"As any UK iPod obsessive will tell you Griffin, along with Belkin which markets a similar product, has chickened out from launching the iTrip in the UK as it was deemed to be outside of the law - you are in essence creating your own pirate radio station"
I don't think this has changed recently, because it was mentioned about a month ago on the Gadget show.
Why do these things not come under the same category of radio microphones?
Simply because of the part of the spectrum they use. iTrip broadcasts on the normal FM spectrum which is allocated to commercial radio stations. Radio mikes use a frequency allocated for use without a licence, as do wireless routers, cordless phones and radio control vehicles.
As another point, have you ever taken a look at the packaging of those small radio controlled vehicles you used to be able to get in the Gadget Shop? They usually said "for use in the UK only", another indication that frequencies that are fine in one country may not be fine somewhere else!
Apparently Belkin make a legal version. Anyway, who is going to stop me? Also I have seen iTrips for sale in PC world. Is this illegal?
Even if you get one it can be a pain in the arse to use it in London, there are so many stations (especially pirate stations which you'd also effectively become) jam-packed on the dial that it is almost impossible to find a clear channel.
I got one from Ebay, there's plenty listed there, works for covering the house. It's much more useful than cordless headphones as it works on any radio and in the car, I really hope they become legal at some point, there's plenty of radio stations in the average US city for instance but they don't have a problem there.
...there's plenty of radio stations in the average US city for instance but they don't have a problem there.
It was a right pain in the arse trying to get mine to work and find a clear channel in some urban areas over there.
A big problem seemed to be the use of their "In-Band, On-Channel" digital radio system which meant you couldn't use adjacent frequencies because they contained a digital carrier.
Comments
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/mofaq/rcomms/itrip/?a=87101
Also look here for a reference to Belkin:
http://techdigestuk.typepad.com/tech_digest/2003/09/the_uk_itrip.html
"As any UK iPod obsessive will tell you Griffin, along with Belkin which markets a similar product, has chickened out from launching the iTrip in the UK as it was deemed to be outside of the law - you are in essence creating your own pirate radio station"
I don't think this has changed recently, because it was mentioned about a month ago on the Gadget show.
As another point, have you ever taken a look at the packaging of those small radio controlled vehicles you used to be able to get in the Gadget Shop? They usually said "for use in the UK only", another indication that frequencies that are fine in one country may not be fine somewhere else!
Even if you get one it can be a pain in the arse to use it in London, there are so many stations (especially pirate stations which you'd also effectively become) jam-packed on the dial that it is almost impossible to find a clear channel.
It was a right pain in the arse trying to get mine to work and find a clear channel in some urban areas over there.
A big problem seemed to be the use of their "In-Band, On-Channel" digital radio system which meant you couldn't use adjacent frequencies because they contained a digital carrier.