- Business band
The business band is the name used by US scanner hobbyists who listen to
Federal Communications Commission licensees using Industrial/Business pool frequencies. The regulations listing frequencies in this pool are contained in Subpart C of Part 90, Title 47 CFR.Overview
The pool describes a series of frequencies on the VHF and UHF
two-way radio bands. They are reserved for use bybusiness es, and in some cases, by individuals. In the United States, private use of these frequencies requires a federal license issued by the by the U.S. FCC. The exceptions to this are five specific frequencies that are also part of theMulti-Use Radio Service , which permits unlicensed operation on these frequencies, provided the output power does not exceed 2watt s.The
electromagnetic spectrum between approximately 450 and 470 MHz is used largely for UHF business communications, although this spectrum is not exclusively for business use. In some large metropolitan areas, such as New York, the UHF-T band (between 470 and 512 MHz) is also used, due to congestion on the standard VHF or UHF bands. There are also a number of specific frequencies, in both the VHF and UHF spectrum, that are for business use; most of these have color-coded names, such as Blue Dot or Red Star.History
In the 1980s,Dubious|date=March 2008 the FCC acknowledged the need for private frequencies for business to transmit on, and, with congressional authorization, reserved a selection of frequencies in the 450-470 MHz range for this purpose.Fact|date=October 2007 Business Radio Service (BRS) is a collection of 56Dubious|date=March 2008 UHF frequencies selected by the FCC, that are reserved exclusively for business use. Many enterprises choose to use these frequencies because they are exclusive, and therefore have less cross-chatter with unaffiliated parties. To obtain a license for conducting transmissions at these frequencies, licensees must be registered as a business with the
Internal Revenue Service .Fact|date=December 2007Frequency charts
Although the term "business band" refers to several discrete frequencies that are not grouped into a single band, the frequencies are grouped by band and listed below.
Low-band frequencies
External links
* [http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=about&id=industrial_business FCC description of Wireless Bureau's Industrial/Business Pool]
References
*Fawcett, Bill. "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Blue Dot Radios... But Were Afraid to Ask", [http://www.spanieljournal.com/2wfawcett.html Spaniel Journal]
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