Icon IC-R3 "Video Receiver" unblocked and laws

[pinballwiz86]

The last time I seen that used was from a 20 something year old.

I'm twenty something...haha.

 

[poltergeisty]

I knew it.

So question. What was the password for my encrypted text you seemed to have decoded?

 

[dw2872]

I still remember those days when I came home from school and I was able to scan cellphone conversations 24/7, IT WAS FUN......All I can say a lot of people cheat each other .

Ah, those were the days. I was a kid back then too. I had no idea they would soon go digital or I would have listened a lot more. Most of what I overheard was criminal activities. A lot of anonymous tips got a lot of drug dealers and burglars/thieves in trouble.


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[cdesigns]

Ah, those were the days. I was a kid back then too. I had no idea they would soon go digital or I would have listened a lot more. Most of what I overheard was criminal activities. A lot of anonymous tips got a lot of drug dealers and burglars/thieves in trouble.


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Ohh and all those calls to the 1-900- sex lines WOW so many people calling and the things you heard.

 

[VE7CFF]

picked up an unlocked one in Japan in 2004 in Akihibara. It is used to monitor various airports and mil air

 

[techguru]

Do any of you realize all of these cheap SDRs (RTL-SDR) being sold now also do not block the cellular range?

Also, in my browsing I've noticed many high end spectrum analyzers do not block the cellular range either.

Something else to note, pager data is in the clear and does not use a freq in the range that is supposed to be blocked.

 

[dw2872]

Blocking cellular freqs was only useful back when they were analog. That's why we were reminiscing about it.

Do you think you can monitor cell phone calls these days? I don't think so.


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[poltergeisty]

I think Congress needs to unblock the stupid so-called cellular band because you can't hear anything anymore. One thing I dislike about the IC-R3 is that you can't really use it to monitor the control channel on 800 MHz systems. It bypasses it completely. Pretty damn dumb!

 

[Token]

I just bought a Icom IC-R3 from a guy that didn't know much about it and when I got it today I realize is the IC-R3SS model from japan "Unblocked" what problems could I get into owning this receiver? I know cellphones are digital now. I read somewhere that was illegal to sell them also. I'm confuse.

There is no regulation against owning or using such a receiver. The regulations are specific to importing and selling them. A later addition to these regulations does address modifying a receiver to receive these frequencies.

It is illegal to monitor certain types of communications though, so raw frequency coverage is not the only limitation.

Do any of you realize all of these cheap SDRs (RTL-SDR) being sold now also do not block the cellular range?

Also, in my browsing I've noticed many high end spectrum analyzers do not block the cellular range either.

Something else to note, pager data is in the clear and does not use a freq in the range that is supposed to be blocked.

RTL SDRs are not "scanning receivers" as defined under Commission rules, but instead are marketed as TV receivers. Hobbyist have "hacked" them (in the form of software) to use them as "scanning receivers". However, I think if anyone pushed the issue the FCC might indeed include these devices as scanners or the use of custom software as "modifying" the original use and intent. Since there are no more analogue cell transmissions I think, just my opinion, that there is no pressure to expand the meaning to include such devices.

TV receivers with manual channel controls have often been able to tune the 800 MHz range used by cell phones, there was never a legal issue with them that I know of. Over the air TV UHF channels 70 to 83 covers 806 to 890 MHz.

Spectrum analyzers are not "scanning receivers", but instead are "test equipment", and are specifically exempted.

The following document gives a good indication of how the FCC thinks about these things and how various regulations are interpreted and applied.
http://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1999/fcc99058.txt

T!

 

[ElroyJetson]

The purpose of the cell frequency blocking law has been rendered a completely moot point by the facts that cell systems are now 100 percent digital and now operate in more bands than had been envisioned when that poorly thought out law was drafted.

I would absolutely forget to worry about such issues if I encountered a radio product with an unblocked receiver. It's really a non-issue in every way that matters, these days.