Questions tagged [legal]

Questions regarding laws or other legal regulations pertaining directly to amateur radio. Also tag your question with the relevant location. If in doubt, always seek professional legal advice.

Amateur radio is a highly legislated hobby, and not all of those regulations are always crystal-clear. This tag should be used for questions that are related to the legalities of amateur radio, whether for your home country, other countries or internationally.

Make sure to indicate within the question the location to which you want any answers to apply (using an appropriate location tag, or in the body of the question if a tag is not available). Questions about legal matters that do not specify a relevant locale are likely to be closed as not answerable without that information.

Amateur Radio Stack Exchange is not a forum for legal counsel. If in doubt, always seek professional legal advice.

Existing tags for legal jurisdictions include: ,

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245 questions
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Encrypted traffic and amateur radio

Am I allowed to send encrypted traffic via any medium or any frequency, or is this completely barred (and thus everything has to be open with no exceptions?)
berry120
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What defines music, per amateur radio regulations?

Sometimes when I access IRLP nodes, they have a very short melody telling you that you are connected; or when my local repeater's net begins, it does the famous doorbell 8-note sequence. What is the fine line of prohibited and allowed with respect…
Skyler 440
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Using my Baofeng UV-5R to talk to walkie talkies

I have a few walkie talkies at home and sometimes I connect my UV-5R to them to talk to them and act as another walkie talkie. At one time, I built a little simplex repeater out of it. Should I not be doing this? I don't think the other walkie…
Skyler 440
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Are amateur radio call signs unique among all radio call signs?

Idle curiosity: Are the call signs of amateur radio operators distinct from call signs in all other radio services, such that there can be no ambiguity even if the relevant license and band(s) of operation is disregarded? If they are not distinct…
Kevin Reid AG6YO
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Why are proprietary codecs used in amateur radio?

This may be slightly off topic (maybe there's a Legal Stack Exchange :-D), but how is it that codecs like Yaesu's C4FM are allowed to be proprietary while still being used on Amateur bands? At the very least, this does not seem to be in keeping with…
15
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4 answers

FCC tracking of unlicensed FRS/GMRS transmissions

If a transceiver such as the BaoFeng UV-5R is used to transmit over FRS/GMRS frequencies (unlicensed), it is illegal in the United States due to FCC regulations that state that the power must be <0.5W and that the radio must not have a detachable…
J. Taylor
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15
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4 answers

Are there federal laws (US) protecting antenna installation?

Are there any federal laws or FCC guidelines that allow ham radio operators to install antennas? I live in an apartment building in a large city that bans outdoor antennas. I recall reading that the FCC protected the installation of satellite…
Brad
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14
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How to operate IEEE 802.11 WiFi AP within the amateur radio service?

How can I properly use my ham radio license to operate an IEEE 802.11 WiFi access point within the US amateur radio service, rather than the US "part 15" regulations for unlicensed transmissions?
David Anastasio
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13
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Why is an exemption for music given to NASA broadcasts of manned space flight missions?

FCC 97.113 Prohibited transmissions reads: (e) No station shall retransmit programs or signals emanating from any type of radio station other than an amateur station, except propagation and weather forecast information intended for use by the…
PearsonArtPhoto
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Is there any legal recourse against unauthorized usage of a private repeater in the USA?

Can the FCC revoke an amateur license for unwelcomed use of another amateur's private/closed repeater system? It's clear that private repeaters are allowed, per 47 CFR 97.205(e): Limiting the use of a repeater to only certain user stations is…
natevw - AF7TB
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Are Baofeng radios illegal in the U.S?

Having a low price budget, my search for my first ham radio to buy has led me towards Baofeng. A quick Google search on baofeng showed a lot of results that said that certain model baofeng handhelds are illegal in the US. Is that true?
13
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1 answer

How do Radio Regulations and Frequency Allocations Apply to an Ionosonde?

An ionosonde is a special HF radio transmitter that periodically transmits a signal that sweeps across a large portion or the entire HF spectrum to identify the propagation of radio signal in the ionosphere, currently they are operated by various…
比尔盖子
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Resort FM radio station

I stayed at a resort in the U.S. recently that is located in an unpopulated area with virtually no radio reception. To fill the gap, the resort has its own FM station that can be heard only within the resort (about a minute after you drive off the…
JoelFan
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3 answers

What "test transmissions" are allowed above 51MHz?

The ARRL's band plan chart includes the following text in its legend: Test transmissions are authorized above 51 MHz, except for 219-220 MHz What FCC regulation is this referring to? Aren't all ham bands available for transmitter testing and other…
natevw - AF7TB
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Can I transmit anything inside a Faraday cage?

Can I perform any transmission regardless of my license as long as I'm inside an RF sealed enclosure, such that no RF will be detectable from my transmissions off my property? I imagine the answer is yes, but I'd like to be sure I understand.
Adam Davis
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