Is It Illegal To Own An Fm Transmitter???

[Alpha]

Hi,
Could somebody please tell me whether or not it is illegal to actually own an FM transmitter? Not even to have it broadcasting, but just to own it?
In England (G.B.) I knowit is illegal to even have one in your possession, never mind turning it on. Is it the same here or can you own one if you don't use it????

Alpha.

[CTE]

no its not ILLEGAL to own a transmitter in ireland , but if you use it you use it at your own risk !:eek:

[021]

remember also that your average FM radio RECEIVER is well capable of transmission, by just connecting a length of wire to a point on the circuit board you will have a carrier radiating to your neighbourhood usually 10.7 MHz above the tuned freq, and easy enough to modulate it

[Mike]

Ayh yes my first transmitter worked just like that.


Anyway it is actually to POSSES a transmitter without a licence under the original 1926 law. Mobile phones and some low power devices are covered by a ministerial order exempting them.

Even recievers need a licence (unless covered by a similar exemption order)
One order covers broadcast recivers defining them as "apparatus designed SOLELY for recieving sound (but not visual images) from a broadcasting station"
Where this leaves radio-cassetters 3 in 1 midi systems etc is anyones guess. Indeed what about RDS

[Peadar]

True. So many devices could be tweaked to be very low power FM transmitters that if they were curtailed by law we'd be living 20 years ago.

[021]

"Mobile phones and some low power devices are covered by a ministerial order exempting them. "

Mobile Phones were only exempted about 4 or 5 years ago (it was after the 0DTR was established). It was a little known fact but until then, anyone using a mobile phone was breaking the 1926 and 1988 laws and could technically even have been imprisioned/fined as much as £20,000 if prosecuted.

[Arnold]

Does that mean that Eircell (as was then) a semi-state body could have been charged with multiple breaches of the broadcasting act, that would have been good for a laugh.

[Mike]

Yeah but RTE (also a semi state body) also broke the law when they jammed Nova, Sunshine etc in 1984

Section 12B of the 1926 Act (as amended by the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960) makes it an offence to deliberately cause interference to ANY radio transmission (regardless of whether or not the transmission is itself legal)

I dont understand why Cary never tried to get an injunction against RTE on this point. It would have been highly embarrasing (especially given RTE's screaming about those lawless pirates at the time)