Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had chinese instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR
Bob,
Many of those same radios are being sold through legitimate/commercial dealers for FRS/GMRS rigs. For instance, the same Puxing I use for a WIDE1-1 digi was bought in large numbers in the Palm Springs area for backup coms between all the gated communities in case of an earthquake.
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Bob Bruninga Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:49 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Radio Pirates
Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had chinese instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
That is legal ONLY if they have been type accepted by the FCC for those services and at those prices I can almost guarantee they were not.
Joe WB9SBD
The Original Rolling Ball Clock Idle Tyme Idle-Tyme.com http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 1/14/2012 11:03 AM, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
Bob,
Many of those same radios are being sold through legitimate/commercial dealers for FRS/GMRS rigs. For instance, the same Puxing I use for a WIDE1-1 digi was bought in large numbers in the Palm Springs area for backup coms between all the gated communities in case of an earthquake.
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Bob Bruninga Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:49 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Radio Pirates
Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had chinese instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Agreed. However my point was that the intended target is not, necessarily, ham pirates, but people who have a legitimate use, even if the rigs are not up to spec.
In another case where these radios were considered for a major ham project, it required several exchanges with the manufacturer to elicit the specific technical information, 2nd harmonic on 2 meters, that they did in fact not meet the certification claimed. You pretty much needed to know the answer to make them fess up.
One of the very early 2 meter SSB rigs, ca 1970s, used for satellite communications turned out to have a nasty spur on an aircraft ATC frequency. Japanese "rice boxes" were at about the same point that the Chinese rigs are now.
73s,
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Joe Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 12:13 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Radio Pirates
That is legal ONLY if they have been type accepted by the FCC for those services and at those prices I can almost guarantee they were not.
Joe WB9SBD
The Original Rolling Ball Clock Idle Tyme Idle-Tyme.com http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 1/14/2012 11:03 AM, Alan P. Biddle wrote:
Bob,
Many of those same radios are being sold through legitimate/commercial dealers for FRS/GMRS rigs. For instance, the same Puxing I use for a WIDE1-1 digi was bought in large numbers in the Palm Springs area for
backup
coms between all the gated communities in case of an earthquake.
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Bob Bruninga Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:49 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Radio Pirates
Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had
chinese
instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
During the last year's Hurricane in Connecticut, I was listening to Mom's Fire Dept scanner and there was a party harassing the fireman while they were responding to a call...he had a kid or girlfriend in the car you could hear giggling...after trying the tried and true ignoring him for about 15 minutes, the police came down from their 800 frequency to warn him to cease and desist or he was going to jail. That town's fire is on 460 UHF with simple PL..
Buy your all band programmable, off shore radios now, because if this continues they will be banned just like the cellular scanners were.
Roger WA1KAT
On 1/14/2012 11:48 AM, Bob Bruninga wrote:
Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had chinese instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
I would have bought one, Got all the info possible about the guy, and then when got home turned him in to the FCC.
Joe WB9SBD
The Original Rolling Ball Clock Idle Tyme Idle-Tyme.com http://www.idle-tyme.com
On 1/14/2012 10:48 AM, Bob Bruninga wrote:
Went to local flea market today (34F degrees out) for a wwod stove and was shocked to see a guy selling brand-new boxes of VHF and UHF, and Dual band HT's fully programmable from 140 to 170 and 440 to 570 MHz 5 to 7 watts.
He had several brands and some were even dual band. Most boxes had chinese instructions.
Radios were between $65 to $80 each.
I guess I knew that these were available, but now that they are being sold in large quantities at general (non ham) flea markets, I guess the cat is out of the bag.
Bob, WB4APR _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (4)
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Alan P. Biddle -
Bob Bruninga -
Joe -
Roger