1 microwatt gives 50 dBuV/m (enough for clean mono) at 20 metres
It's really not worth worrying about, any spurious emission (assuming a totally crap design) will be down on that level, which is why Ofcom made such devices licence exempt. Other domestic appliances kick out just as much level, all over the spectrum, and the world hasn't stopped turning.
Yes, of course if someone reports it, and there's always someone that will, so best avoided on those grounds. It'll be way down Ofcom's list, if there is any prosecution it'll be from the PRS I suspect.
Exactly.
And even if some no-life waster reported it, Ofcom would only act on a tangible report or complaint of interference - they have FAR bigger fish to fry, and rightly so.
The OP quoted a miniscule desired coverage of approx 50-75ft in his original post which does not constitute a 'far higher powered' device. Certainly nowhere near enough power to block out aviation comms or interfere with a modern TV set.
So if it's only a small mugging, that's perfectly all right then?.
It's an illegal radio transmission, and subject to the same penalties as any other.
Will the OP be buying a good quality transmitter? presumably he'll be able to check the frequency it is broadcasting this 75ft range is correct and that the ariel used is correct, that the frequency is actually the correct one and that there's not a fault somewhere that would cause interference?
The ipad type transmitter is probably just right and the only legal way to do it. I have one on a satellite receiver at home and can certainly here (a place or position) it on a car radio outside. A few doors down though it disappears.
It is not an illegal transmission if he uses the small FM transmitters legally sold for the purpose in Currys, Argos, and elsewhere, possible even in your shop.
It may be legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to your car radio for your own private consumption. But is it legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to the general public?
It may be legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to your car radio for your own private consumption. But is it legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to the general public?
It's an interesting question. There's nothing to stop my neighbours listening to my FM Tx (perhaps they do !) are they committing an offence by doing so ? However, they might well think it's a legal transmission (the Tx is fed from a satellite receiver, and spends most of its time relaying a radio station). So, is that still an offence (under the 'Ignorance is no defence' clause) ?
If I stuck a note through their door, advertising the transmission, then yes, that probably would be committing an offence.
It's an interesting question. There's nothing to stop my neighbours listening to my FM Tx (perhaps they do !) are they committing an offence by doing so ? However, they might well think it's a legal transmission (the Tx is fed from a satellite receiver, and spends most of its time relaying a radio station). So, is that still an offence (under the 'Ignorance is no defence' clause) ?
If I stuck a note through their door, advertising the transmission, then yes, that probably would be committing an offence.
I did try and google the regulations about this but the whole thing is very vague and doesn't really say very much about it.
I'm sure that somewhere there must be a detailed list of do's and don'ts about low power FM transmitters but it's well hidden, or I haven't hit the magic google search term to reveal it yet.
It seems to be fairly easy to find the example of using it to transmit an iPod or similar device to a car radio as being a legal usage of the device. But precious little else that I can find and certainly nothing about what is definitely illegal usage.
If the OP used such a device wouldn't the passers by in cars need to have their radios tuned in to a specific frequency, or would the device just interrupt listening regardless of what station was tuned in?
If the former, surely the coverage is going to be very hit and miss, if the later, then I can see the illegality of partaking in such an activity.
What about a CD player and speakers etc, plus the appropriate licence to play copyright/uncopyrighted music, or is that a silly idea?
I did try and google the regulations about this but the whole thing is very vague and doesn't really say very much about it.
I'm sure that somewhere there must be a detailed list of do's and don'ts about low power FM transmitters but it's well hidden, or I haven't hit the magic google search term to reveal it yet.
It seems to be fairly easy to find the example of using it to transmit an iPod or similar device to a car radio as being a legal usage of the device. But precious little else that I can find and certainly nothing about what is definitely illegal usage.
Perhaps use is only legal within cars, with Ofcom naively imagining the Faraday Cage effect, won't allow leakage outside of the vehicle. Which is nonsense of course. I often trundle up the M3 with the car radio tuned to R2 Guildford on 88.1. Not unusual to suddenly experience 'birdies, that peak as a car overtakes me, and then fade away again as it vanishes from view. No prizes for guessing what frequency their Tx is set to !
