Bought one of these, are they legal in NZ?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Bought one of these, are they legal in NZ?

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PaulZA

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#1053085 25-May-2014 20:29

sbiddle:
PaulZA: Wouldn't do this, but just for interest sake what would happen if somebody had to broadcast at the full power somewhere off the NZ mainland, ie Motutapu island, Great Barrier island etc? I doubt the RSM inspectors will have the equipment, ie boats to actually go to the destination, and seize the equipment, sure they could probably do it easily, but unless one's actually being a menace, and deliberately interfering with legitimate communications, they should leave you alone for longer. On a side note, changing the subject here I know, somebody actually brought it up with me in the day, is why haven't people transmitted the usual 87.5FM - 108mhz band from space? providing the technology was properly researched, and proper measures were put in place. Losing signal, through bush and rough terrain will be a thing of the past. I know, of XM in the USA, but I'm talking analog, not digital.

Simple answer to question 1? Yes RSM will come and get you. You're breaking the law which they're there to enforce. From your posts I'm beginning to think that you're not taking the RSM seriously. That's a very bad approach to be taking. If you do things illegally they will track you down, and they will fine you.

Simply answer to question 2? I'm not quite sure how to answer that in a PC way, safest is to simply say that quite frankly it won't work.

I do take the RSM seriously, I'm just not sure of what they're capable of, and what they're not capable of.

It's not as widely documented, as compared to their, British, and American counterparts.
I'm sticking to the legal route, plus hopefully the factory antenna they ship the unit with isn't very good, and doesn't go more then a few hundred meters. Having my broadcast received on the other end of town, accidentally or even purposely will be my worst nightmare.
I don't want to get further coverage, then our road.

some other sellers on ebay sell identical 7w transmitters, and label it as a "Car Transmitter", so hopefully it doesn't go far.

richms

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#1053092 25-May-2014 20:50

If you just want to cover your house, then get a transmitter in the microwatt range, not whole watts.

My one when placed inside on a table was working to the car stereo with its crappy in glass antenna about 800m away outside the dairy and it turns out I was also stepping on the LPFM station that they listen to in the dairy. Those transmitters are just too powerful to use as a personal transmitter.

Richard rich.ms

PaulZA

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#1053148 25-May-2014 21:48

richms: If you just want to cover your house, then get a transmitter in the microwatt range, not whole watts.

My one when placed inside on a table was working to the car stereo with its crappy in glass antenna about 800m away outside the dairy and it turns out I was also stepping on the LPFM station that they listen to in the dairy. Those transmitters are just too powerful to use as a personal transmitter.

I shall look into getting a personal transmitter asap, although I'm hoping to get some use out of the one that i've ordered. Hopefully if I plug the antenna socket, with a small strand of coax cable, it shouldn't get too far. But 800m, with a standard transmitter! Yikes.

What really got me nervous, is I was watching a youtube video, and somebody was testing one, in Canada, and he claims he bought it "For use around the house" and he drove for 25km, and it was still coming in crystal clear in stereo, when he decided he was driving too far, and he turned back, and when he decommissioned it, and sold it. Personally I'm thinking his claim that it was around the house was a load of hogwash, and he wanted a super LPfm transmitter, and he got scared the authorities were going to get him, after he found out how far it really went. One doesn't buy a transmitter, then a full length dipole antenna, if you want to broadcast around the house.

But if does go too far, and I'm unable to control how far it goes, I'm probably going to get rid of it somehow. I'm not going to keep broadcasting, and risk getting RSM knocking on my door.

ZollyMonsta

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#1053155 25-May-2014 22:21

Avoid selling it on trademe when you part with it, else you may have RSM contact you then also. You're not allowed to sell unapproved transmitters and I have heard of RSM contacting people who list such devices on Trade Me.

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

knoydart

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#1053159 25-May-2014 22:35

RSM keep a very active watch on Trademe so take note, for sales of all types of radio transmitters. The first RPAS listing was pulled two weeks ago due to non compliant transmitters being offered for sale.

The LPFM rules are here, suggest you read them and make sure you understand them as the EIRP rule does catch people out.

richms

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#1053160 25-May-2014 22:36

The other one to watch out for is wireless microphones on there. Have seen many listings for those disappear.

