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Why are kenwood,icom and yaesu radios not illegal

jazzsinger

Bullshit Buster
Jul 3, 2008
1,750
342
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United Kingdom
Why are kenwood,icom and yaesu radios not illegal yet 10m radios that can be modified for 11m are,yet not only can every icom,yaesu and kenwood be easily and deliberately modified for 11m but also for the 45m civil aviation band and 86m pirate band amongst other illegal to use frequencies including military and god knows what else?

in many cases its easier modifying the big three radios than lower powered 10m radios.

how much in backhanders are kenwood,icom and yaesu paying the fcc to avoid the same grief other companies are getting?

why are no hams complaining about these companies,and why are the hams within the fcc turning their backs to this happening?

seems to me to be one law for one company and a different law for others.
 

Very simple. It is entirely legal for a licensed ham to modify his equipment any way in which he sees fit. It is completley illegal for a cb operator, who is not licensed, to modify his cb in any way.

Note, I did not say that the ham could use his radio outside of the bands allowed by his license class, only that he may modify it to do so if he wishes.
 
Very simple. It is entirely legal for a licensed ham to modify his equipment any way in which he sees fit. It is completley illegal for a cb operator, who is not licensed, to modify his cb in any way.

Note, I did not say that the ham could use his radio outside of the bands allowed by his license class, only that he may modify it to do so if he wishes.

by your reckoning that would make amateur 10m monoband sets legal too.which of course many are not.

the point i'm making is ever since yaesu learned how to put 11m crystals in their sets the big 3 have been deliberately putting 11m in their sets knowing full well what they will be used for,which means the fcc must be getting back handered to turn a blind eye to it as it is contravening their rules.
 
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I thought that Hams can not mod the ham radios to CB band either because it is not legal for them too?

The illegality is not that it's modified so that it can operate on 11M. The illegality occurs IF the ham actually USES the modified rig to transmit on 11M.

The "MARS mod" doesn't just open the transmitter to operate on certain frequencies, it opens it to virtually the whole HF spectrum, whether the components that control bandwidth, spurs and harmonics can operate at this full range of frequencies or not.

It's still the ham's responsibility to operate his station in accordance with the requirements of Part 97 and in accordance with the limits of his license.
 
The big 3 = $$$$$$$$$$$


BS, money has nothing to do with it. Disagree if you want too but it's true. Ranger is the company that has taken the FCC to court on a few occasions and won. Apparently they have the money to do it as well.


by your reckoning that would make amateur 10m monoband sets legal too.which of course mamy are not.

the point i'm making is ever since yaesu learned how to put 11m crystals in their sets the big 3 have been deliberately putting 11m in their sets knowing full well what they will be used for,which means the fcc must be getting back handered to turn a blind eye to it as it is contravening their rules.


You mean from way back when 11m used to be a legal ham band? This subject has been beaten to death on many occasions yet it still keeps coming up. There are reasons to operate a ham rig outside the normal bands. How about driving a home made transverter for one? How about all the different MARS frequencies for another? The other is plain and simple intent. When you mod a "10m" export radio it displays the CB channels. That pretty much shows the real intended use of those radios. If clipping a diode or a wire in a Yaesu, Kenwood, or Icom simply added 11m and the freeband I have no doubt something would be done to disallow that because it shows simple intent. Hams can use military gear or build their own if they want to so making it illegal or even impossible to expand the range of a factory rig is senseless. A lot of CB'ers should be thankfull of that.

This is all a moot point anyway. Haven't you guys heard that the legality of banning these export radios is pretty much a piece of BS legislation and the FCC is close to admitting that it cannot be enforced? Even Ebay has been threatened with action if they continue to pull ads for such "banned" radios.
 
why are no hams complaining about these companies,and why are the hams within the fcc turning their backs to this happening?

Because yaecomwoods are not showing up in places where cb's are sold.
If yaecomwood radios starting being sold at such places, pre-modified and programmed to CB, perhaps then you might see some action.

