"Illegal" radios

[UncleYoda]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

Are there any regulations regarding distribution and sale?  I don’t know of any.  If I’m correct, that would mean an addition of regulations.  A person should never request more regulation.

Yes.  All the regs that refer to what is required for certification (bandwidth, deviation etc).  (Assuming of course that no radio nuts are building their own GMRS radios.)  Although it's the manufacturer that controls that, vendors have to sell radios that meet U.S. requirements.  Enforcement against Baofeng radios targeted vendors or importers.  Our responsibility is to just use certified radios and not modify them in a way that breaks the rules so we don't negate the certification .

[marcspaz]

1 hour ago, OffRoaderX said:

I'm old enough to remember when this thread was about pre-programmed frequencies and settings.

I'm reading this thread, thinking the same thing.... while wearing this shirt...

 

[SteveShannon]

55 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

Yes.  All the regs that refer to what is required for certification (bandwidth, deviation etc).  (Assuming of course that no radio nuts are building their own GMRS radios.)  Although it's the manufacturer that controls that, vendors have to sell radios that meet U.S. requirements.  Enforcement against Baofeng radios targeted vendors or importers.  Our responsibility is to just use certified radios and not modify them in a way that breaks the rules so we don't negate the certification .

Please provide specific citations about distribution and sales.  Certainly regulations prohibit operating non-certified transmitters for GMRS, but I see nothing in part 95 about distribution and sales. I might have missed it. 

[UncleYoda]

43 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Please provide specific citations

My initial reaction was hell no, do your own research; I'm just here for discussion, not to provide legal documents or research papers.  But anyway, this is the most obvious and other sections supply details about specific requirements:

 

§ 95.391 Manufacturing, importation, and sales of non-certified
equipment prohibited.
No person shall manufacture, import, sell, or offer for sale non-certified equipment for the Personal Radio
Services except as provided for in §§ 2.803(c)(2)(i) and 2.1204(a)(11) of this chapter. See § 302(b) of the
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302a(b)). See also part 2, subpart I (§ 2.801 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing marketing of radiofrequency devices; part 2, subpart K (§ 2.1201 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing import conditions.
[86 FR 52100, Sept. 20, 2021]

 

And besides what in the regs, it's how FCC chooses to enforce some things.  They did go after a vendor in Texas and I think an importer in California over the UV5R and similar radios, probably back around 2017 give or take.  It even affected BTWR; they stopped selling them, then started back briefly and quit again for other reasons.

[SteveShannon]

4 minutes ago, UncleYoda said:

My initial reaction was hell no, do your own research; I'm just here for discussion, not to provide legal documents or research papers.  But anyway, this is the most obvious and other sections supply details about specific requirements:

 

§ 95.391 Manufacturing, importation, and sales of non-certified
equipment prohibited.
No person shall manufacture, import, sell, or offer for sale non-certified equipment for the Personal Radio
Services except as provided for in §§ 2.803(c)(2)(i) and 2.1204(a)(11) of this chapter. See § 302(b) of the
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302a(b)). See also part 2, subpart I (§ 2.801 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing marketing of radiofrequency devices; part 2, subpart K (§ 2.1201 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing import conditions.
[86 FR 52100, Sept. 20, 2021]

 

And besides what in the regs, it's how FCC chooses to enforce some things.  They did go after a vendor in Texas and I think an importer in California over the UV5R and similar radios, probably back around 2017 give or take.  It even affected BTWR; they stopped selling them, then started back briefly and quit again for other reasons.

Thank you!  I agree that existing regulations should be either enforced or repealed. 

[marcspaz]

2 hours ago, UncleYoda said:

My initial reaction was hell no, do your own research; I'm just here for discussion, not to provide legal documents or research papers.  But anyway, this is the most obvious and other sections supply details about specific requirements:

 

§ 95.391 Manufacturing, importation, and sales of non-certified
equipment prohibited.
No person shall manufacture, import, sell, or offer for sale non-certified equipment for the Personal Radio
Services except as provided for in §§ 2.803(c)(2)(i) and 2.1204(a)(11) of this chapter. See § 302(b) of the
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 302a(b)). See also part 2, subpart I (§ 2.801 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing marketing of radiofrequency devices; part 2, subpart K (§ 2.1201 et seq.) of this chapter for rules
governing import conditions.
[86 FR 52100, Sept. 20, 2021]

 

And besides what in the regs, it's how FCC chooses to enforce some things.  They did go after a vendor in Texas and I think an importer in California over the UV5R and similar radios, probably back around 2017 give or take.  It even affected BTWR; they stopped selling them, then started back briefly and quit again for other reasons.

 

Rugged Radio got a NoNo letter from the FCC for selling 6 different radios that RR advertised as being compliant and were not.  Even with such gross disregard and massive exposure, they still did not get a fine.  

 

I don't know how bad you have mess up before the FCC gives a damn about GMRS violations, but the bar is obviously very high.