Are there any bands on which someone without any radio liscense is free to transmit? I mean, I can’t imagine every single possible frequency is regulated/used. And I certainly don’t need a liscense to use a cordless phone, or walkie talkies, etc.
As noted in my subject, I need the Canadian info on this.
Assuming that Canada has similar laws to the US–in many cases they are very similar–then you are free to transmit on nearly any frequency under experimenter regulations, subject to rigid power and duration restrictions. Specifically, what frequencies and intended use did you have in mind?
The folks responsible for managing the RF spectrum in Canada is Industry Canada.
I’m looking at between 1Mhz ~ 30Mhz. Ideally with enough power to transmit around 0.5km. It would be short duration pulses.
If it’s like the US you’ll be limited to about 100 milliwatts, with a range no greater than about 30 meters (100 feet) and a duration of 10 seconds, not to be repeated for 60 seconds.
What about things like those family radio devices? I don’t understand why I can operate those without a license but I can’t build my own “equivalent” device.
You could, IF it operates on one of the frequencies set aside for such use, and conformed to the power output and maximum range restrictions for that band. It’s operating on frequencies that are not set aside for such a use that you are restricted.
Don’t know about NOW, but four years ago FRS radios were not legal in Canada. They use a frequency band that was assigned to police departments. I doubt if they made the police departments change. Or Canada may have a similar service on a different range of frequencies.
A Google search of FRS Canada and Family Radio Service Canada doesn’t return any relevant hits.
I could use any frequency; I just specificed that range because it so happens I have a bunch of oscillator chips that fall in that range. I can use any frequency.
What is the application, specifically? Voice? Data? Remote control? I can only really quote the relevant US frequency allocations and FCC regulations, since I’m familiar with those. I can try to look up the Canadian equivalents, but their terminology seems a bit different to what I am used to.
It will be data. I can’t really say how often it would be sent or how long particular streams would be. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll say it would be similar in nature to CW transmission.
Here are the frequency allocation lists for Canada. You should be able to find a suitable frequency for your application here.
Ah, excellent. Thanks a lot. I’ll look into that.