Scanner laws/ HAM ticket

[jred184]

I heard that when I get my ham ticket that I can legally carry my scanner in my truck legally in states where it is normally illegal.

If this is true, can I have police freqs plugged into it or does it have to only be ham freqs? What sort of paperwork (other than my ham license) will I need to keep with me when I carry my scanner?


BTW anyone know of a good technician practice test site?


JRed

 

[DaveNF2G]

That is almost but not quite true.

Even if it is totally legal to carry your ham equipment in any state, some police agencies are still arresting hams for having scanners. There is no definitive word from the FCC or the federal courts on whether such arrests are valid or not.

 

[jred184]

Now is this in the states where it is illegal or the states that it is illegal?
How can they arrest you if it is legal? Are they trying to say that the arrested people are using it for illegal purposes? I see a harassment lawsuit brewing. I wonder what the ARRL says about it.

JRed

 

[nexus]

I know MS has no scanner law, so we're fortunate to be free to mount what ever the hell we want in our vehicles. State law considers your vehicle as part of your estate. So you can have scanners, guns, all sorts of things legally in your car.

However for some place like Florida it's illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle (IF) it is connected to the vehicle's power, and or an antenna mounted on the vehicle. They consider that an installed scanner. They don't seem to have problems with portable scanners which operate under their own power and antenna.

Where I think the exception comes is from amateur radio equipment, which 99% of has the ability to receive frequencies in the public safety and government bands. Since there are so many radios out there that do, and the FCC type accepted them, they had no choice but to offer a provision in the national scanner laws to allow licensed amateur operators the ability to have such equipment installed in vehicles.

This has nothing to do with scanners. It's for FCC type accepted amateur radio equipment.

You can drive through Florida with your Yaesu FT-8900R mobile which will cover from 29mhz to 900mhz and it does scan memory channels and bands, but it's a ham radio transciever. If you're licensed you're ok. If you have a BC-796 or or other type of scanner mounted then you're likely to have that scanner taken away from you if stopped.

more info on this can be read here:
http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/

The specific question answered here:
http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/federal4.html#pr9136

BTW, AWESOME online Practice exams here:
http://www.eham.net/exams/

 

[N_Jay]

. . . . .
Where I think the exception comes is from amateur radio equipment, which 99% of has the ability to receive frequencies in the public safety and government bands. Since there are so many radios out there that do, and the FCC type accepted them, they had no choice but to offer a provision in the national scanner laws to allow licensed amateur operators the ability to have such equipment installed in vehicles.

This has nothing to do with scanners. It's for FCC type accepted amateur radio equipment. . . . . .

There is no such thing as FCC type accepted Amature radio equipment.

There is plaenty of equipment that is designed for the Amature service that is FCC type accepted to be sold.

Remember, A ham can use whatever they want and build it themself if they wat to.

You have the same rights of reception as Hams do.

 

[jred184]

I know MS has no scanner law, so we're fortunate to be free to mount what ever the hell we want in our vehicles. State law considers your vehicle as part of your estate. So you can have scanners, guns, all sorts of things legally in your car.

However for some place like Florida it's illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle (IF) it is connected to the vehicle's power, and or an antenna mounted on the vehicle. They consider that an installed scanner. They don't seem to have problems with portable scanners which operate under their own power and antenna.

Where I think the exception comes is from amateur radio equipment, which 99% of has the ability to receive frequencies in the public safety and government bands. Since there are so many radios out there that do, and the FCC type accepted them, they had no choice but to offer a provision in the national scanner laws to allow licensed amateur operators the ability to have such equipment installed in vehicles.

This has nothing to do with scanners. It's for FCC type accepted amateur radio equipment.

You can drive through Florida with your Yaesu FT-8900R mobile which will cover from 29mhz to 900mhz and it does scan memory channels and bands, but it's a ham radio transciever. If you're licensed you're ok. If you have a BC-796 or or other type of scanner mounted then you're likely to have that scanner taken away from you if stopped.

more info on this can be read here:
http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/

The specific question answered here:
http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/federal4.html#pr9136

BTW, AWESOME online Practice exams here:
http://www.eham.net/exams/

Thanks for the info. I will be doing some traveling soon and was wondering about this. Thank God I live in MS and I don't have to worry about this crap.


JRed

 

[fmon]

That is almost but not quite true.

Even if it is totally legal to carry your ham equipment in any state, some police agencies are still arresting hams for having scanners. There is no definitive word from the FCC or the federal courts on whether such arrests are valid or not.

According to a link in the State Scanner page of your friend Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH, "People v. Beatson" exonerated Beatson in 1997 and he settled his law suit against the arresting officer and Suffolk County NYPD out of court. Is NY still arresting amateurs with scanners in vehicles?

