Ofcom - faulty PSU causing outages for Emergency Services..

stealthgeek

stealthgeek

stealthgeek

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So just had the weirdest phone call from my brother..

Gets a knock on his door, guy says he's from Ofcom and they are investigating rogue signals in the area that have caused a 2mile radius blackout in the area. The guy presents legitimate looking ID. Asked if he had a computer and if he wouldnt mind turning it off, after which he confirms that the rogue signals have disappeared. The guy says that this can sometimes be caused by faulty capacitors in old PSUs and if he turns it on again they have the powers to force an entry and remove any offending equipment!

So this is the PC I built for him a few years ago, the PSU is an Enermax Galaxy 850w which powered his 2 x 4870 in Xfire up until a few days ago when he finally got the replacement for his faulty 6970 from OCUK that was a 7950, which he connected 2 or 3 days ago.

Im not quite sure why this has all happened now unless its related in some way to the 7950 drawing more/less power than the 2 4870s that is changing the harmonics of the PSU in some way? I cant find the receipt for the components, I cant even remember who I bought everything from... Has anyone heard of anything like this?? Is there any chance it could be some other component (perhaps the 7950)? I dont want him to rush out and buy a Purple-Shirt-Special on Xmas eve only for him to have his door bashed down!

Didnt help that I was already half cut on festive red wine, wasnt expecting a phone call like that :confused: :eek:
 
They won't have any power to remove it from the premises without police presence and a magistrates order afaik. Sounds like some kind of scam or wind up to me.
 
I doubt a faulty psu will cause a 2 mile signal black out of anything. Black out of what?

I would check the dude hasnt stolen anything or staking out the place to rob it at a later date.
 
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Your brother seriously fell for this crap, do you really believe that a iffy pc capacitor can take down the electrical supply in a two mile radius, sounds a load of tosh tbh.
 
Screams scam to me....probably come back later accusing him of using the aforementioned PC and then say he is going to confiscate it......

Hardly the most power hungry PC out there, I bet the guys running tri r290x 's are pooping it now.... :D
 
Wouldn't normally believe this myself, but he corroborated the story with the local mini cab firm who said they'd been having problems. Adds some credence, but yes I'm still suspicious as well.

Assuming it is all legit, the PSU is most likely to be the culprit?
 
Would like to see the specific law they are operating under that grants them a power of entry.

Refuse to turn of PSU and they cannot even substantiate it's you causing the problem......even if it's a legitimate thing.

A quick Google shows some stuff for TETRA causing interference with TV Signals but nothing the other way around.

I think it's a scam. A single PC PSU causing an EMI outage of TETRA? On such a scale? Highly unlikely.
 
Hmmm

A Justice of the Peace in England and Wales, in Scotland a Sheriff and in Northern Ireland a lay magistrate may grant a search warrant under section 97 of the 2006 Act. Such warrants are valid for three months in England and Wales and one month in Scotland and Northern Ireland. They allow those authorised by Ofcom to enter premises etc with or without constables, to search there and to examine and test any apparatus found.

Under Section 99(2) of the 2006 Act, the warrant may authorise the seizure and detention, for the purposes of legal proceedings, of any apparatus or thing found which appears to have been used in connection with, or to be evidence of, the commission of certain offences under the 2006 Act.
Seizure without warrant

Power is given in Section 99(3) of the 2006 Act for constables, or those authorised by Ofcom, to seize and detain without warrant, for the purposes of legal proceedings, certain apparatus or things found where they have reasonable grounds to suspect that certain offences have been or are being committed.
Obstruction

Under Section 98 of the 2006 Act any person who intentionally obstructs an authorised enforcement officer exercising powers under a section 97 search warrant, or who fails or refuses without reasonable excuse to give any assistance which section 97 requires, may be guilty of an offence. Under section 100 of the Act it is an offence intentionally to obstruct a constable or officer authorised by Ofcom who is exercising the power in section 99(3).
Click to expand...


Seems that technically if you've been advised by an official Ofcom representative that something your doing is causing interference and continue to do it after being made aware of the fact they can infact come back and confiscate the equipment without needing a warrant. I still find it highly dubious that a PSU is causing widespread interference of TETRA, etc. at best it would be 10s of meters.
 
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Contact ofcom for confirmation and ask how you'd go about fixing an issue you cant detect yourself.

I'd be amazed personally if any part of a pc could go rogue while still being fully operational and become a transmitter with any significant range.
 
It was claimed by Ham radio users that Powerline/Homeplugs can have the same effect.

Not heard of any issues of the emergency services in my area. Find it odd that a single person is sent out and somehow pin points your brother? Did he go to neighbouring houses?
 
What a complete load of **** - how did he confirm that the "rogue signals" had stopped? What about the millions of old PSU in other peoples PCs and other equipment (TVs, Fridges, and any other numerous electrical items) that are still in use now?

If this was official they would have left some form of documentation / paperwork with your brother or at the very least some contact details.
 
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Hope you didn't tell him you were going away for Xmas - could be ripe for some nasty visitors while you are away. Sounds very suspicious to me. I would not have allowed them entry to the premises until I had checked with the local police.
 
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