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September 29, 1999
In My ViewEditorial Opinion |
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"Touring expansive African grass lands or exploring the remotest corners of a state park, reliable communication helps you share the fun."
An excellent lead in to this months guest editorial by Bill Easterday is the statement above. It comes from an advertisement in the September 1999 National Geographic Magazine by Radio Shack for their Family Radio Service radios.
If you think the Intruder problem we have now on GMRS is serious, wait until Asian and European low power communication devices begin showing up on U.S. shores. Read what GMRS Web Magazine reader Bill Easterday has to say about his experience in the United Kingdom and his own worries about the use of the U.K. PMR-446 and European LPD devices here in the United States. It is the editorial opinion of this magazine that the marketing managers responsible for the advertising message behind license free devices understand the need to keep the hype from causing permanent damage to the public radio spectrum. Tell the whole truth!
In search of the PMR-446
by Bill Easterday
Guest editorial contributor.
My wife and I just returned from a one week vacation in London and southern Great Britain. I had promised DougWeb before we went that I would keep an eye out for PMR-446 radios. We stopped into several Dixon's stores in southern England looking for them and their cousins, Low Power Device (LPD) radios. These stores are much like Radio Shacks in the products they carry but they don't appear to sell any component level items. They handle cell phones, stereos, televisions and that sort of thing. I also popped into a couple of cell phone stores in my quest. With one exception, none of these places had the foggiest idea what I was asking about regarding unlicensed radios.
That one exception is the part that scares me. The London-Gatwick airport has a huge duty free shopping area around the lobby where you wait for international flights after clearing security. They have more stores than many shopping malls in our part of the country. One of these duty free stores was a Dixon's. This particular store had a display with several yellow Kenwood UBZLF68 (LPD) radios and black bodied Motorola Talkabout 200 (TA200) PMR-446 radios. These were both within a few pence of £85 (about US$140) duty free, and would likely be a little more expensive elsewhere.
The clerk knew nothing about their lack of compatibility with one another and whether they were okay to use outside of countries in the European Union. They had no literature and the sales clerk was generally uninformed about pretty much everything. I explained to him that we have a similar radio in the US that would be quite illegal to use and prone to interfere with licensed systems in Europe and that his radios would have the same problem if used in the United States or Canada.
In the store display, both radios were touted as having no air time charges, monthly fees, or any of the down sides of cell phones much like the claims made for FRS radios in the USA. The Kenwood cited a range of up to 500 meters (5/16 mile) and the Motorola claimed up to 2 kilometers (1 1/4 mile) of useful range. Since the LPD radios operate on 68 channels in the 430-440 MHz spectrum and the PMR-446 radios use 1/2 watt on 8 channels in the low end of 446 MHz, the potential for interference to licensed Amateur operation outside of the European Union is rather high should these start appearing on our shores.
Editorial Comment
The company that championed the Family Radio Service in the United States has stretched the limits of good advertising practice. Intentionally or unintentionally this full page advertisement in the September 1999 National Geographic Magazine is misleading enough to lead unsophisticated explorers into serious trouble with foreign governments. The advertisement pictures renowned wildlife expert Jim Fowler using a Radio Shack FRS radio INTENDED for USE ONLY in the UNITED STATES on what is obviously depicted to be an African safari. The advertisement leaves one with the impression that the FRS radio can be used anywhere in the world. No where in this advertisement does it say the devices can only be used in the United States.
Two way radios made for use in the United States Family Radio Service can ONLY be used in the territorial United States or in other areas where the Federal Communications Commission has jurisdiction over communications matters. U.S. FRS radios cannot under any circumstances be used in Africa, Europe, Asia, Mexico, Australia, Canada, or anywhere else. Why? Because the frequencies the United States FRS uses have no equivalent service on the same radio frequencies in other countries. The license free radio services in other countries do not use our FRS frequencies.
Likewise, license free radios from OTHER countries CANNOT be used in the UNITED STATES. This Radio Shack advertisement is a horrible mistake, a mistake that I fear will be copied over and over by others just to sell radios. The advertisement has all the schmooz value it needs but it lacks the truth. Unsuspecting purchasers who are taken in by the slick advertising are going to find themselves interfering with police or business communication in a foreign country. The potential for unintended abuse and damaging interference can be prevented NOW if the marketing message about the proper use of these radios is clear. Marketing managers we understand that you are required to make a buck, but do it properly.
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Doug Smith |
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Last updated September 29, 1999
GMRS Web Magazine / [email protected]