Amcrest Industries, the corporation behind the
"baofengradio.us" website, has been cited by the FCC for alleged
illegal marketing of the Baofeng UV-5R handheld transceiver, since it was
capable of being tuned to "restricted frequencies" using external
controls. These frequencies, according to the FCC, include those reserved for
aviation, satellite and federal government use, which are not permitted under
the radio's Part 90 land mobile authorization. The August 1 order directed
Amcrest to stop marketing the UV-5R V2+ on its website until it can certify
that the radio has been brought into compliance with all FCC rules, and
threatened fines of nearly $20,000 per day for non-compliance.
While the FCC noted that Amcrest is only one of
several authorized importers of Baofeng radios, the restrictions in the
citation apply only to Amcrest and say nothing about other retailers. In
addition, there is no reference to the radios' use on the amateur bands. As
this was written in early August, Amcrest still had the UV-5R V2+ showing on
its website, with orders directed to Amazon.com.