Dodgy wireless mics

[DrV]

Just had a mate on the phone asking whether I could adjust the frequency of his RLAKY wireless mic. Got him to read me any info he could find on the outside of the unit and amongst it was the gem "121.7-128.7MHz". Eeek! After I'd got back onto my chair I told him it was smack in the middle of the aviation band and not a million miles away from 121.5MHz - London Centre AKA Distress and Diversion Cell. I asked him if he'd had any trouble with it and why did he want it changed - apparently he'd been getting interference from aircraft! Well, at least it is only rated at 50mW so unlikely, realistically, to be received by anything other than a chopper hovering directly overhead but what the HECK is the legal loophole which allows this sort of stuff to get into the country in the first place?

 

After a quick search I found this on ebay which is very similar (on 109-120 MHz). Gives a whole new meaning to "In flight entertainment". Oh and there's a lovely typo - apparently the output power of this one is 8 Megawatts.

 

I think I'll go and have a lie down now...

 

Dave

[Tezzachs]

Until I came on board at the local community theatre, they had mics on 236/237Mhz, turns out they were government frequencies:s

[paulears]

Not government, but military aircraft band, so again, aviation.

 

50mW can actually go a very long way upwards. 50mW and a pretty inefficient aerial mean it's unlikely they are going to be troubled that much by you, because their bandwidth is also much narrower than a radio mic, but interfering with the Military is probably something to avoid.

 

There have been all sorts of sweep tunable imported gizmos over the years, and I don't remember any major panic stories, so no disasters caused by them - but still a bad move.

[Tezzachs]

Were they really? oops. Good job we got rid of them then

[Jivemaster]

Seems perfectly OK that the Chinese send us these things -well to them anyway! I once saw some for less than £10.

 

There was an issue with a fast food chain using a military frequency for their drive through. Sorted out rather heavily IIRC.

[dbuckley]

The 108-136MHz aircraft band is standardised globally, so there shouldn't be any country (except perhaps Somalia) where these are not legal.

[timtheenchanteruk]

Just fired off a question to that seller, will let you know what their take on this is :)

[david.elsbury]

Hi Tim

Just going back through old topics, wondered if you'd had an answer back from the seller? I'm sure we're all keen to make sure that no one is doing anything illegal on frequencies when we're professionals making a living off hiring out or selling kit that we (well, you in the UK) have to buy licenses for and make sure it's all legit.

:)

David

[timtheenchanteruk]

nope, never got a reply, was just thinking must post back on to let folk know, and you beat me to it :)

 

Theres 2 or 3 sellers selling the same dodgy kit, might ask another couple if I get chance

[azlan]

I happen to know that one of the stalls at staines market sells the same kit (a tenner for 2 mics and reciever!) Along with various smoking paraphenlia, watches etc.. so it is entirely possible that they are just sold by an importer and that the people involved in retail sales dont have a clue about the legal status.

 

Im not making excuses for them, but it does raise the question of if there should be some kind of regulation or restriction of who can sell radio transmission equipment, and indeed if it is possible to enforce the rules

[GR1]

Isn't it 'Staines Upon Thames' these days ?

[Brian]

...it does raise the question of if there should be some kind of regulation or restriction of who can sell radio transmission equipment, and indeed if it is possible to enforce the rules

There are lots of rules already.

 

Anything sold into the EU must be CE marked and this responsibility lies with the importer. It's an offence to sell things that aren't CE marked; it's an offence to affix a CE mark to items which don't meet the appropriate standards. Ignorance of the law is no defence. I can't anything else being needed.

[pjb304]

Isn't it 'Staines Upon Thames' these days ?

 

I believe so.

[timtheenchanteruk]

Right, message fired off to another couple of sellers, both appear to be trade sellers, both claim to be in the UK using the UK only option on the bay...

[Speakercon]

I've come across a set of the mics in question branded 'K&K'.

They had one of these plugs on and a knot in the cable as strain relief in the receiver.

http://www.bs1363.org.uk/assets/images/autogen/Illegal-plug-2n.jpg