I found in my barn a Maverick 250 CB or ham radio amplifier. I am not familiar with with this so I don't know if it is an amp or not. I plugged it in an it lit up. (it has tubes) I listed it on fleabay and the listing was pulled less than 24 hours later. It gave a reason as "illegal as to FCC rules and regulations". Is it for CB or ham radio? Is it illegal to operate?

 

Found this perhaps it may help.

FCC rule 2.815(b):

After APR 27, 1978, no person shall manufacture,
sell or lease, offer for sale or lease (including advertising for sale
or lease), or import, ship, or distribute for the purpose of selling
or leasing or offering for sale or lease, any external radio frequency
amplifier or amplifier kit capable of operation on any frequency or
frequencies between 24 and 35 MHz.

RULE 11 - Linear Amplifiers

{A} You may not attach the following items (power amplifiers) to your
type-accepted CB transmitter in any way:
[1] External radio frequency [RF] power amplifiers, also called linear
amplifiers, or linears;

or

[2] Any other devices which, when used with a radio transmitter as a
signal source, are capable of amplifying the signal.
{B} There are no exceptions to this rule and use of a power amplifier
voids your authority to operate the station.
{C} The FCC will presume you have used a linear or other external [RF]
power amplifier if:

[1] It is in your possession or on your premises; and
[2] There is OTHER EVIDENCE that you have operated your CB station
with more power than allowed by CB Rule 10.

 

Thanks for the reply. It is for a CB radio I guess. I checked Ebay and there are two amps listed. But maybe not for long! It is going into the scrap pile.

 

The CB can be "peaked" but is limited by regs to put out a limited wattage... Some put a "foot warmer" (amp) in line & that's illegal for a CB. A shortwave is NOT limited for power. Several (most) serious ham operators can talk around the world and have more power than some radio stations - that runs into some verrrry serious money and require a tall tower < usually a home base}. The CB is for short range and 5 miles is good. The antennas are different ELECTRICAL lengths / which is not a physical length.

 

I did a little looking around and it looks like this was one of a line of amplifiers designed specifically to be illegal CB foot warmers.

Apparently the FCC went after them, and they sometimes tried to discuise their equipment as ham radio gear, but it wasn't.

You might check to see if there is a ham radio club in your area. Some hams do a lot of mods, and someone may be interested in it as a basis for conversion.

 

There is some good, historical info on the D&A amps here D&A Amplfier History, Trivia and info?

 

That was a lot of interesting reading! Thanks! I now know what the 250 stood for, 250 watts of power baby! I wish I could sell the amp to a ham operator so it could be modified for their use. Otherwise there is a lot of copper in there to scrap.
The 2 amps that were listed on fleabay have been removed. Hhhhmmm, I wonder how that happened?

 

'Back in the day'. . . . those were called, "The Little Black Box, With Lots of Watts".

They used to go for $1.00 per watt.

But, hey. . . I wouldn't know 'bout such things. I was always 'barefoot'.

 

Not interested in a "foot warmer" but I have an active antenna that will stand up to the power. Posted earlier = electrical length not physical length is important as is the position of the mount - - Mounting in the rear will broadcast a stronger signal toward the front / twin mounts midships on a short wheelbase vehicle can make an "X" patterned signal. Has to do with the "ground plane" of the vehicle. Motorcycles work best with a BOAT CB antenna, because of the lack of metal (ground plane). And, as most know, it's good to get the antenna tuned to the frequency (channel) most used.

 

put it back on ebay for ten meter ham, don't say any thing about cb. Don't SCRAP IT !!!

 

I did have it listed in the ham radio section and it was removed. I may have to get permission from Ebay to list it again. I prolly could list it in my local paper. What is it worth? From what I could see from these posts it might be illegal to have it. Maybe that is why it was left in my barn. No local ham radio club to sell it to.

 

and this is where my lameness comes in...

Can someone put into terms that I a simple moose can understand?
I just don't get it. Why is it illegal. I read a whole bunch of big words and phrases up there and my curiosity is peaked. Are there real easy terms to make it easy to understand?

Why would it be a bad thing to have some kicked up amps, watts etc?

 

First DON'T SCRAP IT!! Mel, it's illegal for use on CB frequencies (11 meter band) because the FCC mandated that on 4 watts on AM, an 25 watts on sideband (between frquencies) can be transmitted by the average Joe citizen. Any more than that and you gotta have a Ham license, which covers from 2meter to over 30 meters (and more I think) EXCEPT the 11 meter band.

WHen I lived in the Bronx NY as a kid, I use to have a Cobra 148 (for the sideband freqs) with a 150w Texas Star linear amp. I lived in a 6 story building on top of one of the highest parts of the city. The tip of my antenna was 60' above the roof! On 150 watts, with good skip conditions (radio waves bounce off of clouds, thermal climes, even the moon!) I could reach several hundred miles away.

Now with the same AT (antenna) setup, on my 200w Kenwood 820TS tube driven Ham radio, I could reach Alaska, Nova Scotia, Texas, the whole eastern seaboard, and even France and Spain.

And lastly when from my truck in the driveway in SoCal, when it was working right, my Galaxy 959DX (again on sideband) with a Texas Star 500w linear on a 8' steel whip AT, I have reached out to Australia!! Too bad CB's have kinda died with the advent of cell phones and other new-fangled garbage, but they are a great way to meet new folks all over the world!

Note to FCC monitors- this above post may or may not be true!!!

 

And I may or may not have a Maverick 250 linear amplifier in my barn!

 

eggsactly!