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Is this legal?

The complete absence of any mention of the word "license" on a site selling equipment that clearly requires licensing is a pretty big red flag...

It's not impossible that this device would be legal to use with a license, but at that price point I'd be very surprised. (does it meet spurious emission requirements?)
 
Nope. Not legal at all. At least not to broadcast with.

That is the same HLLY Chinese transmitter that sells all over e-bay for about $80, but its been handled and tweaked by Dagco to keep the output a little cleaner. They are pretty decent little transmitters, but they will definitely get you a visit from Mr. FCC.
 
w9wi said:
It's not impossible that this device would be legal to use with a license, but at that price point I'd be very surprised. (does it meet spurious emission requirements?)
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, where is the harmonic filter?
 
The manual for this transmitter is available on that website, and does state that the user is responsible for meeting local regulations.

I used the "contact" form on the website to ask the following:

Does the Rangestud FM transmitter have any built-in means to reduce its output power to less than 20 nanowatts (0.000 000 020 watts) when used with a 1/2-wave dipole or ground plane antenna, in order to meet FCC 15.239 limits for unlicensed operation in the FM broadcast band?

Reducing the 20 watt output rating of the Rangestud to 20 nanowatts takes 90 dB of attenuation.

Waiting for their reply.
 
To add to that, a good question for them would be, "Does this device meet FCC type verification or certification?"
LOL! I think I already know the answer, if any...
 
There are lots of companies and individuals always trying to sell their transmitters on the grey market. Selling transmitters (regardless of if they meet FCC spurious limitations) to unlicensed operators will, eventually, get you an enforcement action from the FCC. That practice got Ramsey a substantial penalty a few years ago for selling trasnmitters to folks that didn't have a license, despite the fact that Ramsey made every buyer swear in writing that they equipment would not be used inside the USA without a license. The FCC got Ramsey because it's illegal to own the equipment without a license, much less broadcast with it. These HLLY transmitters are coming over directly from China and they do seem to work pretty well. I'm not sure how the FCC will go about trying to interdict these things since they cannot fine a manufacturer in China if there's no USA distributor. I suppose they could go after eBay, though. The only one I have seen had a pretty clean output, too, but they have no input for composite audio and the one I saw turned on before the AFC was locked, so it cannot be used as a backup exciter without adding those two minor adaptations.
 
Kmagrill said:
... I'm not sure how the FCC will go about trying to interdict these things since they cannot fine a manufacturer in China if there's no USA distributor.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the FCC have jurisdiction over US-based seller(s) / website(s) stating that such had partnered with XXXX electronics offshore to sell their products -- without exclusion as to the sales of those products where FCC rules apply for their unlicensed operation?
 
R. Fry said:
Kmagrill said:
... I'm not sure how the FCC will go about trying to interdict these things since they cannot fine a manufacturer in China if there's no USA distributor.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the FCC have jurisdiction over US-based seller(s) / website(s) stating that such had partnered with XXXX electronics offshore to sell their products -- without exclusion as to the sales of those products where FCC rules apply for their unlicensed operation?
Click to expand...

Yes, they would. Operators of those businesses are definately liable for potential enforcement action, just as in the case of Ramsey. I was observing that a lot of these transmitters are for sale via eBay with the money going straight to China and the product shipping straight to the USA. In fact, the units being sold on eBay are typically a lot cheaper than the ones being sold by USA retailers. I suppose that's because the Chinese are selling at near wholesale on eBay. eBay might be on the hook for allowing illegal items to be traded on their website, but they are neither the buyer nor seller, just the forum. I'm not sure where the law stands on that issue. In addition, there are English language retail sites in Asia targetting USA buyers with the entire transaction being handled in Asia. Unless the problem becomes so severe that the US Customs agency becomes involved in interdiction, I'm not sure that there's an easy way to do very much about this, other than track down people that are using them illegally.
 
Kmagrill said:
... I'm not sure that there's an easy way to do very much about this, other than track down people that are using them illegally.
Click to expand...

Just to note that the FCC requires all commercially-built, unlicensed transmitter hardware used in their jurisdiction to be certified for such service under 47CFR Part 15 -- no matter where it was manufactured, who sold it, who bought it, who re-sold it, and who uses it.
 
None of this stuff is part 15. The lowest power I've seen in the HLLY line is 500mW and they go up to about 300W from there. This is all stuff that would require a broadcast license to own any of it.
 
Kmagrill said:
None of this stuff is part 15. The lowest power I've seen in the HLLY line is 500mW and they go up to about 300W from there. This is all stuff that would require a broadcast license to own any of it.
Click to expand...

300 watts! Ouch!

I'd never seen anything bigger than 30 watts from HLLY, but of course that was a while back since I last looked at their stuff.

Judging from the numbers of sold items on ebay and the feedback for some of the sellers, there must be quite a few of those smaller units floating around out there now. You'd think the airwaves would be full of signals.
 
Kmagrill said:
The FCC got Ramsey because it's illegal to own the equipment without a license, much less broadcast with it.
Click to expand...

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure it's not illegal to *own* this gear without a license.

Connecting it to an antenna & turning it on, that's illegal. Selling it (if it's not type-accepted), that's illegal.

The broadcast equipment brokering business would be kinda hard to conduct if you couldn't own an (idle) transmitter without a license :)
 
I think I'll buy this, apply for a license (to my summer home in Erie)

Philly's dial there's no room.

And give it a shot... Part-time Class D FM radio in Erie playing Classic Hits - if it materializes I'll host a stream too. (gonna have to apply for the license now, I'll even post my submission here when I do so)

But - it's clearly not legal. 20 Watts is a Class D FM. Enough to go about 10 KM (with some height) and this thing can go up to 200 watts if it's tampered with and a few parts replaced. (which is what I'll be aiming at running in Erie).
 
w9wi said:
Kmagrill said:
The FCC got Ramsey because it's illegal to own the equipment without a license, much less broadcast with it.
Click to expand...

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure it's not illegal to *own* this gear without a license.

Connecting it to an antenna & turning it on, that's illegal. Selling it (if it's not type-accepted), that's illegal.

The broadcast equipment brokering business would be kinda hard to conduct if you couldn't own an (idle) transmitter without a license :)
Click to expand...

Well, I cannot for certain recall, but I think it's illegal to own broadcast transmitting equipment without cause. It is definately illegal to sell transmitting gear to anyone that does not have a license.
 
Considering the state of the State of the Union; do you think it's immoral to own broadcast equipment without government approval? :-X
 
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