If the OP used such a device wouldn't the passers by in cars need to have their radios tuned in to a specific frequency, or would the device just interrupt listening regardless of what station was tuned in?
Hopefully the former ! The latter would certainly not be a correctly functioning device !
It is not an illegal transmission if he uses the small FM transmitters legally sold for the purpose in Currys, Argos, and elsewhere, possible even in your shop.
Except that's not what we're talking about, the very first post was actually a request for something of greater power.
It is not an illegal transmission if he uses the small FM transmitters legally sold for the purpose in Currys, Argos, and elsewhere, possible even in your shop.
It is not an illegal emmission but it would be an illegal transmission as it is broadcasting without a license ....
I'm sure the whiter-than-white do-gooders in this thread have never exceeded 30mph in a 30 limit, never used a phone whilst driving, never littered in public etc....
Actually. No, no and no.
I have, however, when I used to live there, had Radio 4 obiterated by some idiot with a heavily processed voice (ooh look I can put echo on my voice) shouting "Here's a shout out for Rusty, You alright Rusty? - If you want a shout out call me on ....."
I have, however, when I used to live there, had Radio 4 obiterated by some idiot with a heavily processed voice (ooh look I can put echo on my voice) shouting "Here's a shout out for Rusty, You alright Rusty? - If you want a shout out call me on ....."
Yes and people have had neighbours playing music so loud they can barely hear their own TV or not be able to sleep at night - but that doesn't mean all neighbours are just as guilty.
I've had my listening to a legal station disrupted by another close proximity LEGAL station which was causing harmonics in my receiver but I don't feel the station in question should be taken off air as a result - it's just one of those things.
I know I'll get the stinging rebuke of 'the pirates shouldn't be there in the first place' but not all in fact very few pirates cause ANY problems whatsoever as it's hardly in their best interests to do so! Many of the current crop of PLL 'rigs' used by established pirate stations are of comparable or better technical parameters than RSL TX's.
Back to the original poster though.... technically what he is proposing is illegal of course but then so is a car number plate with illegally spaced characters but that seems to go unchecked
Perhaps use is only legal within cars, with Ofcom naively imagining the Faraday Cage effect, won't allow leakage outside of the vehicle. Which is nonsense of course. I often trundle up the M3 with the car radio tuned to R2 Guildford on 88.1. Not unusual to suddenly experience 'birdies, that peak as a car overtakes me, and then fade away again as it vanishes from view. No prizes for guessing what frequency their Tx is set to !
No because the aerial is outside of the car, so it needs to broadcast and be received by the aerial (see, no typo this time).
If you could rig 1 up out in a tree or something it probably would be ok for a 50 meter range.
Yes and people have had neighbours playing music so loud they can barely hear their own TV or not be able to sleep at night - but that doesn't mean all neighbours are just as guilty.
I should have been clearer. The disruption wasn't at my home, on a static set. It was on my drive home from work. Once past Minworth all the way to the Aston Expressway Radio Four became unlistenable.
Fortunately they were "put out of business" but it took the best part of nine months.
No because the aerial is outside of the car, so it needs to broadcast and be received by the aerial...
I use a MP3 player/FM transmitter device in my car because the car aerial is missing.
Rather than changing the FM/cassette for another with CD/MP3/bluetooth etc, for around £6 I can utilise the existing car stereo to play MP3s from SD card. It works fine despite the absence of any external aerial.
Deacon1972.
Winny's pesky spell checker strikes again.....
If it can't tell the difference between "HERE" and "HEAR"
I rest my case.....
Oops too many full stops there.
Our local Firestation used a small (personal) transmitter to play Xmas songs during their carwash event, the Police were there too, getting their cars washed. They called the station Pole FM and with respect to where it is was quite droll.
