Radio obsessive threatening to report us to Ofcom..?

[emmalinewre]

Hope this is ok to post here!
Got a knock on the door a few days ago from a man carrying a full sized aerial under his arm..
He said could he walk around the perimeter of my house with his radio frequency thing to check where some interference is coming from?

Turns out he’s a radio person (uses aerials and such to communicate with other radio fans, just a hobby but seemingly a rather serious one)

He said he’s been picking up lots of interference when trying to use his equipment and has tracked said interference down to our house..

He told me to turn some lights on and off and showed me on his screen thingy (?) how its an adapter we’ve put on our kitchen cabinet lights which is knocking out his frequency. Said we’d need to remove the adaptor else he’d have to report us to Ofcom as its a protected frequency, and also interefering with aeroplane signals or something?
Anyway, he’s the neighbour across the road so we did it and he hasn’t come back, so we assume the problems is fixed.

However. Is this reasonable?
He said the adaptor is probably Chinese imported fake CE marked and not legitimate which is why it has started to fail and mess with signals (we installed it six months ago and only now is there a problem)
But we bought it from a really quite high-end retailer - its not fake or dodgy.

Do we all just have to do whatever the local radio ham tells us to do, including removing perfectly legitimate and useful technology in our own homes?
We don’t really have that much of a problem with it - but it still feels a bit cheeky - and we do miss being able to control our kitchen lights remotely, as the rest of the house is set up that way.

Can ofcom really fine us for using a light switch?

Thanks!

Bemused, Cambridge

@GasPanic addressed these points above. No electrical device, medical or otherwise, should be generating interference outwith its approved frequencies; no ifs, no buts. Overweening senses of entitlement don't come into it.

We can switch our kitchen light on, change its colour and its brightness via ‘Siri . ‘ Hi Siri, turn light to 10%’ etc.

OFCOM looks like it is a thing even mentions lights amongst other things causing interference but does not mention fines, just asks radio users to contact them so they can offer practical advice.

No idea about radio frequencies but stuff from china without the appropriate CE labels is becoming a real issue. We’ve had a few electrical components bought at work in good faith that our electricians have had to replace.
I’d be getting the switch checked by an electrician not because of the radio stuff but from a fire safety point of view.

Reminds me of this story. The bloke agreed to turn his tv off. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54239180 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54239180]]]]

You have done the nice thing and replaced the device that was causing issues with his hobby. Whether you had to or not, it is a much nicer outcome. I would also considering that the type of person to be heavily in to a niche hobby based on old technology is also quite likely to be a person who might have communication differences. Hopefully he will appreciate what you did and it will lead to good neighbourly relations.

I’m a lawyer working in this field.

Alongside some real nastiness there is some misinformation on here as well as good advice from who do actually understand the law and/or technology.

Not sure that posting my legal analysis will help, but hey.

There are general prohibitions in UK law about causing radio interference. They are enforced by Ofcom.

Under product conformity law (UKCA/CE marking) any IoT device such as the one the OP has will be restricted in terms of the frequencies that it can use and the power levels that it can deploy in those frequencies. If it’s doing something else, it may cause interference for example with ham radio. Using such a device could lead to enforcement action by Ofcom.

There is a big issue as some posters have noted with items being imported to the UK which do not not comply with the applicable product conformity rules. They are often sold and used in good faith.

Finally, although this is not within my professional expertise, I would imagine it’s not very challenging for a radio ham to accurately triangulate and locate the source of interference. It’s exactly what Ofcom would do. Assuming the neighbour is not somehow deranged or unreasonable as some people here seem to think he may be I would be inclined to take his finding of an interference source at the OPs house at face value.

I suspect that the device the OP is using does not comply with applicable law either because it is faulty or because it is dodgy. Might be worth taking it back to the retailer and getting another. Would certainly be neighbourly to do that.

It's just as likely that a dodgy IoT device could cock up someone's medical monitor, if it's interfering with protected frequencies, so the radio ham neighbour is absolutely right to say it shouldn't be used. I assume that was his point in saying that it could interfere with other protected frequencies like air traffic—it isn't just about his hobby.

I’ve learned a huge amount on this thread so thank you for the knowledgable folk who’ve posted!

I feel slightly saddened by a lot of responses though!

