You've got to be careful here though. While the UV5R Mini is FCC type certified by the FCC under the Part 97 rules for the amateur radio service (under the Code of Federal Regulations), it is apparently NOT type certified under the Part 95 rules which govern GMRS. This makes the use of the UV5R Mini on GMRS technically illegal in the US. (If you think I'm incorrect about the UV5R Mini not being type accepted for GMRS please let me know. I didn't find any certification language on the FCC's website (but instead got the message that no documentation had been filed for the ID code I had entered (which is printed on the inside of the radio under the battery). WTH??? While the Baofengs are inexpensive, it would be great to save a buck if I could use a single radio under Part 97 and under Part 95. So far, it looks like that won't happen.
It gets more confusing, Jeff Steinkamp N7YG, a member of the Baofeng Owners Club on Facebook posted in May 2024 that:
The majority of the Chinese radios coming into this country, with the exception of those specifically marketed for GMRS or MURS, have a Part 15 certification only. However, those radios can be used in the Amateur Radio service under Part 97 because that regulation requires the licensee to operate the radio in accordance with all aspects of that regulation to include monitoring primary emissions and that all harmonic emissions meet the maximum amplitude requirements of the regulation. With the exception of some RF amplifiers, there is no requirement under Part 97 for equipment to be type accepted under Part 97. This is why you see a lot of equipment that has been retired from the Part 90 world end up functioning in the Part 97 world. A licensed amateur can take a radio that is type accepted under Part 95E, hack it to work in the amateur bands and legally use that radio. However, that act will nullify the Part 95 Acceptance and the radio cannot be returned to Part 95 without that specific device being resubmitted for approval with a complete new set of documentation and test reports.
Jeff's post can be read in its entirety here.
What all this seems to imply is that it may be legal to operate a certified GMRS radio in the amateur radio service...but not the other way around. Or as the radio programmers at RT Systems put it, "while many radios from the amateur market will operate on the GMRS frequencies if they are modified...by FCC rules, an amateur radio modified for use on the GMRS frequencies is not operating legally."
For the record, there's no way I'm potentially violating FCC rules and putting my long held amateur license in jeopardy. If and when I decide to transmit on GMRS frequencies, I'll buy a type accepted GMRS radio.
GMRS is completely different and separate from the amateur radio service. (A discussion of the differences between the Amateur Radio Service and GMRS can be found here.) A license is required to use GMRS, but unlike the amateur radio service, no testing is required. The procedure is to file an application for the ten year license by paying a $35 fee and filing through the FCC's online Universal License System (ULS).
Anyway, I decided to go for a GMRS license and probably buy a type accepted GMRS radio down the road. Here's where it got tricky. The FCC's online system has always been somewhat notorious in the amateur radio community for not being "user-friendly" and I've always been a little smug about what I thought was my ability to navigate around the ULS system. I always had no need to resort to filing assistance from private third parties (which basically exist to do the heavy lifting involving FCC filing, albeit for an additional fee).
Well, it appears that I finally met my match and couldn't accomplish the simple task of filing for a GMRS license. I was dumped into an endless loop of password resets, FRN (FCC Registration Number associations, secret and temporary number codes, etc.) To be fair, the FCC itself is still recovering from the recent government shutdown, and has posted notices to that effect.
After contacting the FCC's Help Desk , I received a temporary password from the FCC's Help Desk which enabled me to change my password and "re-associate" my FRN number. (Still with me?) I was then able to file (I think) a GMRS application online through the FCC ULS. Everything was humming along fine until I started getting declination messages regarding several valid credit cards I had tried. I subsequently received a message from one of the card companies stating that the $35 charge for the GMRS fee had gone through. The FCC subsequently responded and rather vaguely implied that the application is pending so hopefully I'll get a GMRS license issued in a day or so. Meanwhile, the ULS refuses to let me check on the application status using either my FRN or the filing number.
This journey is not for the faint of heart.
11/20/25 UPDATE: The FCC granted me a GMRS license with the callsign WSKI989 effective today, thus making GMRS available to my entire family. That said, hell will probably freeze over before my wife will even look at a radio. 😉
No comments:
Post a Comment