Confessions of a Radio Pixie part 2 - Mr. Mervyn: The Spy from the DTI

Mr. Mervyn wasn't actually a spy, he was a radio investigation officer from the Department of Trade & Industry's Radiocommunications Agency, which is now part of OFCOM*. Affectionately known by his first name Graham by radio users locally, he doned in those days a fetching moustache and had a piecing stare through his tinted bifocal spec's. He had busted a few people in his time for using unlicenced equipment, and my time was coming.

Around 1991 I rented a small room (more like a cupboard) off a CB radio shop to do repairs, and one afternoon Graham came in to have a nosey around. He pulled his ID card out and asked to inspect my workshop. Unfortunately I had several shelves of  CB radios that were unlicensable stacked high belonging to customers. So calmly (even though inside I was shitting myself) and said the words, "You can't come in without a search warrant", just miraculously popped out of my mouth. He grinned nervously and replied, "Fair enough". So he hanged around the shop for a while and then left. In the shop at the time was John the sales assistant (who also does repairs) and a regular customer Dave. We bundled all the illegal CB rigs into Dave's car, a Fiat Panda, and drove back to my flat several miles away to drop them off for temporary storage. You would of thought we were dealing in moonshine or even drugs, than radio equipment that didn't have the right stamp on it.

I didn't get bothered again by Graham. Prehaps he had bigger fish to fry, or prehaps I stood up for my rights. Most people would of caved in and let an authority figure in, whether they had the right or not. It's the same with the TV licence. People just let them in, as they think the authorities have some magic device that can detect TV's in the house. Even if it was stored unplugged in the cupboard, lol. This of course is nonsense, and this digression has lead me to an interesting future blog to write my opinions of the TV licence. Watch this space!

73's from Dave the Pixie

* The UK regulatory authority for communications