Discussion: FCC Advisory on Two-Way VHF/UHF Radios

[n1das]

The FCC advisory says these radios are illegal but they granted Part 90 certification or Part 15 certification as a scanning receivers to several models from several manufacturers. Can Customs do anything if a radio has an FCC ID and proper labeling?

Probably not much they can do.


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[n1das]

The FCC advisory says these radios are illegal but they granted Part 90 certification or Part 15 certification as a scanning receivers to several models from several manufacturers. Can Customs do anything if a radio has an FCC ID and proper labeling?

The CCR manufacturers usually deal with a Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) to get their Part 90 or Part 15 cert. They don't deal with the FCC directly. The TCB lets details fall through the cracks as manufacturers misrepresent their products to the TCB. In the end however, the manufacturer is ultimately responsible for regulatory compliance of their product, not the TCB.

Maybe a shakeup of the TCBs by the FCC is in order. I suspect the TCBs may be put on notice by the FCC and outline what is acceptable or not in order for the FCC issue an equipment authorization Grant.



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[KK4JUG]

When I ordered a Baofeng UV5R online a couple of years ago, the Customs declaration form on the package listed the contents simply as a "toy" instead of what was really in the package.


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That's probably actually the truth.

 

[n1das]

That's probably actually the truth.

HaHa LOL Yes!


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[seth21w]

That is all any of my radios are, toys

 

[speedway_navigator]

My offer still stands. If anyone has a BaoFunk needing a tuneup, send it my way, I have a shiny new 15 LB sledge hammer.

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Are there any that don't need one?

 

[alcahuete]

So tons of drugs, cars, illegal animals, etc., pour into our ports every year unnoticed, but Customs is going to find and hold these batches of CCRs? Not sure what world some people are living in.

The FCC is trying to appease Mother /\/\ by making it look like they are actually doing something to stop the influx of these radios. I've said it once and I'll say it again, this has absolutely nothing to do with interference or people using these radios on the GMRS band. It's all about a huge loss in profits for Motorola.

 

[12dbsinad]

The FCC is finally waking up to this after how many years??

I guess better late than never, but jeez, kinda already let the cat out of the bag on that one...

 

[12dbsinad]

The FCC is trying to appease Mother /\/\ by making it look like they are actually doing something to stop the influx of these radios. I've said it once and I'll say it again, this has absolutely nothing to do with interference or people using these radios on the GMRS band. It's all about a huge loss in profits for Motorola.

Dirty transmitters not meeting spec affect everyone. It isn't a specific set of frequencies or band.

 

[alcahuete]

Dirty transmitters not meeting spec affect everyone. It isn't a specific set of frequencies or band.

True, but I can guarantee you that isn't the reason behind this. All you have to do is look around and damned near every small business (even some very large businesses), school, etc., are using Baofeng or similar...at least out here in Los Angeles Co. Motorola and friends are losing tons of money to the CCRs and they are not the least bit pleased with it.

 

[mancow]

Great. Let's set the example with the NTIA and all those exempted Fed agencies.

 

[ipfd320]

Radios like these have been coming in for years Now the FCC wants to do Somewhat of Something to curb these radios--I have my ccr wouxun for 9 years now and used daily--you can scream/***** and yell about spurious emissions and bla bla bla--if it was that bad someone would have said something to me that im splashing or such which never happened so far thank god

Alcahuete has it right any radio even a motorola can be programmed to cause interference--people have to blame these radios due to the fact they are easily keypad programmable on the fly

it also dosent help that the tones / codes and whatever else is being broadcasted to the world either
but thats another Rant so get all that you can before there all gone and fast

 

[zz0468]

The FCC is trying to appease Mother /\/\ by making it look like they are actually doing something to stop the influx of these radios.

You don't suppose it has anything to do with the influx of unlicensed Intruders on public safety frequencies?

 

[mancow]

You don't suppose it has anything to do with the influx of unlicensed Intruders on public safety frequencies?

No....

 

[zz0468]

No....

Why not? Is it because you personally don't have to deal with these things, so you don't have a feel for the problem?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

AMCREST and BAOFENG are selling radios directly to unwitting users with Part 90 and NTIA frequencies programmed in them. After the FCC announced the citation they issued to AMCREST I contacted AMCREST using their web chat and asked questions about their cheap new UHF radio. I was basically told that I did not need a license and that I could use the frequencies programmed in the radio. I asked about FRS and GMRS and was told I could put those in using CHIRP.

It is clear to me that AMCREST is flouting the FCC rules so that they can sell this crap.

Radios like these have been coming in for years Now the FCC wants to do Somewhat of Something to curb these radios--I have my ccr wouxun for 9 years now and used daily--you can scream/***** and yell about spurious emissions and bla bla bla--if it was that bad someone would have said something to me that im splashing or such which never happened so far thank god

Alcahuete has it right any radio even a motorola can be programmed to cause interference--people have to blame these radios due to the fact they are easily keypad programmable on the fly

it also dosent help that the tones / codes and whatever else is being broadcasted to the world either
but thats another Rant so get all that you can before there all gone and fast

As far as Motorola, programming their radios takes a level of skill and knowledge much higher than using CHIRP on a CCR. To get to the point of causing interference with a Motorola, you have to be pretty willful.

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[alcahuete]

You don't suppose it has anything to do with the influx of unlicensed Intruders on public safety frequencies?

I haven't read anywhere about such an influx. The FCC's documents certainly don't support that claim.

And no, I believe it is 100% Motorola behind this.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I hope the FCC takes the time to decertify some of this junk. And the TCB s should know better and reject doing work like this.

The CCR manufacturers usually deal with a Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) to get their Part 90 or Part 15 cert. They don't deal with the FCC directly. The TCB lets details fall through the cracks as manufacturers misrepresent their products to the TCB. In the end however, the manufacturer is ultimately responsible for regulatory compliance of their product, not the TCB.

Maybe a shakeup of the TCBs by the FCC is in order. I suspect the TCBs may be put on notice by the FCC and outline what is acceptable or not in order for the FCC issue an equipment authorization Grant.



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[alcahuete]

Look at it this way...the school district where I used to live just upgraded their entire comms. system to DMR. Aside from the repeater (which is actually a Hytera), they have over 600 radios. At even $1000 per radio, plus accessories, plus the service agreements, plus whatever the heck else Motorola charges, you would be looking at darn near a $1,000,000 contract just for them, and that is WAY on the conservative end. They went with CCRs.

Another large company I'm familiar with just sold their old Motorola radios and went with new CCRs. They had almost 1200 radios. At the least, that's a $1.5 million contract.

That's 2 entities. This is happening all over the country, in WAY bigger numbers than people care to believe. I see these radios all over the place. You're probably talking hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for Motorola. You still don't think they're putting pressure on the FCC to crack down on these radios?

Secondly, something that not been brought up yet, is the obvious way around the restrictions...start limiting these radios to the ham bands, and have a modification for opening them up completely. Very simple firmware update to fix that. So for all the hams who are complaining about the CCRs, way to go! Now you're going to have businesses and kids and everything else smack dab in the middle of the ham bands, since most people probably won't modify them to go outside of that. I suppose it's better there than on the business/public safety frequencies, but it opens up a whole new can. And you know how the FCC is about enforcement.

 

[zz0468]

I haven't read anywhere about such an influx. The FCC's documents certainly don't support that claim.

And no, I believe it is 100% Motorola behind this.

Well, I don't know what to tell you there... Not one of the handful of such events that I've brought to the FCC over the years made any press releases. And not every one I'm aware of has been taken to the FCC.