"The FCC created this problem; when they put Part 97 type acceptance stickers on transceivers capable of transmitting way beyond the bands assigned to the amateur radio service." Where did you come up with that notion? I have yet to see a transmitter certified for Part 97 service capable of transmitting out of band.
Most, if not all Amateur transceivers are fully capable to receive out of band and may be modified to transmit over their receive range but that voids the certification.
And you need one of those things like a redneck needs a machinegun to hunt jack rabbits in the desert!
The 2 meter ham band = 144-148 mhz. MARS stations are operating just above and below those frequencies. None of them have a need to own radio capable of operating 10 mhz and more out-of-band. A ham I knew carried two seperate HTs for this purpose! He was a LEO too.
The same thing happened, when we started seeing a microphone screwed onto the front of a shortwave receiver. Nothing was easier than turning the YAESU FT-757 GX and GX-2 into an illegal CB radio. No jumper wires; just a switch hidden behind the front panel. CLICK, and there is your general coverage uninterrupted 10-160 meter transmitter. I had one; but cussing out the US Coast Guard, Stategic Air Comand and other government agencies on shortwave didn't appeal to me.
A moron couldn't by a ham radio easily capable of jamming the police channels before the mid 80s! Putting a YEASU FT-101 tube set on the CB band required custom made IF crystals and some knowledge about retuning a radio. So fewer people blew $500 or more on these used rigs and then spent another $100 modifying them.
In that case, I stand by my statement that the FCC created their own law enforcement headaches, by putting this stuff on the market. Meanwhile, they'll put a part 15 sticker on anything the electronics industry wants to call an AM radio. It's our fault if all we can get is a cheap piece of crap that hears nothing but static. I just finished a battle with PG&E because their dirty power lines jammed all but the last 200 khz of the band!
Build your own ham toys until Hell freezes over. Most of you guys are "appliance operators" who buy commercially produced radios and equipment which do require a type acceptance sticker on them...