There is no law describing what characteristics of "can easily be altered to activate that capacity" makes a radio intended to operate on CB. Only a letter from the Office of General Council exists. Such memos from OGC will not hold up in court. This applies equally up to both kenwood, icom, or RCI or Galaxy.
 
The illegality is not that it's modified so that it can operate on 11M. The illegality occurs IF the ham actually USES the modified rig to transmit on 11M.

The "MARS mod" doesn't just open the transmitter to operate on certain frequencies, it opens it to virtually the whole HF spectrum, whether the components that control bandwidth, spurs and harmonics can operate at this full range of frequencies or not.

It's still the ham's responsibility to operate his station in accordance with the requirements of Part 97 and in accordance with the limits of his license.

But if the fcc enters the home of a cber who has a ham radio connected to an antenna and that radio is capable of transmitting at 27 mhz he is automatically presumed to be using it for communication purposes.

Double standards is it not?
 
But if the fcc enters the home of a cber who has a ham radio connected to an antenna and that radio is capable of transmitting at 27 mhz he is automatically presumed to be using it for communication purposes.

Double standards is it not?


But what does he get charged with? I'll put good money he gets charged with operating an unlicensed amateur radio station and nothing to do with CB radio. I base that on the same logic that if he could TX on 27 MHz he can also TX on 14 or 7 MHz as well. Oh...... and on cases in the past.
 
The illegality is not that it's modified so that it can operate on 11M. The illegality occurs IF the ham actually USES the modified rig to transmit on 11M.

The "MARS mod" doesn't just open the transmitter to operate on certain frequencies, it opens it to virtually the whole HF spectrum,...

It's still the ham's responsibility to operate his station in accordance with the requirements of Part 97 and in accordance with the limits of his license.

yep, i have ONE rig that has been opened up for MARS (and the 5 MHz amateur band), but it has NEVER been used on 27MHz.

the key word is "CERTIFICATED".
if the 10 meter export rigs could PASS the CERTIFICATION criteria,then they would be "legal".
 
But if the fcc enters the home of a cber who has a ham radio connected to an antenna and that radio is capable of transmitting at 27 mhz he is automatically presumed to be using it for communication purposes.

Double standards is it not?

I think that would depend upon the signature of the transmission the FCC recorded. If the signature matched the ham radio then (as CK said) they would probably be cited for operating an unlicensed station. If the signature matched a CB radio at that location then they could be cited for an illegal radio and/or an amplifier if one was in use.

the key word is "CERTIFICATED".
if the 10 meter export rigs could PASS the CERTIFICATION criteria,then they would be "legal".

I agree - all Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood radios are approved by the FCC prior to being offered for sale to the public. I'm not aware of any RCI, Galaxy, Connex, etc radios that are submitted to the FCC for approval. That is why they are sold as 'exports' - so they don't have to meet certain specifications. Speaking of turning a blind eye, if the FCC really wanted to clamp down on the 10m export radios don't you think they would just confiscate them in the containers as they came off the ship? :whistle:
 
I agree - all Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood radios are approved by the FCC prior to being offered for sale to the public. I'm not aware of any RCI, Galaxy, Connex, etc radios that are submitted to the FCC for approval. That is why they are sold as 'exports' - so they don't have to meet certain specifications. Speaking of turning a blind eye, if the FCC really wanted to clamp down on the 10m export radios don't you think they would just confiscate them in the containers as they came off the ship? :whistle:

I've said this before; but it bears repeating. The gubment collects import duties on these radio, they collect taxes on the sales (both state & fed), and they know exactly where to find the distributors and sales of these items if they had to shut them down tomorrow. But they don't do that; because they are a taxable 'cash cow'. If the gubment chooses to fight them; they (the 'gubment') will have such a body of evidence against themselves - that any legal action would be a waste of their time and money. Perhaps this is why the gubment doesn't - it makes sense. Based upon taxing/monies collected already.

Some claim that these radios are brought into this country illegally. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We check everything that comes into the US - just to be sure that we can collect every dollar that is able to be grabbed up. Because, that is the way this gubment works. Taxes and import duties fuel it.
 

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