TO:    ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS  (OFFICIAL)
       ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE  (INFORMATION)
FROM:  KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
       WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED

WV ARES BULLETIN NR 16.01               DATE: January 3, 2016
SUBJECT: USED EQUIPMENT IS NOT ALWAYS JUNK PART 2 OF 2

As explained in ARES Bulletin 15.51 dated December 20, 2015, there are other items that are discarded as junk that can be used.  The Federal Communications Commission mandated that all FCC Part 91 Rules and Regulations radio users upgrade their radios by January 1, 2013.  Part 91 users, which included Public Safety, and Business, had to upgrade the radio systems to Narrowband radios.  When that happened a lot of old commercial grade radios such as Motorola, General Electric, Kenwood, and Johnson were being junked.  Just because they couldn't be used by Part 91 users, didn't mean they couldn't be used in the Amateur Radio service.

A lot of the discarded radios didn't go to scrap, but did become available to Amateur Radio operators.  Most of the radios that were taken out of service could to be re-programmed onto the Amateur Radio frequencies.  When the commercial radios were designed and manufactured, they were build to withstand a lot of use, and misuse.  Those radios should work for a long time in the Amateur Radio world.

If you ever have the opportunity to get any of the old discarded radios, take them.  Even if some of the radios are not useable, the parts alone can be worth a lot.  The parts can be used to repair other radios of the same type.  Even if it takes two or three radios to make one radio, it would be worth it, especially if you didn't pay anything for them.

Ken Harris WA8LLM
Wood County WV
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator
WCEC