ORIGINAL: skoda450
Bruce, I believe TX crystals that plug-in are changable by the unlicensed consumer. I have never seen any cautions about changing crystals in RC equipment other than cautions about ensuring that the TX is intended for Upper or lower band for the 72 Mhz aircraft range or the entire 75Mhz surface vehicle range.
I agree that if you start unsoldering parts in a TX you need to be licensed AND know what you are doing.
If I am wrong then the entire industry is in violation.
I sure hope this thread does not turn into the type or argument that usually starts when it comes up on the radio forum. There's always a few lawyer wannabes who think they found a loophole in the FCC regs, or some outlaws who say just go for it, you'll never get caught.
Basically in the US, the end user CAN NOT change the tx crystal on their own. It doesn't matter whether it's soldered in or not, they are NOT supposed to do it. The reason is it's possible that the transmitter will no longer be on spec with the new crystal. This creates a risk of interfering with other channels or other (non-RC) users in nearby radio bands. Only someone with the proper equipment to test and retune the tx, if necessary, is supposed to change crystals. Exceptions to this are the already noted swappable frequency modules or synthesized frequency transmitters.
So, this is a good excuse for you guys to go out and buy a couple more boat radios for when they've got you swapping frequencies during the weekend!
BTW, did you check out the results of the [link=http://www.rmhalliday.com/CMBTC2.html]CMB Tunnel Champs[/link] yet? A lowly TS2 with a bone stock OS won the Open Offshore and also managed to place pretty high up in both sport and modified B tunnel. [X(]