Monsterduc

Not that I had intended on bringing up the legal side of things, but I think this video from @OffRoaderX sums up the FCC's stance on non-compliant radio enforcement pretty well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh9rV49_i70 Thanks to everyone who's shared their thoughts so far.

Disclaimer: I do not condone transmitting illegally. This is a technical discussion question intended to bring better understanding to if/why radio compliance and FCC certification matters. While looking for a new GMRS HT, I noticed a pattern of manufacturers creating what appears to be two models of the same radio but with different capabilities. For example, the Wouxun KG-Q10G and KG-Q10H appear to be the same exact radio, with the exception that the G model is locked down to only transmitting on the GMRS frequencies (and cut a few HAM features), whereas the H model is (presumably) not locked down in such a way. The same thing could be said about the infamous Baofeng UV-5R versus the UV-5G. I recently also got a little interest in MURS and thought it would be neat to have a radio that could transmit on both GMRS and MURS frequencies. Bundle that with a few business radio frequencies that I’m licensed to use, and now I’m searching for a radio that can transmit on all of the above (although I don’t believe one exists legally as explained below). It would be nice to have one radio that could do it all instead of having to carry 3 separate radios, one for each application. Now let’s talk about the FCC rules. After reviewing many convoluted forum posts about part-95 acceptance and reading the rules themselves, I came to the conclusion that such multi-band radios exist but could not transmit legally – mostly HAM radios. This is because part 95 specifies that any compliant radio can only transmit on part 95 frequencies. (Yes, I know there are legacy part 90/95 compliant radios plus multiple revisions of the part 95 rules, but let’s just ignore those for now.) My real question boils down to this: blatantly ignoring the fact that there is some (il)legality involved in transmitting on a radio that is noncompliant with part 95… Are there any reasons someone wouldn’t just go out and buy the non-GMRS version of a radio and program it to “masquerade” as a GMRS radio? What’s wrong with programming a HAM radio for 462.6125 MHz, setting the bandwidth to 20kHz, limiting the power to 5W, and pulling the PTT trigger? I’m sure we all know someone who’s used a UV-5R or other non-compliant HT to talk GMRS/FRS/MURS/etc. Why shouldn’t (or should) someone go out and buy a Wouxun KG-Q10H or Baofeng UV-5R instead of their GMRS counterparts and use it in a non-compliant fashion as their all-in-one HT? I’m looking for more of a nuts-and-bolts explanation of frequencies, bandwidths, transmit power, etc. and less of an explanation of the part 95 rules – it has already been well established that transmitting on GMRS frequencies with an unapproved radio is illegal. Again: I do not condone transmitting illegally. This is a technical discussion question intended to bring better understanding to if/why radio compliance and FCC certification matters.