In article ,
RST Engineering wrote:

Is it 'legal'? Depends on how you do it. The only people that can just
go off and build a transmitter/transceiver are licensed
"amateur radio service" operators, and then *only* for
equipment that operates in the 'ham' bands. *Everything*
else requires FCC approval, in one form or another -- unless
it is _very_ low power, operating in specified frequency
ranges.

That is NOT true, elsewise how would we be able to build the prototypes that
we test for the type acceptace procedure. That is, if I can't build an
aircraft band transceiver then I can't test it to get type acceptance which
means that I can't produce them, and if I can't produce them, then I can't
sell them... Get the circular argument?

There ARE provisions in the rules for a legitimate manufacturer to build and
test prototypes for licensing procedures.

*sigh* "requires FCC approval, in one form or another" would include FCC
provisions granting limited operations privileges -- for testing, etc., even
on a 'blanket' basis -- under the auspices of a properly licensed engineer.
The stock 'restricted' radio operator's license of a pilot isn't sufficient.

The situation is not as extreme as aircraft manufacture, where you have to
have a design cert. first, and then a separate cert. for the production line.
admittedly. But "Joe Sixpack" off the street does have to jump through
hoops before he qualifies as a 'legitimate manufacturer'. That's what
earns him the 'FCC approval' to build "test"/"prototype" radios.

Or, if you prefer, I'll modify the statement to to "the only people that
can just go off and build a transmitter/receiver _and_put_it_into_'everyday_
_use'_operation_, are ham operators."


Is is "practical"? Not if the objective is to save money. It would have
to be 'accepted' by the FCC. Either "type accepted",
which would let you do production-line work, and sell
on the open market, Or _individually_ approved, for
that specific radio only,

I am not aware of anything in parts 1, 15, or 87 that allow single-unit
approvals.

I know of experimental one-of-a-kind transmitters that were granted operating
licenses. Without "type approval". These were, admittedly, _not_ on
aircraft band.


*either*way*, you're looking at costs that are well
into 5 figures. And probably around two years of
paperwork.

Well, not really. I've done half a dozen type acceptances where the costs
(excluding my labor) are well under a thousand dollars. HOWEVER, you have
to be very creative about how you do it.

If you got out for "under a thousand dollars" excluding your labor, it
sounds like you have/own/operate your own FCC-certified testing facility,
is that correct?

If one has "resources already in place", that have been amortized as "sunk
costs" from 'doing it previously' on other work, and hold the requisite
professional engineering accreditations so that you don't have to out-source
the technical requirements, I'll grant the sub-$1,000 (exclusive of labor)
possibility. For a _first-time_ effort, however -- as the original
poster was proposing -- using that accounting methodology, one must include
_all_ the costs of getting those resources in place, That's _how_ they
get to be 'sunk' costs for the subsequent projects

Would you care to estimate what your 'first time' costs would be, starting
from having just a basic set of 'hobbiest' tools?



You, yourself, said in another post, that it would take the OP more than
"a thousand hours, and ten thousand dollars", to 'legally' do his project.

Since labor has been excluded, if the OP does the design work himself,
it's "free". there's maybe a couple of hundred dollars in parts. and
he assembles it himself (that's "free" labor, too.)