New radio that is not out on the market yet

[KB0VWG]

I have a Fcc Question

I have ordered a New Dual Band mobile unit from overseas from a supplier, this radio is not being sold as of yet because it is a sample. It is one of those Chinese units. The radio is Not FCC type Accepted yet and the company is looking to get it to that stage. What I am wondering is would the radio be illegal to use on the ham bands if it is not FCC accepted? Can they be sold lets say on Ebay if they are not FCC certified. when I do get a quantity of them to sell.

I think they can be sold anyways but since I haven't ordered items to be sold from overseas as an importer I am very curious.
Thanks
kb0vwg
wqoi992

 

[K9WG]

You are looking at two things. For a radio to be used for say part 90 it would have to be type accepted. That is the transmitter as well as the receiver would have to be approved by the FCC for the specific use. For Amateur use only the receiver has to be accepted (under part 15) however the transmitter does have to meet some specifications for spurious and harmonic suppression. So in answer to your question, if the transceiver has not been accepted for Amateur use it can not be sold in the US. Now this only applies to equipment manufactured and/or sold in the US. Homebrew equipment is not required to be accepted however still has to meet the requirements for spurs/harmonics.

 

[N4KVE]

While it might technically not be legal, I don't think the FCC will be breaking down your door for having a "sample". However if you have a case of these radios, it's possible customs might hold up the shipment. I have a friend who orders strange handheld radios from the Orient, & 9 in 10 they get through. Every now & then, a radio will be seized. He'll get a letter asking what the purpose of the radio is, & he answers that it's for ham radio use. He figures to lose 1 in 10 is worth it as these radios are dirt cheap. Spread spectrum frequency hopping radios. I have seen lots of neat radios on Chinese websites, & I'm tempted to order one just for the hell of it to use on the ham freq's, but with the narrow band deadline fast approaching, there's tons of good "surplus" radios being sold for pennies on the dollar, & already in the country. GARY N4KVE

 

[LtDoc]

For a radio to be commercially sold in the USA it has to be 'accepted' by the FCC. If a radio is sold non-commercially, and used in the amateur service, it doesn't have to be 'accepted' by the FCC. A good example of that is a home-made radio or a 'converted' one. If you import a gob of radios to sell to amateurs, then you would fall under the 'commercially sold' heading and would be in violation of the rules. I think it has to do with the number of radios sold per year? So the simple answer would be that it's not very economically feasible unless you get them 'accepted'. I think that just 'blew' your profits for quite some time...
- 'Doc

(There are several "but's" in that, but I think you get the idea.)

 

[KB0VWG]

Leads to another question

Ok thanks for the replies but and of course there is always a but.
What about the people selling the Baofeng radios on Ebay and they are selling them from California as far as I know they are not FCC certified.
Here is a link to one of them

BaoFeng UV-3R Mark II UHF/VHF & Two Freq. display, Watch dual band radio UV3R | eBay

Of course I don't want to get busted by the FCC or even the Federal Trade Commission so that is why for the questions. My dad would order stuff from over seas to sell but that was never electronic stuff usually just tools and extension cords.
Thanks all of you for the info.
kb0vwg
wqoi992
73's

 

[K9WG]

Ok thanks for the replies but and of course there is always a but.
What about the people selling the Baofeng radios on Ebay and they are selling them from California as far as I know they are not FCC certified.
Here is a link to one of them

BaoFeng UV-3R Mark II UHF/VHF & Two Freq. display, Watch dual band radio UV3R | eBay

Unless they are accepted by the FCC they are illegal to import.

(and there are no 'buts' in that statement)

 

[com501]

There are conditions to the importation.

The radios in question are Part 15 accepted, which is all they have to be for an amateur radio product.

The listing shown, and several others I perused, indicated for amateur use, which is perfectly acceptable.

I ordered a few of these to play with from different vendors. ALL of them arrived with the ham bands enabled, and receive only outside of the ham bands, as would be expected from a legally imported radio.

It is ridiculously easy, using software and a flash upgrade to make these radios operate in the Part 90 and other spectrum where they are NOT type accepted. This would be on the end user, as with any front panel programmable radio.

This should end the discussion, as I am sure, anyone receiving one of these radios that was already pre-programmed to be capable of transmitting outside of the ham band would immediately report that to the appropriate agency, right?

Any vendor who willfully modifies these radios prior to shipment is opening themselves up to losing their inventory, and a whole host of nastiness with the folks with the little tiny badges from the FCC.

Been there, done that, totally not worth it.

 

[hamtalk]

some day industry Canada will wake up and realize that these little radios are not type approved and put a stop to their importation until they meet the requiements. get yours soon

 

[gewecke]

I have a Fcc Question

I have ordered a New Dual Band mobile unit from overseas from a supplier, this radio is not being sold as of yet because it is a sample. It is one of those Chinese units. The radio is Not FCC type Accepted yet and the company is looking to get it to that stage. What I am wondering is would the radio be illegal to use on the ham bands if it is not FCC accepted? Can they be sold lets say on Ebay if they are not FCC certified. when I do get a quantity of them to sell.

I think they can be sold anyways but since I haven't ordered items to be sold from overseas as an importer I am very curious.
Thanks
kb0vwg
wqoi992

Is this one of those wouxun dual band "imaginary" mobiles? Just curious,did they give you a shipping date?
So far, I have not even heard of anyone who's really seen one in the flesh.
At any rate, I hope you receive it soon so you can let us know your opinion of it!

73,
n9zas

 

[Hornhonker]

Amateur radios are considered experimental so require no type acceptance in Canada.

 

[KB0VWG]

I wished it was a wouxun

Is this one of those wouxun dual band "imaginary" mobiles? Just curious,did they give you a shipping date?
So far, I have not even heard of anyone who's really seen one in the flesh.
At any rate, I hope you receive it soon so you can let us know your opinion of it!

73,
n9zas

It was the model TC-VU55 dual band mobile radio and its not even close to a wouxun. It needed a lot of improvement specially for mobile communications. I tested it out for awhile decided to sell it.To me the buttons were hard to press and it had a cumbersome menu to work with. It was hard to tell which band you were on. It cost me $150 and i sold it for that or a little less.
I gave up waiting for a wouxun and purchased this one instead. I ended up and purchased a ft-8800.
Here is the link to the radio.

Dual Band In-vehicle Radio TC-VU55 - PORTABLE TWO WAY RADIO - Protable Two Way Radio - Catalogues - QUANZHOU TRUEST COMMUNICATION CO. ,LIMITED

73's
kb0vwg
wqoi992

 

[gewecke]

Hmmm...I looked at the link you provided and it looks suspiciously a lot like a kenwood dual band mobile. It might be interesting to compare specs and features with one if you would have kept it.

73,
n9zas

 

[AK9R]

I looked at the link you provided and it looks suspiciously a lot like a kenwood dual band mobile.

I'm not aware of any Kenwood dual-band amateur radios that has an up-down button to the right side of the display. Do you have a model number in mind?

That microphone does look like those used on Kenwood mobiles these days.

 

[gewecke]

I'm not aware of any Kenwood dual-band amateur radios that has an up-down button to the right side of the display. Do you have a model number in mind?

That microphone does look like those used on Kenwood mobiles these days.

No me either I guess, I think I was just eyeing the display and mic style. I wouldn't be surprised if someone didn't reverse engineer that thing from other radios in a basement in japan or china. :roll:

73,
n9zas