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FCC issues advisory against the import, sale and use of unauthorized UHF/VHF two way radios

FCC Enforcement Advisory Banner

The FCC issued an enforcement advisory today against the import, sale and use of unauthorized VHF/UHF two way radios effective immediately. The advisory reiterated that non-compliant radios can not be imported, sold, advertised or operated by anyone in the United States.

The advisory was issued September 24, 2018 and implies that a crackdown on cheap, imported radios is imminent. The FCC warned that violators will be subject to penalties, including monetary fines up to $19,639 per day during the violation and up to $147,290 for an ongoing violation.

The "crack-down" began in early August when the FCC went after an Amazon seller of a variant of the immensely popular Baofeng UV-5R, or more specifically, the UV-5R V2+. The FCC issued a cease and desist order to this seller, making it clear that they considered the UV-5R V2+ to be non-compliant. We discussed this at length in episode 126 of The Two Way Radio Show podcast.

The latest FCC enforcement advisory points out several examples that would violate the commission's rules, most of which refer to use of these radios on business or Land Mobile frequencies. Specifically:

- The ability to transmit on public safety and/or other unauthorized channels. Some radios have the ability to transmit on a wide range of frequencies, for example 400-512 MHz. Within this range are frequencies that are reserved for government and public safety use and the radio should prohibit transmission on these. It was absent from this advisory, but the cease and desist mentioned above points out that the UV-5R should not allow the programming of frequencies directly from the keypad by an end user.

- The ability to transmit using wideband. Several years ago the FCC mandated that radios operating on land mobile frequencies must support a maximum of 12.5 kHz bandwidth. Devices that support 25 kHz were prohibited.

- Radio devices modified after they are FCC approved. After a radio is approved by the FCC, if changes are made to the radio it generally needs to go through the approval process again.

- Radio products marketed for Ham/Amateur use that are capable of transmitting outside Amateur frequency bands. Radios intended for use by Amateur Radio operators do not require the typical FCC approval process that business radios require. However, these radios must be locked down to only amateur bands. For example, an amateur radio cannot also transmit on business, GMRS or MURS frequencies.

The Enforcement Bureau of the FCC noted a substantial number UHF/VHF radios marketed, sold and used in the United States that are not FCC certified or compliant with the rules. These radios are capable of operation on multiple bands across multiple radio services for which they are not certified, increasing the risk of interference to authorized or licensed entities and operations, such as federal government operations and private licensed users. Devices that do not meet the requirements and are not FCC certified for use on these radio services are in direct violation of the rules and should not be used by anyone, unless the user is an amateur radio operator.

An amateur radio operator, or ham, is the only exception to this requirement, provided the radio is only capable of operating on frequencies reserved for amateur radio operation. However, the operator must have a valid amateur radio license to operate the radio and must only operate it according to the FCC rules.

Our Plan of Action

As we mentioned in our podcast, once the cease and desist was issued to the Baofeng seller, we started taking steps to ensure that all of the radios that we sell are compliant. The advisory issued today is actually helpful to us, as it provides specifics on what would be considered non-compliant.

We currently carry several import radios and market them to Amateur Radio operators. We are now working with the manufacturers of these radios to have all models that we carry locked down to the ham bands only (144-148, 222-225, 420-450 MHz). Some radios will be able to be updated soon with firmware changes, others will be closed out and updated models ordered as they are made available.

What is the Impact?

Because we market these products to amateur radio operators, we are more in touch with how this will impact those users. There are certainly users who love the fact that they can have a single radio programmed for their work frequencies and also their ham repeaters. We've also heard of users programming these radios for use on the GMRS. If the FCC is successful, this will soon no longer be an option, although it technically never should have been one.

Perhaps we'll see many popular radio models re-issued with the same hardware in ham or GMRS only versions. The digital models will likely also have a business radio edition.

We may also see many of these import radios disappear altogether. Some radios are sold on Amazon at very low prices and they are clearly marketed to businesses, but they only support analog operation. Becoming FCC certified isn't going to be an option for these radios, since the FCC is now requiring most radios to essentially support digital operations in order to be granted approval.

Read the complete FCC Enforcement Advisary 2018-03 for details.

 

 

14 thoughts on “FCC issues advisory against the import, sale and use of unauthorized UHF/VHF two way radios”

  • pcradio

    Rick,
    Please do the right thing and use your business and reputation to lobby against this kind of law. It is not logical. The technology allows us to use one radio, be within rules, and therefore no need to hike into the woods with three radios on your belt. Thank you for doing the right thing.

    Reply
  • max

    Really Sir you sound like an idiot??There a reason for having a FCC license and if you cant figure that out then you need to spend some time and educate yourself.FCC test is not all that hard these days .I have heard 10 year old boys and girls with an Extra class lic. operating one the bands better than the adults.. ???

    Reply
  • Stephen Rozumny
    Stephen Rozumny January 18, 2020 at 5:12 pm

    I have been using business band radio frequencies for 20 years, and never got one complaint about what radio or frequencies I have used. I have never once been fcc licensed. I have tried hundreds of times of getting my ham license, and failed. Taking pre test exams on the net with no success at all. I think that going through all of this math, and understanding about radio waves bouncing of of the clouds or whatever you call it is a waist of time. I feel like this idea of trying to learn all of this stuff really doesn't make sense to me. The way I see it, as long as you know common sense rules, you should be fine. Using radio equipment with respect to other users, should also be considered. But if you can't do that, then maybe you shouldn't have any radio equipment at all. Like I have said, I have used it for years with no complaint from any one at all. I use my radio equipment for law enforcement purposes, neighbor Hood watches, and so on. Ham license should be easier to get with basic hand knowledge, of how to turn it on and what to say, more than math, English, science and all of that other jazz. I understand that some things need to be considered, but do we really need to know about RF radio signals bouncing off of clouds? Or do we really need to know what meters are in what frequencies?
    I don't see that being useful!

