I thought I'd share the latest response to my questions from The Office of Engineering and Technology at the FCC:
1) Must a commercially sold, pre-assembled transmitter be FCC certified in order for an individual to legally operate it under Part 15?
Response :It must be FCC certified unless it qualifies as 47 CFR 15.23 device or is exempt
2) If such a transmitter is advertised as “FCC compliant” but has no FCC ID and has not been certified, is operation by the end user prohibited even if the transmitter meets the technical limits of §15.219 and causes no interference?
Response: All FCC compliant devices must be certified or SDoC
3) Does the §15.23 home-built exemption apply to transmitter kits, or only to devices personally built from non-kit components and not marketed as a transmitter kit?
Response: It is for devices that are not marketed, are not constructed from a kit, and five or less for personal use.
4)For an FCC-certified §15.219 AM transmitter, may the user substitute a self-built antenna of 3 meters or less, or must the transmitter be operated only with the antenna/configuration covered by its certification or manufacturer documentation?
Response: Must be operated only with the antenna/configuration covered by its certification or manufacturer documentation
"1) Must a commercially sold, pre-assembled transmitter be FCC certified in order for an individual to legally operate it under Part 15?"
Sounds like a loaded question from the start. Kind of a bait and hook. If your going to ask them why not just ask is it legal to operate a part 15 AM transmitter that has not been certified.
Personally I suspect you've contacted nobody and are playing games.
Yeah, I'm not contacting them again. As far as I can tell, their answers are useless, often incorrect, and contradicted by their own agency's behavior.
I only share it here for historical reference... and maybe some laughs. I'm not taking anything they say seriously.
Initially I was excited to think I could get accurate information right from the source, but it's become clear that the information they're providing back is neither accurate, nor from the source. As you suggested in another thread, I'm suspecting this is all AI.
So it seems that it's the same as Canada for needing certification to use!
Although it may be more strictly enforced in Canada. But I think you should go by what is actually written in the rules. In Canada it is written clearly in the rules that any transmitter needs certification to use. So see if somewhere in the FCC does it actually say that or can you just be compliant. The bottom line is, I think is what is actually written in a document, not by what someone tells you as what is in writing is official.
So according to the reply, the Sean Cuthbert AM can't be used, or the SStran for examples.
Not a marketed kit means not sold by a manufacturer but home brewed yourself if you are an electronics engineer. So How can all the kits be marketed would be the next question. Unless you can buy them but not use them....makes sense 😉