Sunday, August 5, 2018

Baofeng Importer Cited by FCC for Illegal Marketing

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.