[Amps] Recommendation?

[Jim Strohm]

Steve Katz <stevek@jmr.com> says --

>The only comment I can make about the RFE products is that they are for sale
>"outside the U.S. only," and are clearly indicated for "export only," as
>they are not FCC Certificated, they are not on the list of Certificated
>equipment, they violate CFR47 Part 97 wording with respect to frequency
>range, drive required and RF sensed keying, and may not meet Part 97
>emissions standards with regard to harmonic and spurious signals.
>
>They were selling on the open market to U.S. hams, and the FCC cited them
>for this several months ago, it was all written up in the Federal Register,
>so it appears they have re-emerged as a "for export only" company per their
>website.


In an interesting twist, RFE claims on its website that CCI (Communications
Concepts Inc.) has a "monopoly" on selling "HF leen-yar" kits in the US.

A review of CCI's site reveals that they sell the kits not as "complete"
kits, but as sets of kits.  And they dodge the law by claiming the kits are
for "prototype" purposes, and are sold without assembly instructions.

The prices CCI charge for PCBs are almost obscene.  I'd love to show up at
Dayton with a truckload of allegedly surplus Motorola-badged boards tagged
with the app note or engineering brief number only, and offer them at $10
each, three for $25, 15 for $99, mix-and-match.

Of course, I could never do that -- it would be a violation of the Circle M
Ranch's trademark(s).

Jim N6OTQ

I wonder -- can RFE sell its kits to hams in Cuba?