Are these little Baofeng's outlaw radios? Well keep watching for more
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Well, the ubiquitous Baofeng radio if you're active on VHF, and uhf
Chances, are you probably own one of these and with a purchase price of around $30
You really get a lot of radio for your money
But if you follow amateur radio news
You might have seen that the ARRL
Recently reported that the FCC issued a citation and order for the illegal marketing of unauthorized radio frequency devices
Against amcrest industries LLC the company that imports Baofeng and radios into the u.s
So what does this mean? Are these radios now illegal to use are they contraband?
Will the feds come knocking on my door if I transmit with one of those?
Well, the short answer is no but let's dig into this story
So back in 2012 Amcrest industries began importing Baofeng UV-5R handheld radios at that time
The the radio had a type except was type accepted for FCC part 90 regulations
That means the radio was to comply with the rules for part 90 of the private land mobile radio service
devices that are part 90 compliant include radios that could be used for business and industrial use and the public safety and
having part 90 certification means amcrest could market the radio for business use
But in order to have a part 90 certification of the radio would have to have specific power limits
Frequency ranges and not be user programmable from the front panel Bao Fung
Notably the UV five are the UV v ra and the UV v ar e did not comply with those rules and on march 13th
2013 the FCC enforcement Bureau received a complaint alleging that these models were capable of transmitting on land mobile frequencies
Using external controls and operating at power levels above those specified by its equipment authorization
Well, the wheels of government moved slowly and so in October 2017
The enforcement Bureau's spectrum enforcement division sent a letter of inquiry to amcrest relating those allegations
Which follows up and with follow-ups required in January and February of 2018?
It should be noted that Amcrest did follow up with the inquiries in a timely manner
in their response amcrest stated that the company did begin to
market for models of the UV-5R series in June of 2013
But ceased doing so of three of those models a few years later
Although it is noted that they failed to remove those models from the company's website until february of 2018
currently amcrest markets only 1 UV-5R model and that is the UV-5R V2+
The UV-5R V2+ is incapable of operating at a power level above its specified equipment authorization
but the model still could operate on
Restricted frequencies, so the company was instructed to
for all modify all of their inventory currently in order and in the future so that it will only operate on
145 to 155 megahertz and 400 to 520 megahertz
So what does this all mean?
Well, it boils down to the radio is being granted FCC part 90 certification FCC part 90 is the private land mobile radio
Service part 90 is a licensed radio service and along with power and operating restrictions. It also has pools
pools of specific frequencies and
Equipment that the equipment can operate on a part ninety radio can't operate on the aviation band on maritime bands
satellite communications services and federal and military allocations
the UV-5R was essentially an open radio meaning it could transmit anywhere between
136 and 174 megahertz and 400 - 480 megahertz
secondly the UV 5r was capable operating at one and four watts and
It's equipment authorization permitted it to operate at no more than one point
Seven eight watts on most permitted frequencies
So the radio had no such limitation and could do four watts anywhere. This was rectified in the UV-5R V2+
So the citation requests that AM press cease marketing the UV-5R
until the device is brought into compliance and
States and writing that that the models do comply with the applicable FCC part. Ninety rules
So can these radios be used on the amateur radio bands?
Yes, they can
The amateur radio
Service is regulated by FCC part 97 and the rules do not require a part 90 certified radio to operate on those bands
So you can use your older baofeng radios
144 to 148 megahertz to meter band and 432 for 50 megahertz 70 centimeter bands without fear of being in violation
But if you have a newer UV5R V2+ you're gonna notice a slight problem
Notably the radio will not transmit below 145 megahertz
So that means you won't be able to use it on frequencies
in the 144 - 145 megahertz range that would include 144.39 Mhz for APRS and
Also any two meter repeater that has an input frequency lower than 145
megahertz
The radio also won't be able to receive any frequency between 155 and 174 megahertz
That means that you can can't use the UV-5R V2+ as a Public Safety Scanner
railroad scanner no weather receive radio receiver
Okay, what about MURS, FRS and gmrs
well, this is where things get a little bit murky the multi-use Radio Service the Family Radio Service and the general mobile radio service are
All regulated by FCC part 95 rules a part. Ninety radio can be used on gmrs
But only part 95 radios
Certified radios can be used on FRS and M urs
Will you get in trouble for using a night non-type accepted radio? Probably not the FCC doesn't appear to be interested in
Nonce non-type accepted use on a personal level unless that use is causing harmful and missional malicious interference
to a licensed radio service
So the final word, I believe the amcrest desire to have a part 90
Certification but failure to comply with that certification resulted in this citation
There was a there are a flood of non-compliant radios on the market that are in the night and by non-compliant
I mean that they're capable of operating
outside of their intended purpose for example radios marketed
On the amateur radio service you can operate outside those bounds did amcrest had have a desire to sell radios
to public safety business and industry
Yeah, could this be the reason why they sought that part 90 certification?
You know, I don't think any
Commercial user would seriously consider a $30 bow phone for their communication needs now
I think it was convenient to seek the certification than to re-engineer the radio for the US market
Other countries have different radio services rules and regulations in an operation
That might be illegal in the US might be illegal in other parts of the world
This citation could have a chilling effect on radios marketed in the US and we may see
manufacturers tighten up tightening up their
operating frequency bounds
So feel free to use your bow phone on the amateur radio bands as a licensed ham it is legal for you to do so
but these radios are marketed worldwide and ultimately it is up to you to follow all
Rules and regulations set forth by your country's
wireless spectrum regulatory agency well for more amateur radio articles in information, please check out my blog at
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Thanks for watching and 73