FCC Orders Ban of All Baofengs Because Too Many Hams Accidentally Transmit That Awful Siren Tone on Local Repeater
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a decision that most ham radio operators knew would eventually happen, The Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Baofeng radios with the built-in audible siren feature can no longer be sold in the U.S.
Most of the handheld radios made by Baofeng come with a siren that can easily be activated at the touch of a button. Radio operators have been inundated with the annoying sound at hamfests, club meetings and on the air.
The Gold Diggers Amateur Radio Club were the first group to complain to the FCC.
“Our local repeater sounds like Firehouse 5 responding to a 3-alarm fire,” said Gold Diggers President Lou Rodden in a letter submitted during public comment on the issue.
At a recent club meeting, Rodden described the siren. “It goes WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO, and at the same time a flashing LED rapidly blinks. The ear-piercing noise and the flashing light is enough to send anyone into a seizure,” he said.
Ham Hijinks has obtained an audio recording of a recent episode of siren interference:
The Gold Diggers will celebrate the FCC decision with a “Burn Your Baofeng” event this weekend.
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Is this real? I double checked the date and it IS early August.
Ban all the made in China JUNK!
Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, and Motorola are all made in China.
AB4CJ, My kenwood ts-430s was made in the 1980’s…best beginner radio EVER…and it wasn’t made in China.
Yeasu is Japanese
The FCC shouldn’t ban the Baofeng, the FCC should ban the idiot that can’t run as radio.
I’ll second that motion!!!!
I have a baofeng and when I talk into it it doesn’t make that sound unless I push the button that is so weird. I don’t know why you would have been it?
Bunch of cry baby’s! !
Thanks so
Or you could just put the alarm mode to site!!!
Lol that’s right. Gotta be smarter than the equipment you are working with!
Oh, this is gonna go viral… KN4AQ
Squad 51 KMG-365
10-4 Station 51
Seriously?
In the past Ham Radio was known as a Gentlemans hobby dedicated to service. Where did they all go??
They went to HF
I just set mine so that it can’t transmit the siren sound.
Please update with the time and place of the Baofeng Burning event. Want to be there to dance around the bonfire in my goat pants.
Dont forget the tin foil hat also.
You guys just aren’t right, Great stuff. -k9za
Seems like just another way of people not taking responsibility for their own actions. I have one if these and have NEVER had my siren go off “accidently” and I carry mine all the time in what would be considered a haphazard way. These radios may be cheap but for new hams . Sometimes it’s the only way for a new ham to get their first radio. Instaed of complaining about the equipment, why don’t you learn proper ettiquite. It used to be hams helping new hams, instead it’s become a political game. There are very few groups as of late that seem to focus on the cores of amateur radio and instead.. complain about stupid things. Oddly enough, a repeater could be setup to ignore the siren tones as well with the right equipment.
Well tell us how…
I have several of the b tech radios. I love them. I will give it up when they pry it from my cold dead hand.
This company made it possible for me to get into ham radio. Can’t beat the price. It’s fun to figure out how to program them.
I love a good puzzle. Witch is the programing part. I’ve listened to the scanner for years. Now licenced i can talk too.
I don’t want a radio station broadcasting to the world. I thought ham radio was a place to come together and learn about radio.
As well as other ways of life. Yes its annoying. But we all make mistakes. Also in every croud there’s the trouble makers. Don’t punish the good people who just want to belong to something bigger them selves.
Thank you as a beginner
My father was ASA military. i hope i can learn be a good listner!
Right there with you!
funny but they just seemed out of place here
Dumb. Not giving mine up.
The reason why the FCC wants to ban these baofeng radios it’s cuz they want us to buy the expensive Icom Yaesu and other brand radios.
You do know that this is parody news website.
😁😆
Please add reference links to your article. I am unable to find any evidence that the title of your article has any truth to it. It is true that the import is being stopped. Am unable to find anything that states they are “banned” as you state in the title. Your actual article body seems to contradict the title as well….
You know this is a fake site for laughs only.
Gold Diggers ARC should be ASHAMED of themselves….. That feature is a life saver to MANY! Besides, Baofeng is a GREAT Entry Level Radio… I’m ASHAMED of the Gold Diggers! They are NOT examples of good Amatuer Radio operators or Elmer’s!