 

[cellblock776]

Didn't we JUST do 4 pages of this?
http://www.radioreference.com/modul...&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[nexus]

. . . . .
There is no such thing as FCC type accepted Amature radio equipment.

There is plaenty of equipment that is designed for the Amature service that is FCC type accepted to be sold.

Remember, A ham can use whatever they want and build it themself if they wat to.

You have the same rights of reception as Hams do.

First off if you're going to criticize me or my posts you should at least get a SPELLCHECKER or proof your message... It's spelled AMATEUR not AMATURE. Amature is NOT a word in the english speaking dictionary.

Second, every single piece of commercially made and bought two radio gear I have which was manufactured for AMATEUR radio use has an FCC type acceptance and FCC ID. The radio is FCC type accepted and complies with part 15 of the FCC rules.

WHYTF do you have to be so GD anal and nitpicky about the most unimportant things on these posts...

The general explaination I was trying to get across was that the FCC WAIVER for HAMS and PUBLIC SAFETY FREQUENCY reception in vehicles only applied to AMATEUR RADIO EQUIPMENT capable of monitoring PUBLIC SAFETY FREQUENCIES, And that SCANNERS DO NOT apply to this waiver. And the reason why the FCC did it was because they didn't require manufactures to limit the reception capability to amateur bands only. SOOOOOOO instead of the FCC telling every ham that they're in violation because some PD wants to get a bug up their butt decided that PD's couldn't do anything about US HAMS because there are millions of these radios already out there and we're licensed to use them PERIOD! 8)

 

[loumaag]

Okay guys, lets dial down the tone a bit.

 

[Al42]

Second, every single piece of commercially made and bought two radio gear I have which was manufactured for AMATEUR radio use has an FCC type acceptance and FCC ID. The radio is FCC type accepted and complies with part 15 of the FCC rules.

It's accepted, not type-approved - the two procedures are nothing alike, and the certifications don't mean the same thing at all.

The general explaination I was trying to get across was that the FCC WAIVER for HAMS and PUBLIC SAFETY FREQUENCY reception in vehicles only applied to AMATEUR RADIO EQUIPMENT capable of monitoring PUBLIC SAFETY FREQUENCIES

And, then, only incidentally. A ham receiver made to be able to follow 800 MHz digital trunking systems is still illegal in some areas.

And that SCANNERS DO NOT apply to this waiver. And the reason why the FCC did it was because they didn't require manufactures to limit the reception capability to amateur bands only.

Not exactly. It's difficult to design a receiver that can receive 449.995 MHz, but not 450.005 MHz.

 

[K5MAR]

It's difficult to design a receiver that can receive 449.995 MHz, but not 450.005 MHz.

Actually, for what it's worth, it's not. Witness the Radio Shack HTX-202 & 404. Two of the most rock-solid ham HTs ever made, and they won't go out of band.

Mark S.

 

[xusmarine1979]

Well, I think it all comes down to location, location, location. If an officer thinks you intend to use the device for something illegal then by all means. It also depends on how you talk to the officer as well. If someone was rude or gave me an attitude then I'd gladly issue them some "invotations". If they acted like a lady or gentleman then I'd treat them as one and just give a warning.

I think somebody mentioned in another post that if you think you might get hassled in a certain area about it, just take the thing out until you leave the area. Ya'll need to quit getting on each other's nerves about these opinions. For something like this I'd just look it up for the certain area I'd be going to.

I think that if most areas are that worried about people hearing them over the radio then they should encrypt that traffic, or use a phone.

 

[nexus]

I can't believe you people are nitpicking on an incorrect choice of words. The question was asked and I provided him the answer he needed, damn drop it already. :?

 

[DaveNF2G]

And, then, only incidentally. A ham receiver made to be able to follow 800 MHz digital trunking systems is still illegal in some areas.

Really? Where and why?

 

[DaveNF2G]

That is almost but not quite true.

Even if it is totally legal to carry your ham equipment in any state, some police agencies are still arresting hams for having scanners. There is no definitive word from the FCC or the federal courts on whether such arrests are valid or not.

According to a link in the State Scanner page of your friend Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH, "People v. Beatson" exonerated Beatson in 1997 and he settled his law suit against the arresting officer and Suffolk County NYPD out of court. Is NY still arresting amateurs with scanners in vehicles?

Yes.

Rather than re-hashing all of the research and documentation, I invite anyone interested in the legal situation in New York to read my article about the subject. Some of the legalities, especially as they deal with the intersection of federal and state law, apply anywhere in the United States.

http://nf2g.com/scannist/VTL397.html describes the article and how you can get it.

 

[loumaag]

This topic comes up every so often and normally it can run it's course just like every other topic that gets raised by someone new. However, there is no reason to continue to hash this out with the tone this topic is heading in, so this is now closed!