It's HIGHLY illegal, and you could be fined, equipment confiscated (including EVERYTHING even vaguely relevant - such as your CD collection and stereo!), and even jail time.
So don't even think about it.
You write that like it's a good thing, in New Zealand it is permitted on the bottom and top end of the band at 1 watt, we need something like that here
People who want to enforce this law are rightly called sad, we should all have the option of creating small radio stations should be available to the community and individual people without all the licence red tape for small ranges, it's even possible to have christmas lights radio in the US we should at least be allowed that here!
Also, has anyone actually gone to jail for this in UK history, so far I don't think they have.
I've done it so I could be one of them, I would more or less be proud to have it on my criminal record to be honest.
Just think when you tell people that you do pirate radio, most people are supportive, admiring and most don't see the harm in it, that should give you a clue that it;s not very important to have violent oppression waged against you for this hobby and I'd like to see some deregulation.
To the OP, you can buy the Whole House transmitter for that purpose, hopefully the authorities are never going to know and any neighbours that do tune in will just enjoy it
However strict the authorities appear to be about it on paper we all know there are far far more important "crimes".
To go and loot somebody's house or building on the basis of a radio station is an action nearing that of ISIS. The authorities actions would be much worse morally than merely running a radio station.
OP should just go for it - 75ft range isn't causing ANY problem to man or beast and Ofcom are hardly going to know it's going on from that distance, not exactly county-wide coverage is it.
As someone else in this thread has already mentioned, it's way off the radar so I'd just go ahead. I know someone who ran a decent, popular and clean FM station a couple of years back broadcasting a radius of about 12 miles for pretty much 3 years and only stopped due to personal circumstances changing. It will likely return again at some point in the future.
I'm sure the whiter-than-white do-gooders in this thread have never exceeded 30mph in a 30 limit, never used a phone whilst driving, never littered in public etc....
You should be reasonably OK then with a small neighbourhood station, it's positive, and the vast majority of ordinary people I've ever spoken to don't see any problem with it and it's also pretty rare to get a lecture that it's illegal.
Just think how bad our legal stations are as well outside the BBC and the red tape needed to create community stations.
Also, has anyone actually gone to jail for this in UK history, so far I don't think they have.
No idea?, but quite possibly, I used to know a guy who 'almost' did
But it was his third offence, first time everything was confiscated and a small fine, second time everything was confiscated again and a large fine - third time he grovelled in court and got off with a small fine again (and I seem to recall he even got all his equipment returned that time)
Comments
And even if some no-life waster reported it, Ofcom would only act on a tangible report or complaint of interference - they have FAR bigger fish to fry, and rightly so.
So if it's only a small mugging, that's perfectly all right then?.
It's an illegal radio transmission, and subject to the same penalties as any other.
......
It may be legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to your car radio for your own private consumption. But is it legal to use one to transmit your iPod or whatever to the general public?
It's an interesting question. There's nothing to stop my neighbours listening to my FM Tx (perhaps they do !) are they committing an offence by doing so ? However, they might well think it's a legal transmission (the Tx is fed from a satellite receiver, and spends most of its time relaying a radio station). So, is that still an offence (under the 'Ignorance is no defence' clause) ?
If I stuck a note through their door, advertising the transmission, then yes, that probably would be committing an offence.
I did try and google the regulations about this but the whole thing is very vague and doesn't really say very much about it.
I'm sure that somewhere there must be a detailed list of do's and don'ts about low power FM transmitters but it's well hidden, or I haven't hit the magic google search term to reveal it yet.
It seems to be fairly easy to find the example of using it to transmit an iPod or similar device to a car radio as being a legal usage of the device. But precious little else that I can find and certainly nothing about what is definitely illegal usage.
If the former, surely the coverage is going to be very hit and miss, if the later, then I can see the illegality of partaking in such an activity.
What about a CD player and speakers etc, plus the appropriate licence to play copyright/uncopyrighted music, or is that a silly idea?
