Readit NewsPerhaps this will spur some future Congress to take back what they've delegated (like sweeping tariff power)
But now, crickets!!
What remains of the "old guard" is, in fact, loudly complaining about this move:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/08/the-government-should...
It does enforce time limits. If I send a message or something that uses digital communication (like gps coordinates), it won't let me send another one immediately after.
But discussion of that is irrelevant because the regulation is no more than one every 30 seconds and each one can't be longer than 1 second in duration. This necessarily limits the length of messages you can send or requires more efficient modulation and/or weaker error correction at the tradeoff of worse weak-signal performance.
However, it uses GMRS bands, not LoRA, so all the FCC restrictions apply.
In any case, I'm pretty sure this device is illegal to use for short text messages. It doesn't appear to comply with several of the restrictions on digital emissions in 47 CFR 95.1787(a), namely it appears to have a removable antenna. Removable antennas are fine for regular GMRS use, but not when the device can send digital emissions.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/part-95/subpart-E#p-95...
Also I'd be shocked if it enforced the time limits for digital transmissions in software. This leads me to believe it's not actually type-certified for use which then calls into question anything else it does. Caveat emptor.
Obviously having family in South America where there are millions of these installed by unskilled labor I decided to DIY. So I installed 2 units with 2 heads each, including pouring the concrete pads, vacuuming the line sets, and charging them. Took me two weekends and about $4000 in materials including the units themselves. It’s been two years, none of the BS fear mongering issues have happened, and they have almost paid for themselves.
To say it another way, legal is cool with it, the challenge now is making it easy for procurement.
Perhaps that's fine in the eyes of the maintainers! But I say this every time someone says they want to restrict commercial use while still being Open Source: just slap AGPL on it. It's radioactive to enterprises; I've never worked anywhere that allowed us to use AGPL code in commercial products. Then, charge for a commercial license.