Not sure whether to post this under legal or "everything else".. I bought a drone (the kind that flies) about 10 years ago, not what you'd call a real drone, but it wasn't a total piece of junk either, bought it new for $89, had strong reviews and a lot of YouTube videos reviews, so I got one. They're real small, about 6-8" diameter I guess and had a good video camera in it, viewable on the hand controller screen and it record, etc.
I thought I was going to have a lot of fun with it. After a few days crashing it into several palm trees, the side of the garage, the bird house, the road and any other hard surface in the area, I lost interest and never picked it up again. I just couldn't get the knack of it, it sped around like a bullet, try to make a simple turn and it zipped to the end of the block running into whatever, it's a wonder I never hit a car. I'll say one thing, it took a beating and kept on ticking. Everything worked great except for the person controlling it.
Anyway, in this article at Drone XL, the author was surprised to discover that flying his drone utilizing a digital video transmitter needs no licence at all (Part 15), but if he flies the same drone with an analog video transmitter then requires HAM Licence. https://dronexl.co/2025/10/28/fpv-drone-ham-radio-license-required/
Primary excerpts below:
Get Your Ham, Save Your Bacon
Zachary Peery
October 28, 2025
In January 2024, I built a tiny FPV drone from spare parts ... I wanted to add a small external Video Transmitter (VTX) that was a bit stronger .. a brand new HGLRC Zeus Nano ...
I looked up more information .. and I came across a Reddit thread that caught my attention. Someone in the comments section claimed you needed an Amateur Radio (Ham) license to operate an analog VTX in the US. ..., so I began to research it a bit further, and I was shocked – he was right!
What to Know
.... ... After I looked into it a bit further, he was correct—and I hadn’t even considered needing an additional license to fly analog vs. digital.
47 CFR Part 97 ... In short, if you want to operate an FPV drone in the US that uses an analog VTX, you must obtain an amateur (Ham) radio license.
If you’re using an off-the-shelf digital video transmitter, ... under 47 CFR Part 15, meaning you can use it without a ham license. .... ... ..
What the heck is Ham Radio?
According to Arrl.org, “Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones.”
Ham Radio cannot be used for commercial purposes. If you wanted to fly an FPV analog build for commercial purposes, throw an external camera on it and use that footage.
Bottom Line
Bardwell’s comment holds up. In the US, most analog FPV video transmitters require a ham license to operate legally, .. If you want to keep it simple .., stick to digital, FCC-approved VTX that can be used right out of the box.
I’ll personally be attempting to get my Ham radio Technician Class license (the easiest to obtain) in the near future, and if you’re interested in FPV flying, I highly recommend you do the same.
DroneXL’s Take
From what I’ve personally seen over the years, I don’t believe many people flying FPV drones adhere to these rules. I’m not personally a fan of them, but if we’re dealing with frequencies that can interfere with safety-sensitive technology, I’d rather err on the side of caution.
I do know that during the world series some people were flying drones over the stadium and that was illegal.
It is also illegal to fly a drone that can take video or pictures over residential area spying on people.
You also have to stay under 400 ft.
If you have a very small one less than 250 grams(a little toy) you don't need a license/registration but best to go out to the country. With those it's like those radio controlled planes that were popular years ago.
The requirement for an amateur radio license in the U.S. is because analog drones typically use radio frequencies and power levels that require a licence (and those frequencies are in the amateur radio bands) - they're not Part 15. That's the only reason. If you can find an analog drone that uses Part 15 frequencies and power levels (such as 900 Mhz and the requisite power level), then you can use them license free. Of course, there are also all sorts of other rules you have to follow, but that's out of scope here.
Yeah, what Artisan said.
Thee method they use to transmit video.. one method requires a ham license and the other method is part 15.
For example the video feed from the little $90 one I had was part 15. I just thought it was interesting that most drones with cameras require a ham license to legally operate. As he points out in the article most drone hobby enthusiast don't bother getting the required licensing.
To me the ham licencing requirements were surprising.