In most cases, in order to transmit legally on a frequency band of the
sort you're discussing, you must be licensed for that frequency _and_
you must use a radio which is "certificated" (formerly "type
accepted") for use on that frequency band.

The certification is, in effect, a statement by the radio's
manufacturer that it is compliant with the FCC regulations for that
band - maximum power output, frequency accuracy, spurious emissions,
and so forth.

Amateur radio transmitters are an exception to the rule. They don't
have to be certificated, because the amateur radio service is intended
to support experimental and home-brew use, and because the (licensed)
operator has accepted legal responsibility for not transmitting in
ways which break the regulations.

So... if you reprogram a commercial or public-safety radio onto a
frequency band outside of what it was originally certificated for, or
if you physically modify it, you're likely to void its certification,
and it might not be legal to use it either on the original frequencies
or on the new ones. You could reprogram it for amateur-radio use,
though, and that'd be legal as long as its emissions met the standards.

Thanks for the info. That's something I wasn't aware of. No wonder I
wasn't seeing a lot of 'answers'!

Thanks Gary for the informative reply. As should be obvious, I am
unfamiliar with radio frequency band allocations and exactly where
they split. I probably picked the wrong newsgroup for asking this
question.

One possible...the Icom H16....VHF commercial HT, keyboard programmable, and if
it fails, use it as a hammer. I have the UHF version of it (U16), good ole
HTs.

A

Thanks Gary for the informative reply. As should be obvious, I am
unfamiliar with radio frequency band allocations and exactly where
they split. I probably picked the wrong newsgroup for asking this
question.

One possible...the Icom H16....VHF commercial HT, keyboard programmable, and if
it fails, use it as a hammer. I have the UHF version of it (U16), good ole
HTs.

A

The Icom H16 is an older radio but works great, is a commercial radio and can
be programmed from the keypad. I see new old stock ones on ebay for under
$200. and good used ones for under $100.

The Icom H16 is an older radio but works great, is a commercial radio and can
be programmed from the keypad. I see new old stock ones on ebay for under
$200. and good used ones for under $100.