I am interested in learning more about smartphone two way radios. I am trying to determine if they are legal to use in the United States on AT&T and T-Mobile. It looks like the ones I am running across have 2G and 3G bands, but no 4G LTE.
Does anybody know if the transceiver function is legal in the United States for licensed amateur radio use? What I have found so far is most radios in the United States, except amateur radios, require FCC certification (formerly known as type acceptance).
My interest in these would be to have a backup device to supplement our Verizon cell phone in the United States. I would get a Truphone or prepaid AT&T SIM card for service. Both my wife and I are licensed US amateur radio operators, so we would also use these on 70 cm simplex.
When we travel on a cruise ship for vacation, I would intend to use these on board ship for simplex. My understanding is that we would simply need permission from the licensing authority from the country of the ship's registry, which is often Bahamas or Panama.
Anyway, does anybody know which of these has the best specifications? I have ran across Runbo X5, Hummer H6, and Snopow M8. They look good on their websites, but how well do they work in the real world? Are there any other ones that I should be considering?
Does anybody know if the transceiver function is legal in the United States for licensed amateur radio use? What I have found so far is most radios in the United States, except amateur radios, require FCC certification (formerly known as type acceptance).
My interest in these would be to have a backup device to supplement our Verizon cell phone in the United States. I would get a Truphone or prepaid AT&T SIM card for service. Both my wife and I are licensed US amateur radio operators, so we would also use these on 70 cm simplex.
When we travel on a cruise ship for vacation, I would intend to use these on board ship for simplex. My understanding is that we would simply need permission from the licensing authority from the country of the ship's registry, which is often Bahamas or Panama.
Anyway, does anybody know which of these has the best specifications? I have ran across Runbo X5, Hummer H6, and Snopow M8. They look good on their websites, but how well do they work in the real world? Are there any other ones that I should be considering?
