Have just bought a radio adaptor kit for my i-Pod, it plays your music through an FM channel. There is a (very) small warning on the box that says "may not be legal to use in UK".
Is this true, does anyone know? If so, why? Setting up a playlist before getting in the car and pressing play has to be safer than messing with cassettes, CDs and radio channels, surely?
Can any of the fine intelligent folk here tell me?
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it's nothing to do with pressing buttons, they use an FM radio transmitter and without a license for such a device you are breaking the law. The signal is very weak but it is technically still illegal however you would be very unlucky to be charged for such an offence.
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They are illegal to switch on, but it's an unenforcable crime.
They aren't even bothered about pirate radio stations these days (same law) as our Police in Nottingham advertise against gun crimes on them.
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I bought one of these but the quality was not great and I was not convinced that it was broadcasting in stereo. Is yours and if so how much was it?
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Ah I understand now! Hardly crime of the century is it? : )
Bobby, the one I bought is great! 29 quid and the sound quality's really good. Company was called in21.
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See:
tinyurl.com/hbbmt
Ofcom's view is different from Oftel, whose work it took over - Oftel said as the power was so low it was most unlikely that prosecutions would be made for using such devices.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Typical pathetic British law. I will keep on using mine then!
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I've been using one of these for some time, it is from a company called Belkin. It works just fine.
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>>it is from a company called Belkin>>
A highly respected company and products.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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See: tinyurl.com/hbbmt Ofcom's view is different from Oftel, whose work it took over - Oftel said as the power was so low it was most unlikely that prosecutions would be made for using such devices. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Good web page, thank you, stuart.
And a good example of a law that can be morally broken. A bit like the speed limit in many situations.
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In a rare exhibition of common sense, someone is getting the law sorted out:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5180958.stm
So that's ok then
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I have one of these and as I understand it the transmission range is only about 5-10m so whoever is responsible for enforcing the law would practically be in the car with you.
I have found that although the principle is fine it is difficult to find an FM frequrncy that is not being used and so causing interference.
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I should imagine if one had one of these things :
www.griffintechnology.com/products/itripauto/index...p
which they'd got off eBay then the main problem would be driving around the country where radio stations transmit of different frequencies - one might get a good signal on 107.1 in Keighley but find it clashes with something in Lancaster.
Good idea, but a pain on a long journey.
Lee -- You don\'t sell the steak, you sell the sizzle
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Using them in the UK is definately against the Wireless and Telegraphy act etc, which is why all of my colleagues purchased them in the States/Canada, cus as someone else has pointed out, it is an unenforceable law really.
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Good point about FM frequencies on longer journeys: mine has 5 settings in the 88.1-89 band that you can change if they go weak.
Been from Cheshire to Wolverhampton in it no probs, am awaiting the M62 trek to really test it!
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I bought mine on Ebay. It covers 87.7 to 108 MHz, i.e. the full FM band.
Cost only £2.90 plus £5.90 for carriage; came from Hong Kong.
Works but quality isn't brilliant. Haven't tested for stereo yet.
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I've got one and the quality is disapointing.
It might just be psycological, but I seemed to get a headache whenever I used it (I haven't used it for a few month now). Having a transmitter of unknown power which hasn't been proven to be safe let alone legal inside the car with you is possibly cause for concern!
I think I'll buy a head uit which has ausb port in it instead so I can plug a memory stick straight into it
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It's a very low power transmitter! Mine meets EU legislation, so I doubt it's dangerous.
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Mine has a "CE" sticker on it, the genuine-ness of which I have my doubts about.
I'm not the least concerned about any "dangers" from the unit, it is definitely of very low power as walking away holding a portable FM radio easily demonstrates.
These units are almost certainly designed and manufactured for the US market. As such, they almost certainly use a Pre-emphasis characteristic which is meant for that country. Here in the UK the characteristic is different; it cannot be changed, either.
Please don't ask me what pre-emphasis is, I don't know, except that it has some bearing on the audio quality. Perhaps this might be why these units don't sound too wonderful over here.
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I got an i-trip (the Griffin product) with my ebay iPod. The transmission is pathetcally weak- any ideas? Is it just knackered? I can pick up the signal with my home radio, but it's fuzzy and indistinct. In the car, the transmission is too weak to be picked up (the seek just whizzes by).
TIA,
Alex
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
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I got an i-trip (the Griffin product) with my ebay iPod. The transmission is pathetcally weak- any ideas? Is it just knackered?
I've got an iTrip and transmission is okay on mine. I occasionally get a bit of static/interference, which goes away if I plug it into the cig lighter socket charger. But generally it puts out a strong signal which works in the car and in the house. Have you tried all frequencies, as far away as poss. from local radio ones?
Sound quality varies from adequate to good. I would much prefer a hard-wired solution but with my cars factory fit stereo its a pain and I cant be bothered.
I have had the problem on long distance runs of radio stations drowning out the signal, but on my normal driving round 3 different counties it doesnt happen.
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I don't have an I Pod but installed a H & B CA-5555 into the 944 which has MMC/SD & USB memory slots as well as playing MP3 CD's & standard ones & also has a port for an external disk changer. All for £ 108!
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I've got one and round the house it's great. In the car it's not so good.
What's actually needed is a much more intelligent transmitter. Firstly, it should use RDS so that it can be identified by the radio it's tuned into. Secondly, it should monitor the airwaves, so that it selects a frequency that's not being used. It could then retune, taking the radio listening to it with it via the RDS signal. Bingo. Could be slightly higher power to get around quality issues, while making sure it wasn't interfering with existing stations, and eliminating problems stemming from car use.
Can't be that hard surely?
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I too have a Belkin tunecast and it works very well. A lot better than the cheap ones you get from ebay.
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You need another license for RDS.
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Ofcom are about to change the law on FM i-pod player transmitters and similar devices.
They also plan to deregulate CB if anyone's interested!
www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/07/nr_20060714b
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