific licenses?