Mike Moore
Senior Heliman
Location: Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset UK
| Hi guys/girls,
I'm not sexist ...lol. 
Just a little more 'news' for you .....
I've recently been chatting to Manny Williamson
(BMFA - Development Officer) regarding the issues of 2.4GHz radio equipment use here in the UK.
Here's what he had to say .....
Dear Mike
Thank you for your Email in relation to illegal radio control equipment. You are correct in that it is a very difficult situation that we currently find ourselves in, the BMFA is in no way a police force and has neither the remit nor the power to do so.
The use and compliance with telecommunications laws fall directly under the jurisdiction of Ofcom as a government enforcement body, all that the BMFA can do is to provide the best advice possible to it’s members.
Unfortunately even the CE mark is not always a clear indicator and there are sets which are perfectly legal for use in the UK which do not carry this identifier, in these circumstances the onus is on the end user to prove compliance with UK law if requested to do so by a statuary body.
In the case of Spektrum sets that are found to be transmitting above the UK legal 100Mw the importers (Horizon Hobby UK) operate a service to rectify this on a FOC basis, regarding other manufacturers I do not have information on this aspect at present.
The best advice is to buy reputable equipment from designated importers who provide a full statement of compliance with European legislation, only under these circumstances can you be confident that equipment is compliant and that there will be a back up service if this compliancy is called into question.
The advice provided in the BMFA News (in this issue as well as previous issues) is the best available at present, there will be updates published as and when this becomes appropriate.
Kind regards,
Manny Williamson
Development Officer
ADDITION ...
Thank you for your further Email in relation to illegal radio equipment. The situation is never going to be straight forward; the best advice is always going to be to purchase reputable equipment from the recognised importer for the brand. This would be considered as reasonable care and diligence on the part of the flyer, having taken this route if there is still a problem then it is likely to be the responsibility of the manufacturer rather than the end user.
The insurance would only be invalidated if the user knowingly broke the law, if he could show that he had taken the steps above then there would be no issue.
With regard to checking of transmitter output, we are currently looking in to this matter in order that we are able to publish the best advice to members, indications are that a cheap and simple microwave oven tester will do the job in a flying field situation.
..................................................................
I think this puts things in a little more perspective regading use and BMFA insurance cover. 
I'm also in the throws of chatting to someone else with regards to being able to measure transmitter output. I'll let you know what I find.
Mike. |
