The FCC has issued a broad warning to importers,
retailers and users of certain "low-cost two-way VHF/UHF radios that do
not comply with the FCC's (equipment certification) rules … and are frequently
imported into the United States." These include some brands and models
that are popular among hams. The FCC points out that devices that operate
"only on frequencies that the
FCC has allocated for use by Amateur Radio Service licensees, it does not
require FCC equipment authorization, and an amateur licensee may use his or her
license to operate such radios." However, the same paragraph notes that
"(i)f a two-way VHF/UHF radio is capable of operating outside of the
amateur frequency bands, it cannot be imported, advertised, sold, or operated with the United States
without an FCC equipment certification." (emphasis added)
This leaves hams in a quandary – the traditional
FCC view on radios capable of operating outside the amateur bands has been that
they're OK for hams to use within the
amateur bands and on authorized frequencies outside the ham bands, such as
those used for MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System) operation. This new memo,
however, suggests that no one, including hams, may legally use these radios at
all, if they are capable of operating outside the ham bands. The ARRL says it
is in discussions with FCC enforcement officials to try to clarify the
situation.