Perhaps use is only legal within cars, with Ofcom naively imagining the Faraday Cage effect, won't allow leakage outside of the vehicle. Which is nonsense of course. I often trundle up the M3 with the car radio tuned to R2 Guildford on 88.1. Not unusual to suddenly experience 'birdies, that peak as a car overtakes me, and then fade away again as it vanishes from view. No prizes for guessing what frequency their Tx is set to !
Hopefully the former ! The latter would certainly not be a correctly functioning device !
Except that's not what we're talking about, the very first post was actually a request for something of greater power.
Actually. No, no and no.
I have, however, when I used to live there, had Radio 4 obiterated by some idiot with a heavily processed voice (ooh look I can put echo on my voice) shouting "Here's a shout out for Rusty, You alright Rusty? - If you want a shout out call me on ....."
Yes and people have had neighbours playing music so loud they can barely hear their own TV or not be able to sleep at night - but that doesn't mean all neighbours are just as guilty.
I've had my listening to a legal station disrupted by another close proximity LEGAL station which was causing harmonics in my receiver but I don't feel the station in question should be taken off air as a result - it's just one of those things.
I know I'll get the stinging rebuke of 'the pirates shouldn't be there in the first place' but not all in fact very few pirates cause ANY problems whatsoever as it's hardly in their best interests to do so! Many of the current crop of PLL 'rigs' used by established pirate stations are of comparable or better technical parameters than RSL TX's.
Back to the original poster though.... technically what he is proposing is illegal of course but then so is a car number plate with illegally spaced characters but that seems to go unchecked
No because the aerial is outside of the car, so it needs to broadcast and be received by the aerial (see, no typo this time).
If you could rig 1 up out in a tree or something it probably would be ok for a 50 meter range.
No where near acceptably it won't - they barely work from inside a car to the car radio
Adding a high gain aerial isn't a solution either, as that is just as illegal.
I should have been clearer. The disruption wasn't at my home, on a static set. It was on my drive home from work. Once past Minworth all the way to the Aston Expressway Radio Four became unlistenable.
Fortunately they were "put out of business" but it took the best part of nine months.
Rather than changing the FM/cassette for another with CD/MP3/bluetooth etc, for around £6 I can utilise the existing car stereo to play MP3s from SD card. It works fine despite the absence of any external aerial.
Winny's pesky spell checker strikes again.....
If it can't tell the difference between "HERE" and "HEAR"
I rest my case.....
Oops too many full stops there.
You write that like it's a good thing, in New Zealand it is permitted on the bottom and top end of the band at 1 watt, we need something like that here
People who want to enforce this law are rightly called sad, we should all have the option of creating small radio stations should be available to the community and individual people without all the licence red tape for small ranges, it's even possible to have christmas lights radio in the US we should at least be allowed that here!
Also, has anyone actually gone to jail for this in UK history, so far I don't think they have.
I've done it so I could be one of them, I would more or less be proud to have it on my criminal record to be honest.
Just think when you tell people that you do pirate radio, most people are supportive, admiring and most don't see the harm in it, that should give you a clue that it;s not very important to have violent oppression waged against you for this hobby and I'd like to see some deregulation.
To the OP, you can buy the Whole House transmitter for that purpose, hopefully the authorities are never going to know and any neighbours that do tune in will just enjoy it
However strict the authorities appear to be about it on paper we all know there are far far more important "crimes".
To go and loot somebody's house or building on the basis of a radio station is an action nearing that of ISIS. The authorities actions would be much worse morally than merely running a radio station.
You should be reasonably OK then with a small neighbourhood station, it's positive, and the vast majority of ordinary people I've ever spoken to don't see any problem with it and it's also pretty rare to get a lecture that it's illegal.
Just think how bad our legal stations are as well outside the BBC and the red tape needed to create community stations.
No idea?, but quite possibly, I used to know a guy who 'almost' did
But it was his third offence, first time everything was confiscated and a small fine, second time everything was confiscated again and a large fine - third time he grovelled in court and got off with a small fine again (and I seem to recall he even got all his equipment returned that time)