[NCARC] From today's ARRL Newsletter - ARRL, FCC Discussing Issue of Uncertified Imported VHF/UHF Transceivers

[Bob Slovick]

ARRL, FCC Discussing Issue of Uncertified Imported VHF/UHF Transceivers

ARRL has taken a minor exception to the wording of a September 24 FCC
Enforcement Advisory pertaining to the importation, marketing, and
sale of VHF and UHF transceivers and is in discussion with FCC
personnel to resolve the matter. The Enforcement Advisory was in
response to the importation into the US of certain radio products that
are not FCC certified for use in any radio service, but identified as
Amateur Radio equipment.

"While much of this equipment is actually usable on amateur bands, the
radios are also capable of operation on non-amateur frequencies
allocated to radio services that require the use of equipment that has
been FCC certified," ARRL said. "Such equipment is being marketed
principally to the general public via mass e-marketers and not to
Amateur Radio licensees."

ARRL said the upshot is that the general public has been purchasing
these radios in large quantities, and they are being used on the air
by unlicensed individuals.

"Radio amateurs have complained of increased, unlicensed use of
amateur allocations by people who are clearly unlicensed and
unfamiliar with Amateur Radio operating protocols," ARRL said. But
while it supports the general tenor and intent of the Enforcement
Advisory, ARRL said it disagrees with the FCC on one point.

"In several places, the Enforcement Advisory makes the point that
'anyone importing, advertising, or selling such noncompliant devices
should stop immediately, and anyone owning such devices should not use
them,'" ARRL pointed out. "The Advisory broadly prohibits the 'use' of
such radios, but our view is that there is no such prohibition
relative to licensed Amateur Radio use -- entirely within amateur
allocations -- of a radio that may be capable of operation in
non-amateur spectrum, as long as it is not actually used to transmit
in non-amateur spectrum.

ARRL has had extensive discussions about this issue with FCC Wireless
Bureau and Enforcement Bureau staff, and those discussions are
ongoing.

"It is important to protect the flexibility of the Amateur Service as
essentially an experimental radio service, but it is also very
important to stop the unlawful importation and marketing of illegal
radios in the United States and the use of those radios by unlicensed
persons," ARRL maintained. "We will keep our members informed as our
discussions with FCC on this subject continue."