The Law (FCC)

[Guest]

Dose the FCC laws say that you can not get a 2m ham radio and put your county fire frequency in it? A lot of firefighters are doing it now...

[jonnyirons2]

No, I believe that would be a state law, regarding receiving public safety frequencies in your car. In NY its illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle, although its barely enforced. You can not transmit on a 2 meter radio outside of the 144-148mhz bands unless you are MARS/CAP member and even then the band limits are only up to 149mhz.

[YBLOC06]

Dose the FCC laws say that you can not get a 2m ham radio and put your county fire frequency in it? A lot of firefighters are doing it now...

TOO BAD YOU DON'T NEED IT ALEXYATES BECAUSE YOUR NOT A FIREFIGHTER JUST A LIAR! TAKE THE HINT KID

[Weruj1]

Dose the FCC laws say that you can not get a 2m ham radio and put your county fire frequency in it? A lot of firefighters are doing it now...

It is against the law to alter the radio DINGUS ............but since you are a commuinications director I thought you would know all that ........

[Chazz2771]

c'mon guys, cut alex some slack.......it's tough being a junior communications director with all the regulations on FRS radios, handling all the pagers and managing multiple online identities

[DCFDCAR5]

You can not put a transmit frequency in a radio that is not type accepted for it. Most 2M radios are receive capable from 136-174, but you would need to modify the radio to make it transmit. Once the modification is performed, then it is no longer a legal radio, per FCC.

[the1141man]

You can not put a transmit frequency in a radio that is not type accepted for it. Most 2M radios are receive capable from 136-174, but you would need to modify the radio to make it transmit. Once the modification is performed, then it is no longer a legal radio, per FCC.

BING! Steel on target.

The aforementioned MARS/CAP "exception" (which no longer exists, BTW, CAP has mandated that all HTs and mobiles must now be NTIA-approved) exists solely because MARS/CAP falls under the NTIA (Nat'l Telecommunications Information Administration), not the FCC. The NTIA exists as a sort of "counterpart" for the FCC, but dealing strictly in spec'ing equipment and frequencies for use by the Federal Gov't, including the military (CAP, being the Air Force Auxiliary, is included, as is the USCG/USCG Aux). Needless to say, they operate under a different set of rules than does the FCC and consequently commercial and local government users.

[DeputyMarshal]

Dose the FCC laws say that you can not get a 2m ham radio and put your county fire frequency in it? A lot of firefighters are doing it now...

1) Yes, it does. Emergency tx frequencies may only be programmed into type accepted radio equipment.

2) The 2m amateur radio band does not cover the VHF emergency frequencies.

3) Amateur radios sometimes have extended rx-only band coverage that allows them to monitor emergency frequencies. IMHO, a scanner is a much more cost effective way to do that.

[DeputyMarshal]

No, I believe that would be a state law,

That would be incorrect. The FCC regulates that issue.

In NY its illegal to have a scanner in your vehicle,

FWIW, not unless you have an amateur radio license. (The FCC license trumps the state law.)

[LFD1MICHAEL]

hold on one minute, I'm confused

The last 4 posts have all regarded correct answers regarding radio frequencies etc.
I thought our main purpose here was to crush Alex into submission.

[DeputyMarshal]

The last 4 posts have all regarded correct answers regarding radio frequencies etc.
I thought our main purpose here was to crush Alex into submission.

I suspect that, as long as he politely asks honest questions, listens to the answers, and stops making up fanciful stories about himself, he'll continue to get real answers.

[Guest]

Thank you all for your help... I do know much about ham radios and how they work with the fire freq. If you log in tonight I am going to tell you all why I lied.... Thanks

[Guest]

I suspect that, as long as he politely asks honest questions, listens to the answers, and stops making up fanciful stories about himself, he'll continue to get real answers.

Thanks for your help you helped a lot!!!!

[jonnyirons2]

In NY you are NOT allowed to intercept public safety frequencies in a vehicle regardless of ham lic. If you cross over from CT to NY and **** off some gung ho State Trooper you will be ticketed and or arrested. Especially with homeland security issues. I have my amateur lic and if I pull up some where and I see a cop I turn off the radio, just to avoid the questions. Not that I even listen to the police on my radio.

Ill find the CPL and post it after my EMT refresher class tonight.

[DeputyMarshal]

In NY you are NOT allowed to intercept public safety frequencies in a vehicle regardless of ham lic.

In this respect I believe you are mistaken. Federal licensure supercedes state law in that the state may not interfere with the operation of an FCC licensed station.

FWIW, NY has made arrests in these cases but, AFAIK, has never successfully prosecuted one. (It's unclear if they have ever even taken one to court.) Other states with "no scanner" laws have had similar results when attempting to regulate FCC licensed operators.