As I have recently come to understand it, all of the radios I'm looking at as beginner HAM radios have FRS capabilities, but are technically not legal to use in FRS bands:
Quote from: WikipediaAll equipment used on FRS must be certified according to FCC regulations. Radios are not certified for use in this service if they exceed limits on power output, have a detachable antenna, allow for unauthorized selection of transmitting frequencies outside of the 22 frequencies designated for FRS, or for other reasons. After December 2017, the FCC no longer accepts applications to certify hand-held FRS units providing for transmission in any other radio band.
FRS radios must use only permanently attached antennas there are also table-top FRS "base station" radios that have whip antennas. This limitation intentionally restricts the range of communications, allowing greatest use of the available channels by the community.
I see the reasoning is included here, but I'm not quite wrapping my head around it just yet.
Is "intentionally restricting the range of communications" meant to limit traffic on those channels?
If so, how does restricting (legally, not physically) equipment capable of using those channels but that lay outside of the certification parameters serve that purpose?
If the purpose is to limit FRS communication to devices that are solely dedicated to FRS use, why is there no limits set on the capability to access FRS channels on devices that fall outside of those legal parameters?
Were these rules born of poor politics or a functional need? Or is my understanding to this point faulty to begin with?
When you use a CB, MURS, FRS, or GMRS radio you can't use the radio on frequencies that are not permitted by that service or turn the power up too high because the radio's hardware and firmware won't allow it. If a radio is made for ham use, then sometimes these restrictions are not in place because a licensed amateur is expected to know and follow the rules.
For many of these services power is limited so that more people can use the service. If you use FRS channel 5, for example, someone ten miles away can likely also use that same channel without interference because the radios are not powerful enough to make that a problem.
Hams can (and many do) program their radios for frequencies assigned to other services that require a type-certified radio. It is against the rules to transmit outside amateur bands, but listening is not against the rules. Radios sold in the US market often have restrictions imposed by the manufacturer or seller to keep the FCC happy for import reasons, but many do not and even those that are restricted can usually be modified to get around the restrictions. Foreign governments can have very different rules about radio use, so radios made elsewhere are sometimes wide open (not that they are effective at all frequencies, of course).
I like to listen on a GMRS radio and have a ham radio close by. If I hear GMRS traffic and want to respond, I'm on the right radio. If I hear ham traffic on the GMRS radio that is listening for both services I turn on the ham radio and answer. This way I don't accidentally transmit the wrong traffic on the wrong band, which is one of the reasons that radios that can do both generally should not.