Radio Discussion Community

Here's a question,

I keep hearing how "in the good old days" people in the UK first started using imported American rigs on AM band.
Then CB was legalised on 27MHz FM and all the AM sets were thus illegal.
You still needed a licence.
Then CB was deregulated and anyone can just buy a rig and hop on the airwaves, although modified radios have always been outlawed.

Apparently half the fun has always been using illegal kit (or using legal kit illegally) and not getting caught.

I know in South Africa a lot of people used bands that the Emergency Services used and by their nature the ES vehicles had triangulation technology, so they caught you that way if you stayed stationary for long enough.


My question is this;
How often did people (if ever) get caught and what were the penalties?
Who caught them and how?

yes people were caught using am rigs depended on the seriousness of the offence fist they were given a warning and the rig was confiscated if they were realy dense they went and bought an other rig and ran 1000watt burners from home thus giving the neighbourhood there opinions on the world so when the local population tuned into coranation street fred could be hear moaning about hislatest fine for speeding/loitering/no tax etc so then he would end up in court only his self to blame i lost a set in the IOM which had been loaned to a guy sailing a golf beetle from ireland to england (dont ask)
a friendly ham radio operator pointed out that the car was fitted with a stag radio which was duly confiscated by the custom officer who posed with scred driver in hand for a snapshot so you took the chance but it seemed if you did not cause interferrance the you were left alone

yeah, in the early 80s a few lads in my area had am rigs, we could hear them on our televisions, i think the neighbours knew exactly who they were, reported them, and voila