    Reply
  • Mike W.

    According to Miklor the Baofeng 888s is also part 90 certified for commercial frequencies. ZP5BF-888S Is the FCC ID.

    Reply
  • Mike W

    The Baofeng 888s is also Part 90 certified for business use. Here’s the certificate. https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/tcb/reports/Tcb731GrantForm.cfm?mode=COPY&RequestTimeout=500&tcb_code=&application_id=SH25rkP7lF2PVYZb3cklng%3D%3D&fcc_id=ZP5BF-888S

    Reply
  • Tom

    The Baofeng UV-82C is the only model has part 90 certification. As long as the end user is properly licensed and the radio is programmed correctly (only to allow licensed frequencies by channel numbers and the VFO is locked out) you are good to go.

    Reply
  • Paul Brown

    Honestly, I will be continuing to use my Baofeng radios because they are versatile and affordable. It's nice to be able to have one radio that I can use at work on the business band for work, marine band for our boat, 2M and 70cm bands for amateur radio, as well as the FRS and GMRS channels to communicate with people while hiking and camping. The difference with me doing this is that I program it to use 1 watt on business and FRS because the max wattage allowed is 2 watts for most channels, so I'm actually transmitting under the official guidelines. I honestly don't see any issue with doing this because I am following the rules as far as the power level and bandwidth is concerned on those bands. Besides, if someone wants to go and blast on FRS channels at 1,000 watts, they will do it anyway regardless of what the law says.

    Like I said, I will continue using it for these purposes because I am not harming anyone in doing so. It's not like I'm going out and transmitting on 50 watts on an FRS channel with my Baofeng mobile radio, so why is there even a problem. All that this FCC change is doing is crippling new amateur radio operators because of high equipment costs. Honestly, I wouldn't have even become an operator last year if it wasn't for the Baofeng radios. I am a college student and don't have that much money, so this was literally the only way that I could join. It's a dying sport, and if it is to be saved then the FCC needs to reconsider their change to policy so that new people can test the waters on cheaper equipment before venturing into the more expensive gear. But even if they don't change it, I will still continue using my Baofengs because of the convenience of being able to use it on multiple radio services on one affordable device.

    Also, It's not like the FCC is going to catch me, because I'm transmitting within the allotted wattages anyway, so they won't even know what equipment I'm using. I'm not causing any problems, so is there really a problem? No there is not.

    Reply
  • Dan Stewart

    I know several FD and EMS services and some schools that use these radios on channels they hold licenses for. If they hold an FCC license and are not interfering with anyone can they continue to use? The cost is what allowed some of these services to be able to afford new radios?

    Reply
  • […] the recent uncertainty surrounding the FCC and import radios, TYT has made a decision to ship all of their radios locked down to the 150-160 MHz VHF and 450-460 […]

    Reply
  • Mike

    How do you lock your radios down to the ham bands only? Can they be unlocked by the user?

    Reply
  • Fred Simon

    Am I correct in what I hear that I cannot purchase or use a Baogeng UV5R v2+ on the Ham bands since it only has an FCC Part 90 certification?

    Reply
    • Rick

      Hi Fred, to clarify, no type acceptance is needed to operate a radio on the ham bands. Therefore, you should be able to use a Baofeng UV-5R or variants such as the V2+ on the amateur bands only. The FCC advisory is warning users against using these radios on other services for which they are not type accepted, such as FRS, GMRS, MURS or marine bands. These radios are not specifically FCC approved for use on those bands, and clearly violate the rules and limitations on a couple of them. The problem is, a lot of folks are using the UV-5R V2+ and other unapproved models on these services in violation of the FCC rules, and it's causing interference and other issues with those who are authorized to use those bands and services.

      As long as you are a licensed ham operator and are using your Baofeng radio only on the ham bands and frequencies for which you are licensed, you should be fine.

      Reply
  • Brandon

    I had a feeling this was coming. I understand why though, you basically cannot trust everyone to not transmit on frequencies for which they are not authorized. However, I must say I never became licensed for amateur radio until these radios became more affordable. I must admit what put me over the top to get back into radio, was the ability to scan, and transmit all within one device. Some of us just cannot afford a scanner and another radio for transmitting as well. Its unfortunate people like myself who have enough sense not to transmit on frequencies for which we are not authorized, are going to be stuck with a device locked to the ham bands. Here is were I have questions though. The FCC left some of what they said up for interpretation. “if a device is capable of operating only on frequencies that the FCC has allocated for use by Amateur Radio Service licensees, it does not require FCC equipment authorization” Okay simple enough if a radio is shipped to the USA, and is locked to the ham bands no need for part 90 certification. The obvious requirement is you be an amateur radio operator, and follow FCC part 97 rules. “If a two-way VHF/UHF radio is capable of operating outside of the amateur frequency bands, it cannot be imported, advertised, sold, or operated within the United States without an FCC equipment certification.” Here is where it gets interesting for me, I own a KG-UV6D that indeed has an FCC ID and is part 90 certified accordingly. As there are several other makes of these radios that are technically part 90 certified as well. So, my question would be is my KG-UV6D legal for use as long as I only operate on the amateur radio band? If I purchase another radio, for example the KG-D901 would it be locked to the ham bands or open since it is part 90 certified for UHF? There is no simple fix for this problem that is going to make everyone happy, but requiring customers to prove their licensed for amateur radio before they are sold a radio could be a start. Although I am sure some would oppose that as well.

    Reply

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