Move Radio Notice For Free

The power output (watts) of the radio will determine if you need an FCC license. Two-way radios that are below 2 watts can be used license free. License free, low powered radios are used for short range communication typically 0.5 to a few miles. Any radio above 2 watts will require an FCC license to operate.

The first decade of FM broadcasting, starting in 1936 to 1946, occurred in the 42 - 50 MHz band. The frequency band was changed to the current 88 to 108 MHz band in 1946. FM stations operating in the old frequency band were required to move to the higher frequencies and most did so before 1948.

For the air waves over which broadcasters send their signals are in the public domain.

You see, the US has very strict federal laws regarding AM and FM transmissions. These laws limit the licensed and unlicensed use of FM transmitters, and you have to obey these laws to stay out of trouble. The fines for unlicensed use of long-range FM transmitters can be astronomical. You can even end up in jail.

Terrestrial radio stations, for the most part, have no mechanism by which to monitor their listeners' habits. As radio is broadcast over air waves, technology does not presently exist that allows stations to determine the time, duration or number of receivers that are in use at any given time.

In the U.S., prolonged dead air, such as a shutdown occurring without permission, is an actionable offense that can result in fines from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). ing to the FCC, a station has a 30-day limit for going silent without approval.

Probably when FM broadcasting needed some spectrum, the 88 - 108 MHz was the most convenient at the time, for technological or political reasons. In North America, 88 - 108 MHz is the FM broadcast band. The use of frequency modulation for other purposes is not restricted to that band, however.

This is because airplanes communicate with the ground and each other on these frequencies. If a radio station's carrier wave were to interfere with instructions from a control tower to an airplane, lives could be put at risk. The lower end of the FCC scale for radios is 88.1 MHz.