Is a legal multinorm rig actually legal?

I’ve been doing more research. Probably too much for my own good ad I’m still confused. I think that when you buy a multinorm rig it will ask which country I’m in when it is first turned on and then it’s set for that country. Is this right? The what are all the position A-F for? If you assign each letter to a country have you not made the radio illegal? I’m curious as I’ve seen radios being sold with these assigned and others that say the switch does nothing as the radio is set for one country eg. A CRT set only for France. Clearly it’s a great bonus to have a simple way to swap between countries if travelling but is it legal? I’m keen to stay legal but also keen to get the most from a radio and of course the best value. What are people’s thoughts about this and understanding of the legalities?

I live in France and earlier this year bought a cheapie CB (Thunderpole T-600) for use in my campervan from Amazon UK. It was delivered to me without problem. It has all the EU bands plus the UK FM band. The manual says it has EU conformity. So long as you buy a rig with the CE mark either on the rig or in the user manual, I'd say you are compliant. You would also be compliant if you visit the UK.

Deb

https://www.thunderpole.co.uk/user-manuals/Thunderpole-T-600-Manual.pdf

Hello Kate and Deb,

I think you've hit the nail on the head there Deb with regards 'legailities' of CB radio as I couldn't find any manufacturer lists pertaining to such except for the 'EU Conformity'.

I think that rather than the days of old where radios had to be manufactured for different countries (with different PLL or Phase Locked Loop chips) they are all encompassing being able to be selected for their country of use. This makes sense for the manufacturers and I believe it is more of a trust issue with the final user as regards legalities.

Similarly I can buy (and have) purchased an Amateur Radio transceiver that is capable of 100 Watts of output power but I dial down to my licence limits of 25 Watts. I also ensure that I only transmit on the bands I'm allowed to so although I have 60m capabilities I cannot operate there under my licence.

(Just as well with the power selection & trust facility or we would have had to buy new radios with higher UK power given this year than the previous 10 Watt limit!)

Of course this does allow abuse to occur but the final user will hold full legal responsibility should they transmit beyond their countries regulations.


Kate, it looks like we can shop around for radios that are EU compliant and just make sure we operate under the laws of our respective countries.  

I'm off window shopping!


All the best,
Victor

Hello again Ladies,
(So nice to say that in a male dominated hobby interest. )


I've had a scour around the legal framework concerning CB radios and read through the Official Journal of the European Union specifically the EU 2014 directive which is at the following link. (Warning: It's a bit of a read!) :-

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32014L0053&from=EN

Remembering that I am not a legal practitioner....so that's my butt covered.....

From that document it's clear that equipment marked with EU approval, the CE mark and carrying a certificate of conformity complying with "Directive 2014/53/EU" is legal to use within Europe. (Specific UK simplified conformity is also marked for the UK market and their frequencies.)

Obviously from there you have to conform to your country of origin legal framework hence the different regions available on the radios setup. (So the legal onus is on the end user.)


There is a section in Annex 1 that mentions "Equipment not covered by this directive" and that includes the statement :-

Radio equipment used by radio amateurs.....

Which is pretty much what most of us know but there is also included the line :-

....unless the equipment is made available on the market


From that it seems to infer that radios manufactured for the 10m, 11m & 12m bands are legal to use by a licenced Amateur Radio operator who will obviously comply with their licence on the Amateur bands and so long as they comply with the CB regulation part for 11m which is an unlicenced service here in Europe.

As mentioned I am not a lawyer or anything but it looks like the extended multimode radios are within scope of use to the Radio Amateur. Then again the 12m band is small and I also don't think I'd fancy using 10m on a channelised radio. (I'm sure though that some can work VFO mode and also work split so I might need to window shop a bit more. )


Well, a bit of my usual 'waffle' but thought I'd add this further information if it comes in useful.

All the very best,
Victor

I agree, Victor. Well done for trawling through the regulations.

I seem to recall when I first used the T-600 that selecting language/country is just for the rig to start up with. The user can still scroll through all the other countries' operating frequencies/modes.

Deb

Victor, thanks for that and yes it’s quite a read. My interpretation is is much the same but it does sem that ham kit modified to be used on non ham bands eg. CB would not be covered and so a 10m rig used on the 11m band no matter how that modification is made, eg. Software or physical, is not covered and so by implication would be operating illegally. (b) radio equipment modified by and for the use of radio amateurs; I agree though as long as it’s not ham kit and as long as it’s correct for at least one EU member state and carries the CE mark then it’s legal. The ultimate act of using the kit then places the onus on the user. The kit would remain legal but the operator may be be operating legally if they use a frequency not permitted in thier location. Thanks for looking this up.