TV detector vans

paulppaulp
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
In the UK we have to pay an annual license fee if we own a telly. In return we (supposedly) get top quality, commercial-free programming from the BBC.



However, to make sure everyone pays their license fee, detector vans drive round with little aerials on top apparently detecting who's watching unlicensed tellies.



I'm told, by a good authority, that this is purely scare tactics as there is no way a signal can be picked up from a receiving device, which after all a TV is.



I think they work on the assumption that everyone owns one and they just work their way through a database of homes that don't have licenses, then go round and try on the 'we-detected-you-watching-television-but-you-don't-have-a-license' thing.



Any thoughts?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Can someone else from merry England confirm this?



    I know that the UK BSA drives "pirate software detector" vans around England, but then I'd expect that from them.
  • Reply 2 of 39
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    BTW, it's pure 1984 scare tactics.



    Scare people into thinking they might be caught, and they will obey. You don't have to watch them all the time, but if you could be watching anytime, they will be obedient.
  • Reply 3 of 39
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    TV detectors vans works unfortunately. The TV tuner is a recieving device, but the screen (the tube) is an emetting one.

    They can spy what TV emission you watch and more they can even spy your cathodic computer screen and read it.



    However they cannot control LCD screen .LCD screen do not product such emissions and thus cannot be detected.



    If you don't want to pay the tax : buy a LCD or plasma TV.
  • Reply 4 of 39
    paulppaulp Posts: 67member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Powerdoc

    TV detectors vans works unfortunately. The TV tuner is a recieving device, but the screen (the tube) is an emetting one.

    They can spy what TV emission you watch and more they can even spy your cathodic computer screen and read it.



    However they cannot control LCD screen .LCD screen do not product such emissions and thus cannot be detected.



    If you don't want to pay the tax : buy a LCD or plasma TV.



    Woah! Scary stuff.



    Potentially this must impinge on various privacy laws.
  • Reply 5 of 39
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PaulP

    [B]In the UK we have to pay an annual license fee if we own a telly. In return we (supposedly) get top quality, commercial-free programming from the BBC.

    B]



    Chr..st you poor bastard...I lived in the Uk for years, 80's & I thought they dumped that tax..or at least they were thinking of it.....

    ...Why don't you migrate to OZ..

    We got rid of that bullshit 30 years ago....

    .

    Besides which you won't have to just watch the aussie soap on telly..

    You could be living it for real with a beach & all the beer you want for next to nothing....



    F..ck-em....
  • Reply 6 of 39
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PaulP

    Woah! Scary stuff.



    Potentially this must impinge on various privacy laws.



    I have to precise that even if they can spy your computer, it's not their job and it's strictly forbidden.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Powerdoc

    I have to precise that even if they can spy your computer, it's not their job and it's strictly forbidden.



    At least it is covert.....

    9/11 changed everything....so I work on the basis that my computer is being read all the time......such is life...Thanx.... Osama you rat arse...
  • Reply 8 of 39
    paulppaulp Posts: 67member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aquafire

    Chr..st you poor bastard...I lived in the Uk for years, 80's & I thought they dumped that tax..or at least they were thinking of it.....

    ...Why don't you migrate to OZ..

    We got rid of that bullshit 30 years ago....

    .

    Besides which you won't have to just watch the aussie soap on telly..

    You could be living it for real with a beach & all the beer you want for next to nothing....



    F..ck-em....



    Yeah, but you've got big spiders and sharks and things!
  • Reply 9 of 39
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    Is there any differences between a computer CRT and a tv? If not, hook up that old Commodor 64/Amiga 1500 to the back of the tv, and tell them it's a computer monitor.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    paulppaulp Posts: 67member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GardenOfEarthlyDelights

    Is there any differences between a computer CRT and a tv? If not, hook up that old Commodor 64/Amiga 1500 to the back of the tv, and tell them it's a computer monitor.



    Unfortunately, they've wised up to that one. The license is for ownership of the TV and not just the receiving of programmes.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    stupider...likeafoxstupider...likeafox Posts: 1,618member
    I've always thought that this was BS and, with all due respect to PowerDoc, still think so.



    Even if they can pick up signals from TV's they need to triangulate it and pinpoint exactly where it is located. Then they need to correlate that data with house locations and finally check against a database to see if that house has a license for a television.



    Why not just skip all the technology and visit any house without a TV licence. After all, everyone has a TV these days so anyone without a licence is immediately suspicious.



    ----



    On another note, the TV license is a very regressive tax (which is *bad*) and results in many poor people being put in jail for non-payment.



    New schemes that make it easier to pay in stages are a step in the right direction but really there should be a portion of money set aside from general tax revenue.



    For me personally however the licence is money well spent as I get a great benefit out of it despite basically never watching TV.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by stupider...likeafox

    I've always thought that this was BS and, with all due respect to PowerDoc, still think so.



    ...



    Why not just skip all the technology and visit any house without a TV licence. After all, everyone has a TV these days so anyone without a licence is immediately suspicious.





    In Germany, they go around knocking on doors auditing people for tvs and radios.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PaulP

    Unfortunately, they've wised up to that one. The license is for ownership of the TV and not just the receiving of programmes.



    Then run After Dark screen savers of fish, and call it an aquarium. Or use lead-based paints in your living room to shield the tv. Of fill you house with radon, to discourage them from coming in and checking for a tv.
  • Reply 14 of 39
    paulppaulp Posts: 67member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by GardenOfEarthlyDelights

    Then run After Dark screen savers of fish, and call it an aquarium. Or use lead-based paints in your living room to shield the tv. Of fill you house with radon, to discourage them from coming in and checking for a tv.



    Actually I'm a good, wholesome, law-abiding citizen and pay my license fee. But for future reference, and for my less-wholesome friends, I've made a mental note of the lead-based paints idea
  • Reply 15 of 39
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    They had those vans here up until a few years ago. Now they got their list of whos paying the license and whos not and they go randomly and check from that list. Since I only got a radio I have had a couple of visits from them.



    But when they fropped the vans they almost publicly admitted that they hadn´t worked and they had always used lists...
  • Reply 16 of 39
    drewpropsdrewprops Posts: 2,321member
    I always expected the younger generation to make it one of their holy grails to bring the Telly Tax crashing down like the Berlin Wall. I enjoy a great deal of Brit TV, but having it be government subsidized makes less and less sense as the UK producers attempt to churn out more and more Americanized programming...a shame, as there's that wonderful BBC style production.



    Whacky.



    Now, Scottish police shows freak me out. They're so overly complicated that I still don't know what happened even as I 'm watching the credits roll. McTaggart owes me a lot of explanations. A lot.



    Maybe they should tax those MORE.

    (I'm of Scottish descent btw, don't think of flaming)
  • Reply 17 of 39
    agent302agent302 Posts: 974member
    I swear I've seen those vans outside my flat. I mean, I live in a student residence, so of course there are going to be people who aren't paying the license fee (like my two flatmates...) I, on the other hand, just don't have a TV.
  • Reply 18 of 39
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    Those vans sound like great targets.
  • Reply 19 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    this of course will give rise to the TV detector detectors.



  • Reply 20 of 39
    airslufairsluf Posts: 1,861member
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