4 ms·

I see that raised a lot as a concern but I can’t imagine it has any legs nowadays. Previously, in the 1980’s, yes I could see a Taxi/Plumber/etc using amateur

I see that raised a lot as a concern but I can’t imagine it has any legs nowadays. Previously, in the 1980’s, yes I could see a Taxi/Plumber/etc using amateur radio equipment as a cheaper workaround for their business, but now it’s so much cheaper (and better) to use cellular or, if you really needed business radios they aren’t crazy expensive as they once were.

kube-system 6y ago
There's a ton of people using BaoFeng radios without a license. Every once in a while, some ignorant middle manager at a larger company buys a bunch and the FCC cites them.
- noodlesUK 6y ago
  I’ve actually seen baofengs with little stubby antennas used by various government employees without licenses, for instance workers at the DEQ near me. I’m not a dick so I’m not gonna call the fcc on them, but it’d be funny to see that.
bityard 6y ago
The reason for the rules against commercial activity on the ham bands was originally to keep hams from competing with commercial services, not the other way around. However, as an ham radio license holder, I would still not want to see our amateur radio frequencies, which are purposefully set aside by the FCC for hobby and experimental use, used for any commercial purposes at all. Commercial radio has its own spectrum and rules, and the cost to use it is not insignificant. Many businesses in my area still use radio because it is more reliable and controllable than the services provided by mobile operators. A lot of these would absolutely jump at the chance to use the ham bands and ditch their expensive commercial equipment, regulation, and fees if it were legal to do so. For non-local communications, HFT companies have been looking at the HF bands for years to shave a few milliseconds off their micro-arbitrage transactions (compared to wired networks) and ham radio has the largest chunk of spectrum after the military.

kube-system 6y ago

There's a ton of people using BaoFeng radios without a license. Every once in a while, some ignorant middle manager at a larger company buys a bunch and the FCC cites them.

noodlesUK 6y ago
I’ve actually seen baofengs with little stubby antennas used by various government employees without licenses, for instance workers at the DEQ near me. I’m not a dick so I’m not gonna call the fcc on them, but it’d be funny to see that.

bityard 6y ago

The reason for the rules against commercial activity on the ham bands was originally to keep hams from competing with commercial services, not the other way around. However, as an ham radio license holder, I would still not want to see our amateur radio frequencies, which are purposefully set aside by the FCC for hobby and experimental use, used for any commercial purposes at all. Commercial radio has its own spectrum and rules, and the cost to use it is not insignificant. Many businesses in my area still use radio because it is more reliable and controllable than the services provided by mobile operators. A lot of these would absolutely jump at the chance to use the ham bands and ditch their expensive commercial equipment, regulation, and fees if it were legal to do so. For non-local communications, HFT companies have been looking at the HF bands for years to shave a few milliseconds off their micro-arbitrage transactions (compared to wired networks) and ham radio has the largest chunk of spectrum after the military.