This morning I was shopping on this website and they had some inexpensive Baofeng radios for sale. A previous customer had already ordered one and noticed when he had got it home that it did not have a FCC sticker on it. He said these had slipped past the FCC making them illegal to own in the U. S.
Yes of course I bought one because it did not cost much. Risk vs Reward… I’m exited and when I get mine in a few days, I might even be able to pick up the Playboy Channel or even a McDonalds drive thru frequency… who knows
It depends on the model. For ham use only in the US they only need to be FCC Part 15 type accepted, but must be locked to ham frequencies. Radios sold outside the US will probably not have an FCC sticker because the FCC is a US government agency and has no jurisdiction in other countries. While it is certainly possible to buy a radio from an overseas entity, if it isn’t FCC approved, it isn’t legal to buy and use it here in the US. This is why buying new or used radios from places like Amazon, eBay and resellers located overseas are risky business.
I’ve noticed that Baofeng only sells FCC approved radios, but you may still get an unlocked baofeng from AliExpress or Tamu. I recently purchased 2 separate models and they are unlocked but have the FCC sticker.
They work as intended. I just keep them in the band plan.
Sadly, printing a sticker is quicker than applying the block. In europe we have stickers on everything. Including Shure Microphones. They even put the california cancer warning on them!
