What is worrying is that this handheld transceiver clearly requires an amateur radio license to operate, but is not discussed anywhere in the description of the product. I guess this could land an unsuspecting member of the public in hot water with Ofcom if they are found using it. I guess this isn’t very likely, unless someone is using it at home and interfering with other people (the HAMs who do post reviews say it’s unsurprisingly trash), but I guess if the sale of these get any traction and Joe Public start using them instead of PMR, we could be in for a lot of nuisance operation in our bands. I also noticed that the amazon page reports the item as being ‘frequently returned’ I don’t really sit with a radio on in my office, to understand if this is a real issue or not. I can only say I’ve not noticed a problem on my SOTA activation weekends yet… …but I suspect that people (the public) might buy these over the PMR radios, as the specs look better!
Amazon has suggested the other similar products as well.
It doesn’t look like Ofcom will be interested or able to do anything about the sale of these products, so I’m curious whether anyone else has any ideas what we can be done? I’ve ‘reported’ the product to Amazon, but I doubt it will have any effect.
When the Regulators are understaffed nothing will be done if it’s only amateurs suffer interference. It’s not a good idea to get between a billionaire and his profit anyway in our modern world.
“Walkie Talkie” is the term often used in the US for the English term “Handy Talkie”.
I am surprised that Amazon, don’t have a “Report this item” link on the page (or at least not that I could find). I would have said that this is generally a problem for Ofcom as the radio will cover air band and other commercial frequencies (as shown in the picture) but then in the details, it specifically lists the 2m and 70cm bands as its frequency coverage.
There is NOWHERE on the page that says an Amateur Radio licence is needed to operate this radio. Amazon should add that at least.
There is a ‘report this item’ link on the page as I view it, and have indeed clicked the link and reported it! Perhaps that is our only recourse as a collective is to file many reports to Amazon!
If everyone could contain their “righteous indignation” for a moment, you need to be aware it’s not an offence to sell these to anyone in the UK whether they have a licence to use them or not. Using them without a licence is a criminal offence.
The only requirements for selling that Amazon have to meet is that they meet the laws regarding placing the items on the market. The reviews suggest the charger/adaptor does not meet BS1363 so it would be an offence for Amazon to sell them under this condition. You can report the item as unsafe from the Amazon page linked. Can I suggest people do this, enough reports will be picked up by Amazon’s software. But a more effective way to get this item removed would be for someone to get their local Trading Standards to buy one and then take action because of the unsafe plug.
However, there are gazillions of such radios on offer from Amazon, or eBay traders or direct from Temu/AliExpress so apart from the illegal mains plugs, this is nothing new.
Having actually read the item on Amazon now I see there is the usual mix of reviews, including a few referencing the fact that you need a licence to transmit on it.
My favourite was “and will literally be the last 2 way you ever buy!”
Hands up who only has one radio in their collection.
ive used mine LOADS of times, including SOTA activations and POTA, and all manner of other stuff, it outperforms my bumfengs, and is easilly as good as my Yeasu HH…
Amazon’s headline description “Walkie Talkie for Camping Hiking” whilst not technically wrong is very misleading to your average buying public. Ofcom ought to know and care if transmitter products are being marketed (especially by one of the world’s most successful companies) to be used - albeit unwittingly - by unlicensed users.
Exactly Fraser. The only law being broken is that the charger supplied is allegedly not BS1363 compliant and selling such items in the UK is an offence. There are only a few “transmitting devices” you cannot sell in the UK such as mobile phone jammers, mobile phone repeaters.
We have opened an investigation and need to contact the seller for relevant information. Depending on the outcome of the investigation we may alter or remove the reported content/product until the potential defects have been rectified.
We leveraged a combination of automated means and expert human review in the processing and decision-making of this report.
Thank you for helping us maintain our high standards for our customers.
Hi Fraser, great cover photo. I used to buy that magazine regularly. I learnt a lot about radio and construction protects from this publication. Even built a one valve regen radio. A good read too. I was 12yo.
It could be an offence under the Trade Descriptions Act if it’s a misleading description i.e. entices someone in to buying it who is not aware it is illegal for them to use.
Rigs like these have been available to buy from eBay and probably Amazon for years with similar incomplete descriptions but I am not aware that 2m and 70cm are rife with pirates.
Really?