I'll admit I started looking at Mumsnet with prurient interest. I had heard from others how utterly stark, staring bonkers it could be. I saw that and ashamed to say I looked on with amusement. However, I also saw how kind some people could be to others struggling. Mostly, I've seen a lot of bonkers.

Strangely, though, this is the only thread which has made think now is time is the time to walk away.

Dozens and dozens of posters with their 'kill the witch' posts waving their pitchforks, determinedly not understanding, despite a sensible group of people of explaining the science, the issues raised and the law, yes the actual actual law, surrounding this. These people would be screaming call 101 if it was a similar situation but didn't involve a bit of science they can't be arsed to understand.

It is almost a microcosm of what has led to what has happened in the US election.

I imagine OP is hiding in a darkened room wishing they had not bothered and just binned the malfunctioning adaptor which their neighbour had every right to make them aware of, although they could have been more tactful. I'm mildly amazed that no-one has said they may neuro-divergent or have early onset dementia.

We have someone close by who has a radio ariel, a very tall one, presumably he's a ham. I suspect it's him whose voice mutters in the background on my computer speakers from time to time, with other voices in the background seeming to reply. It's a pain in the neck, but so small in the overall scheme of things I can't be bothered to go round and moan about it.

Okay, you may know the answer to this. I get interfernce on my computer speakers. A very low volume background muttering of voices. A chap round the back has a massive ariel above hos house (I think he now has 2 actually). My guess is it's him. So what do I do to stop his conversations coming out on my speakers?

Go and tell him but don't be weird when you do it for goodness sake or you might end up on Mumsnet. If he has a massive aerial odds are he'll understand, have the means to work out what's going on and will fix it - even if it is isn't him. I am no expert but, if he is a Ham the problem will be intermitterment and only when he is transmitting. If it is all the time, I suspect it is something different. Have you tried moving your speakers away from other electronics?

You're absolutely right, this website can be like a privileged secret window into a world of deluded paranoia and unkindness which people keep well hidden in real life but feel able to reveal through online anonymity.

@AcrossthePond55 great post, my dad is now silent key, and I'm aware you aren't all 60+ men (sorry!!)

but I was trying to let the OP know how important and friendly this community is. And how amazing most of the radio hams really are, yes you get rude ones like any walk of life.

But this community when the wi-fi goes and emergency's hit are all in their shacks ready to leap into action.

88s on your dad's Silent Key. And thanks for the positive comments.

I would assume they the lighting adapter came with a manual (which may never have been read) - I would also assume (possibly wrongly) that it contains info at what frequencies it should be transmitting at, which could then be compared with allowed frequencies. But this also assumes that it's doing as the manual says.

I agree with this. Even the title of the post, "Radio obsessive threatening..." is goady and frankly disgusting, intended to make the neighbour sound like a lunatic.

Seven pages in and no-one has mentioned Tony Hancock?

Many thanks. It's just in the late evenings as a rule, so probably just when he's transmitting. I don't want to spoil his fun, I was just wondering if there was anything I could do my end rather than go round there. They're really ancient speakers, but it never happened with the same speaker/computer system until a really big ariel went up, so it's either the new ariel, or the new ariel is transmitting with more power than the old one, so has caused something that wasn't strong enough before to cause a problem to be audible.... though I'm wondering if my speakers are so old they are not up to current standards for screening stuff out? Do you think new speakers might help?

He cannot report you to Ofcom! 🤣 Ignore him and pop your lights back on 💡

@ForPearlViperA Wi-Fi plug cannot interfere with Aviation signals! 🤣 FFS give your head a shake.
I work in Aviation and I can assure you, WiFi uses a completely different frequency, he’s talking nonsense! He just can’t be bothered to use a different frequency or go and buy a proper external aerial. He’s a tight wad

And another one with a selfish attitude. Of course he can. Did you read what @decreasingbells wrote?

I don’t need to! I’m not just some arrogant woman, I have professional knowledge behind what I’m saying. Of course he cannot report her to ofcom because she has some perfectly legal adapter ffs! He’s just a tight wad who doesn’t want to solve HIS issue HIMSELF!

Perhaps you should, it’s only a few posts ago. Just because you’re aware that aircraft systems don’t use the same frequencies as domestic Wi-Fi doesn’t mean OP’s adapter a) hasn’t developed a fault or was never compliant to begin with, and b) isn’t generating illegal interference on frequencies reserved, by the government, exclusively for ham radio use.