Unfortunately, the FCC no longer is a technically inclined agency. It is now "top heavy" with lawyers and bureaucrats. In fact, that has been the case for several decades. Personally, I have been involved with telecommunications, primarily commercial two-way radio, microwave radio, and data infrastructure for 50-years as well as having held an amateur radio operator's license for basically 56-years. I was a technician for the Motorola Service Station in Atlanta, Georgia, my junior year at Georgia Tech, and then was employed directly by Motorola to establish, and then manage, their very first company owned portable / pager repair facility away from the Schamburg, Illinois, plant. Then, a couple of years with Collins Radio, 10-years owning the Motorola reconditioned equipment center for the south central United States, light manufacturing for the two-way radio industry, and, finally, over 25-years as a telecommunications consultant. As such, I am very aware of the certification process. In 1989, recommended by Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, I was nominated, under President George H. W. Bush, for appointment as one of the FCC Commissioners. This was because of my experience with the commercial two-way radio and microwave radio industry, not because I was an amateur radio operator. I made it until the final round of approval. The final round was all Washington, DC, attorneys, no one with any technical background. Although I was not selected, I definitely feel honored to have even been nominated! Since the 47 CFR Part 95 radio services do not have any bearing on the 47 CFR Part 97 Amateur Radio Service, certification of radios for those services really doesn't have anything to do with amateur radio. The only thing that amateur radio operators need to remember is that amateur radio equipment does NOT meet the certification requirements to be used on any frequencies that require certificated (new "buzz word" for "type accepted") equipment. There are no regulations against receiving frequencies outside of the amateur radio bands (except for the cellular telephone frequencies). However, it is definitely against the law to transmit on those frequencies. For those amateur radio operators caught transmitting, using non certificated equipment, there can be serious penalties including the following: Fines of up to $11,000 per day per radio used for transmitting. Confiscation of the the equipment. Loss of one's amateur radio operator's license and not being allowed to get another one for the rest of their life! Under certain circumstances, imprisonment (means "go to jail"). Because amateur radio operators certified, by signing their application for an amateur radio operator's license, that they know, and will obey, all laws and regulations concerning the use of transmitting equipment, the FCC definitely comes down "harder" on amateur radio operators who violate these regulations than those persons who are not licensed. It is not illegal to own equipment that is not certificated for use outside of the amateur radio bands. It is illegal to transmit, on frequencies outside of the amateur radio bands using that equipment. It is also not illegal to sell, trade, give away, such equipment to another individual or to a company specializing in the sale of amateur radio equipment. It is illegal to sell, commercially, such banned equipment. Also, it is perfectly legal for a licensed amateur radio operator to modify, "re-tune", etc., such equipment for use on frequencies within the amateur radio bands. In addition, it is legal for an amateur radio operator to use such equipment as an intermediate frequency for amateur radio equipment such as transmitting converters and transverters. However, care must be taken to prevent such signals from reaching the antenna system. Glen, K9STH AMSAT 239 / LM 463
Website: http://k9sth.net From: Clint Bradford clintbradford@mac.com To: Glen Zook gzook@yahoo.com Cc: AMSAT BB amsat-bb@AMSAT.Org Sent: Friday, April 17, 2015 8:24 PM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] AnyTone TERMN-8R Terminated by FCC
The FCC - for the past about 20 years - would never have consciously allowed MURS and FRS and GMRS in one HT.
There are several factors which makes this AnyTone series non-compliant.