Radio not for surface use?!

[spacephrawg]

I have this almost decade old four channel FM radio I bought for an airplane I never built and have since considered using it on my boat - until today when i saw a sticker on the receiver that said "NOT FOR SURFACE USE - AIRPLANE USE ONLY" to which i say what the frack. I don't understand why it wouldnt work on a boat, car, tank, whatever. Whats the deal? What would happen if I tried to use it for surface use anyway?

[patmat2350]

It will work just fine... and it's pretty unlikely that anyone from the FCC will actually arrest you for violating the code that dedicates air frequencies to airplanes.

But, if a model flyer happens across you, he may well bust your antenna...

It MAY be possible to convert your 72 MHZ set to 75 MHz ground freq... $$$... not just a crystal change!
Otherwise, ebay it and get a decent ground freq set (or 2.4 GHZ, which is universal).

[spacephrawg]

It will work just fine... and it's pretty unlikely that anyone from the FCC will actually arrest you for violating the code that dedicates air frequencies to airplanes.

But, if a model flyer happens across you, he may well bust your antenna...

It MAY be possible to convert your 72 MHZ set to 75 MHz ground freq... $$$... not just a crystal change!
Otherwise, ebay it and get a decent ground freq set (or 2.4 GHZ, which is universal).

Ah hah. Well its not like I hang with RC plane pilots anyhow lol. Why is it the FCC made that ruling? Why would the hypothetical RC plane guy bust my antena?

[der kapitan]

Well, because if some airplane guy was in the area where you were using it, you would corrupt the control of his model, probably causing it to crash. :eek:

In that case, he would probably bust more than just your antenna---. :p

Rules are rules, and simply because the FCC didn't consult you before making them, doesn't change things---. ;)

[patmat2350]

On principle. The idea (before park flyers!) was that flyers hung out together in flocks, so they could control freq. use and avoid "shoot downs"... but they had no control over miscellaneous ground freq. users who could send a screaming meat-ripping prop plane into the crowd.

Your ground use radio has a fair range... and the flyboys have a longer range... can you guarantee that your ranges won't overlap?

[retoabcr]

First off, you would be inviting a law suit and on top of that , you would have to pay for damages or destruction of the airplane. My wife was a insurance adjuster for 38 years and she was the adjuster and the guilty party had to pay dearly and her insurance company sued wrongful party and finally the judge made his ruling cause wrongful person got out of line and you know the rest of the story.

[jimhurley]

It will cost you $10,000 and jail time if you get caught.

[Kmot]

You can find surface radios for around $25 bucks on the auction sites. Don't risk property damage or personal injury to avoid spending a few bucks.

[Hoghappy]

You can get a new radio for $39 and change or less.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGRM7**&P=7

Capt. Crash

Tom ...beat me to it while I was typing.... :rolleyes:

[dostacos]

Ah hah. Well its not like I hang with RC plane pilots anyhow lol. Why is it the FCC made that ruling? Why would the hypothetical RC plane guy bust my antena?planes and boats/cars may be run close enough that you could start controlling a plane while you were driving your surface vehicle.

remember the planes need a special area BUT cars could be used anywhere and shooting down $1000 worth of a scale plane with multiple functions is not only not cool BUT illegal and if they did catch you :eek: :censored:

my friends and I were flying at a slope soaring site when we saw a guy unloading a very LARGE power plane and without talking to us he fired up the plane and turned on his radio He was to lazy to walk up to the top of a hill {and it was not that big a walk} we were lucky as none of the planes in the air was on his freq. THE bad news was the guy that was on top of the hill that said "is anybody on......" got no answer, and since he had the freq control clip with his freq he turned on his transmitter, where the power plane locked into full down and augured in at full power from about 200 feet up..

we had been yelling to the power plane guy not to turn on his radio, he looked up at us and did it anyway.

Lucky we did not have spectators that might have been hurt

[PatricMichigan]

Please don't use it in a surface model.
Its really an honor system as the FCC could never actually police the law but a lot of bad things can happen for the cost of a new or used radio set on a surface channel.

Odds are nothing bad would happen, but what if it did? How would any of us feel if we knew we caused the loss of someones plane? And what if someone did get hurt because of it?
Just my point of view.

[spacephrawg]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll sell the controller then. I always like to know the "why" part of a rule. Helps me understand the gravity of the situation.

[dostacos]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll sell the controller then. I always like to know the "why" part of a rule. Helps me understand the gravity of the situation.
what is the frequency of your radio? IIRC in the beginning the air and surface both shared the 27 frequency numbers and when the 72 came along all the 27s went to surface, so if the radio is hold enough it might be ok I know I used to fly on YELLOW which was 27.145 now called A4 and surface only :cool:

[PatricMichigan]

I've contacted Radio South recently about changing from the 72 mhz to the 75 mhz bands. They indicate they can still do that - I think it was in the $50 area. Thats an option too if the radio set is one you want to keep. I have no idea about their turn around time now that its flying/crashing/sailing season... http://www.radiosouthrc.com/
Patric

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Typically the guy that was practicing flying his $1200 dollar helicopter over at the
baseball field will come over and explain the "what the frack" part to you... :p

However unlikely that is. One of the local ship sailors, here, was using an aircraft radio
to run additional options in his ship down at the pond. It wasn't long after he
switched on and began running that a helicopter pilot doing exactly as stated
above came by to check frequencies... They were both lucky nothing crashed.

:o

If the radio is 72mhz, don't use it for surface, or get it retuned.

[CG Bob]

Here's a radio control history lesson.

In 1973 (when I started in the hobby) there were 5 shared channels on 27 MHz; there were 7 channels on 72-75 MHz, 4 were aircraft only, the other 3 were shared with cars and boats.
*72.080 (Brown/White flags)
72.160 (Blue/White)
*72.240 (Red/White)
72.320 (Violet/White)
*72.400 (Orange/White)
72.960 (Yellow/White)
*75.640 (Green/White)
* - Model aircraft use only

By 1983, there were 6 channels in 27 MHz; 18 on 72 MHz, 3 were shared with surface models (72.160, 72.320, & 72.960); and 11 surface only chanels on 75 MHz. By 1988, aircraft only was in effect for the 22 channels on 72 MHz; and there were 15 channels in 75 MHz. Finally in 1991, there were 50 channels for aircraft on 72 MHz and 30 channels for cars & boats on 75 MHz, plus the 6 shared channels on 27 MHz. The AMA was the lead rc hobby group in securing the extra channels, and relied on input from IMPBA, NAMBA, SSMANA, ROAR and NORCA. Being a rc boat modeler, I am thankful that AMA took the lead in securing the extra frequencies.

[Stu :)]

If the radio is 72mhz, don't use it for surface, or get it retuned.

...Unless you live in New Zealand :D

Stu :)

[peconic steam]

Regarding the 27 MHz "sharing...." is it not possible a problem could develop between, say a boat on a pond adjoining a ballfield where someone was flying a plane or helicopter?

[patmat2350]

Yes. Consider 27MHz to be a free for all... few serious flyers will use it.

[green-boat]

One of the problems with 27 MHZ is the truckers who use linears on their CB's. There is so much bleed over that at times you just have to give it up.