RE: Transmitter Channels
The fact that is illegal does not concern me, I think a lot of laws are stupid anyway and exist just because some people create them to feel important. This law however, does make sense. If not for the reason written, at least as a courtesy to your fellow flyer.
As someone who has designed radio circuitry and understands how this stuff actually works, the crystals CAN and sometimes DO create center frequency drift. On the high end JR and Fut radios, this probably won't ever surface, but on the cheaper analog radios and especially on older radios, this is not only possible, but likely.
The FCC passed this law mainly so that other (non R/C) users in the same band would not be subject to spurious noise from drifting R/C radios. There are very few receiving devices left that share our frequency band, so the fact is, this scenario is unlikely at best, and probably would never happen, so the way the law was written, is useless. It is possible however for the R/C radio to drift creating interference on other's R/C radios, and that is why it makes sense to have the radio calibrated - law or not.
I have seen first hand the effects of radio drift. I would feel like crap if due to my cheapness, I changed crystals and shot down a fellow flyers (or worse, some kid who's scraped together every penny for his first plane).
Personally, I think the FCC is a joke - after all these are the people who are outraged and disgusted at a 1/2 second flash of a woman's body part on TV, but are fine and dandy with showing everyone a slow motion sequence of a guys brains splattered all over a wall by a gunshot. Like they know what is right and wrong! HA
I will however get my radios checked to protect MY investment and that of others.
DP