Wireless cameras on Ebay

[Big Bill]

I buy guitars from the USA and if you get one that's worth more than £18 - and surprisingly often they are - then you have to pay duty on them. Curiously, though, loads of them just come straight to me and I don't get charged the duty, so I think customs just peek at the odd one every now and then. I imagine they don't have the manpower to check them all, so they just threaten to instead.

BB

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[Stuart Noble]

What a confusing document! It has to be deliberate

[woodglass]

I bought 1 a few months ago that looks exactly the same.

The picture quality is excellent.

I bought a 2.5 inch TFT display at the same time, to use with it.

I have bought many things via ebay, and the only problems I have ever had are with UK sellers.

When sent from Hong Kong, items are usually sent marked as a gift, so you don't pay any import duty.

CG..

[dennis]

Its a scam if they are the usual 1800MHz ones that appear on ebay as they are illegal in the UK.

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

You know a different meaning of the word "scam" to me then.

The one I just bought, for £16.99 inclusive of everything, is 1.2Ghz. No idea if it's a naughty one. Item 5792960089

If it doesn't arrive I'll let you know - then it'll warrant being called a scam.

Si

[dennis]

It is. Only 2.4GHz is legal here. You could be fined and have the equipment confiscated (maybe including the recorder/PC).

Its a scam selling something that's illegal to use without telling them.

[Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)]

I got caught like this too. Despite extensive searching with Google, I was unable to find evidence of it being non approved. It seems that the 1.2GHz band is a designated low power range of frequencies. However, I couldn't find an answer from a UK source, so have not been prepared to use it.

[Mike Dodd]

To confirm, my £100 parcel did attract some £26.03 additional charges from your friend and mine, C&E.

[Lobster]

Why, if they are sold in Hong Kong? Why should the seller be aware of the different laws applying to every country in the world? At best, I suppose he could say something like "purchasers should satisfy themselves that this equpiment is legal in their country" but surely the onus is on the purchaser here.

David

[Lobster]

I'm quite interested in this gizmo as I still haven't got round to sorting out my diy 'endoscope' to sort out my leaking shower (see posts of a few weeks back!)

As a complete numpty at this electronickery stuff, am I right that if I connect the video/audio out leads to the corresponding phono sockets on my portable TV, and then connect one of my zillions of redundant 6-12V wall-warts to the third (power) lead, it would work (I'm presuming you have to tune the TV channel to match the camera, like a VCR?) with no other boxes of electronics?

Thanks! David

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

Fairy muff. Pretty unlikely though, eh? Will it interfere with anything, do you know?

S'not, it's a scam if someone takes your money with no intention of giving you anything in return.

Si

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

Thanks for that. I bought a 4 channel video recording card too so if the camera's as good a toy as it sounds I may well have to buy some more :) They were both cheap enough to not attract the attention of the pickpockets anyway.

Any idea how long the camera runs on a decent battery? I'm sure I've got a few suitable transformers around the house if batteries don't last long...

Si