Tim
KE8JHO
OMG it is a parody news story!
Lou Rodden has since submitted his resignation to G.D.A.R.C. and instead has joined the ranks off the amateur-auxiliary as an official observer where he feels that his special brand of piss & moan will benefit those hams of like mind and temperament.
Mute point as the new tariffs will crank the price up to the rest.
A 100% solution ban radio ham burgers
Change over to 11m armature band
Go ahead and call the radio police. “From my cold dead hands”
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-cites-baofeng-importer-for-illegally-marketing-unauthorized-rf-devices
I don’t think banning the radio is the right solution. We should be arresting and prosecuting those turkeys!
They’re okay radios, but there are SOOOO many Amazon reviews of unlicensed operators bragging about how effective they are for their personal, and even business, needs. Not necessarily their fault, though, as the radios are rarely, if ever, advertised as amateur transceivers, legal only for those who have passed an FCC (or local equivalent) exam.
That’s not true. They’re advertised as walkie talkies regularly
you’ll never get my radio Johnny law.. I’ll be transmitting sirens until the day I die. come and take it. molon labe. tx together or rx apart.
Kinda funny ive never had mine to do that. Its sad that now the snowflakes have migrated to amateur radio. Amateur radio was once a major honor to be a part of now we got people crying and going into meltdown over something so stupid. Instead of punishing the idiots responsible for doing something they know is wrong they are just gonna punish everyone for the actions of a few. I really thought amateurs were more civilized than this. I would expect this kind of behavior from cbers but now im seeing it here? I will NOT be getting rid of any of my baofengs or wouxon radios. Not everyone can afford these high dollar radios here in the US. I will give up amateur radio first. To the FCC i will say this, grow up. I notice they are not doing anything about those that key up repeaters and dead key on the air. Im very disapointed with what we are becoming.
Its just a prank bro. Its satire. Calm down, take a deep breath. Baofeng radios although sometimes prohibited to be imported as they can transmit outside amateur frequency can still be legally used by HAM radio operators who are fcc compliant.
Also take a look at this article:
https://hamhijinks.com/government-shutdown-affects-ham-radio/
I have two of them and this isn’t a problem. I suspect Baofeng will design the siren out of the software and carry on.
Just have to love people who think this is a real article…it’s called SATIRE..
If it wasnt the WEE-WOOO, WEE-WOOO it would be the Baa-Baa-Booie!
Yeah this was supposed to be a satire site and all posts should be taken with a grain of salt, serious is not funny 🙂 In any case, this posting was hilarious. Agree: “ban” or at least hopefully teach the operator not to use it. It’s the people who are using it as illegal interference that are the problem, not the radio.
When I got the Baofeng UV82 it had the alarm set on ‘site’ by default, fortunately. I made sure it was set to ‘site’ anyway before I tried transmitting to avert any wee ooh wee ooh wee ooh.
I have been a ham 22 years I own 5 baofengs and 1 btech,i have tested the emissions and they are way off not in spec at all.but us hams are supposed to know enough to fix this which i have ,on one one,very extensive work to make them passable.when i started i had to spend a whole paycheck to purchase an old icom 02at,so if we have to go back to that so be it,it will make new hams appreciate there transceivers more.
Ham Hijinks is a satirical ham radio news organization;
I absolutely love reading the comments from people who don’t understand this is a satire site.
Fear not! I will soon be offering a kit that allows you to transmit that classic Baofeng siren tone over local repeaters using more expensive radios.
have to love a society that allows bannintg ownership of private property because some people dont know how to use it.
There are some excellent products made in China, and some Junk. Typically, you get
what you pay for!
I set mine so all it transmits is the siren sound.
These Baofeng radios are not evil and should not be banned just because some hams don’t like certain features on them. I have owned Chinese radios like these for years and never had an issue. I even have non ham stuff programmed in them to LISTEN to. It is only THE OPERATOR of the radio who should be blamed for poor operation, not the radio. I bet these hams who say death to Baofeng also scream for gun control and banning plastic bags. When are we as a society going to start putting the blame on THE HUMAN BEING who is causing the problem?
The only sound I’m hearing is;
Waaahhh! Waaahhh! Waaahhh!