Richard rich.ms

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knoydart

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#1053166 25-May-2014 22:41

richms: The other one to watch out for is wireless microphones on there. Have seen many listings for those disappear.

That will be because after 1 Jan this year, you cant sell radio microphones which transmit above 700 MHz

PaulZA

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#1053404 26-May-2014 11:04

Found a video for those interested.

I have a reason to believe this is the same teenager, who got raided by the RSM, and had his equipment confiscated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gerhNY4t45

Reason why it took 8 months, was probably because RSM don't usually start hunting people down, unless people complain, and I think somebody eventually did.

He openly stated in the description, that he was breaking the law. He didn't word it as such, but he said "At it's highest power, it goes for 7km"

SepticSceptic

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#1055200 28-May-2014 15:55

Way back in the 80's I made a few of those 2 transistor FM "bugs" / transmitters, and even with a short 6" antenna, the range was in excess of 5km. That was probably even 10's of mW power, certainly nowhere near 1w..

richms

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#1055220 28-May-2014 16:03

PaulZA: Found a video for those interested.
I have a reason to believe this is the same teenager, who got raided by the RSM, and had his equipment confiscated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gerhNY4t45
Reason why it took 8 months, was probably because RSM don't usually start hunting people down, unless people complain, and I think somebody eventually did.

He openly stated in the description, that he was breaking the law. He didn't word it as such, but he said "At it's highest power, it goes for 7km"

That video link is no good.

Richard rich.ms

ajobbins

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#1055251 28-May-2014 16:57

ZollyMonsta: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/2045
Note the transmitter in this article looks the same as the OP has purchased, just going by the case.

Aside: Doesn't sound like the kid is paying any licencing/royalties for the music either

Twitter: ajobbins

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ZollyMonsta

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#1055267 28-May-2014 17:37

ajobbins:
ZollyMonsta: https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/2045
Note the transmitter in this article looks the same as the OP has purchased, just going by the case.

Aside: Doesn't sound like the kid is paying any licencing/royalties for the music either

Correct.. Only recently has he raised his pledge-me amount to cover music licencing.

This is approx $750 a year incl a licence for Internet streaming. The amount differs year to years as APRA and PPNZ raise the fees.

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

PaulZA

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#1056926 31-May-2014 00:43

Here's a new link for the video.

Hopefully it works this time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gerhNY4t45s

kiwirock

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#1056931 31-May-2014 04:31

shk292:
B1GGLZ: I think you'll find it's not illegal to own it, only to use it. Customs won't be interested but RSM certainly will.
What you probably don't know is that given the right atmospheric conditions it has the possibility of being heard as far away as Australia or even further.
Under normal conditions I would expect a range of several Km or even more.
And being of Chinese origin and cheap it is likely to cause many problems in the FM and other bands due to lack of filtering etc. Even at 1w you could be in deep doo-doo.

I think you're exaggerating. It's in VHF band and therefore inherently Line of Sight, although even with 5W that could be several km. The only time I've heard of FM transmissions going further than LOS is with extreme surface ducting like you occasionally get in the Gulf (Arabian, not Hauraki). Even then you're generally looking at a few hundred km maximum, not the nearly 2000 to get to Australia.
I have to agree though, running one of these in public broadcast frequencies in NZ is a bad idea

With a 200W Fm transmitter (licensed of course) on top of a 4 story building in Invercargill, we had a phone call from Australia once to prove they were listening to our station. At the time TV stations could be picked up too. Some weird ionisphere thing.

But 1W, yeah lucky 100KM or so if you're up a hill top. Generally speaking if it was in mono a reasonble reception 3KM is possible. But height is everything.

You can get away with 1.5W if you use a good length of RG58 thin coax (50ohm) length. To get exactly 1.5W you'd need a reasonbly well tuned antenna.

edit: Oh and by they way, I've seen RSM get cranky at those transmitters a few times. I wouldn't personally touch them.

Remember there's more than just transmission power. I don't beleive these units control peak deviation to within 75KHz. If you can't control audio levels on top, you could screw things up for a nearby licensed broadcaster.

kiwirock

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#1056932 31-May-2014 04:38

I hope you also intend to pay your APRA $250 and $250 anual PPNZ fee's to be licensed to broadcast copyright works ;o) Especially if it's a watt in a major city.

Cheers,
Gavin.

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