I don't think you will ever get a explanation from RCI.
Unfortunately the lead Engineer that designed the 2950 forward has retired.
I did some digging and I think it was Yu-Fu Fan ( yes that really is his name) because he is the one who redesigned the Connex 3300 HP in 2001 to make it harder to modify to work out of band.
I verified that by going back through a FCC court case were they were trying to enforce a fine of $7000.00 against a Retailer.
His testimony was used in court documents in the case.
I really think this is why Ranger is stalled in a rut.
They are rehashing old radios, slapping re-branded mosfets in them and calling them a new model.
73
Jeff
1.
Yu-Fu Fan, the engineer who designed the CX3300HP, and Michael Violette, an engineer who is an officer of an FCC-approved facility that tests and certifies radio equipment.Fan testified that the CX 3300HP “as designed transmits only on Amateur radio frequencies,” and that when he designed the radio, he “intended that it be used as a high frequency Amateur transceiver.” (Fan Decl. (Doc.No. 34-2) ¶ 2.) He also noted that “[a]lmost all HF Amateur transceivers are capable of being modified to work out of band,” and “[it] is impossible to design a high frequency Amateur transceiver that cannot be modified because in modern day transceivers the transmission frequency is synthesized by electronic components.”(Id.¶ 3.) Of principal significance to the present case, Fan further stated:I became aware that the FCC contended, in or about 1999, that the Connex 3300HP was too easy to modify to transmit out of the Amateur band. I redesigned the Connex 3300HP to make it more difficult to modify. As of 2001, all Connex 3300HPtransceivers manufactured by RANGER incorporate the new design.
