TV Licence

[Dude111]

Ah so it would be bad if they did Paul huh??

It would stand out like a soar thumb!!

[SnoopZ]

I thought the TV detector vans were said to be fake.

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

I thought the TV detector vans were said to be fake.

That’s a conspiracy theory based on the fact that nobody was ever convicted based on TV detector van evidence.

They were a real thing, the documentary evidence is vast, and the claims sometimes made that the vans and documentation around them was just one massive psyop really isn’t credible.

The reality though is that they weren’t very accurate and at best gave enforcers a pointer as to which unlicenced houses to knock at. Then as now it’s almost always confession evidence that does it. The vans were a starting point and a deterrent, as they were quite visible.

[Dude111]

I was trying to find a picture of the inside of these vans,im sure its quite hi-tech in there!

[bamav]

I don't think it would've taken very hi-tech kit to spot who was watching TV in those days. You could see the tell-tale signs of flickering light from a TV.

[thenry]

There's RGB lighting to hide behind now

[Jaymoss]

Thing is though back in the days of yore before the days and even including the early days of Sky we had a lot more quality and less of a reason to not want to fund the BBC. Of course also at this time they were covering up vile acts but still

Originally Posted by Dude111

I was trying to find a picture of the inside of these vans,im sure its quite hi-tech in there!

Not really - just a receiver capable of picking up interference pumped out by an old-fashioned CRT screen. A directional antenna would assist with working out which house it was coming from. If it seemed that signal was coming from an address that did not have a TV licence, they’d get a knock at the door.

It wasn’t a pointless exercise back in the mid-late 20th century because a measurable number of homes genuinely didn’t have a TV and therefore no TV licence. It’s only from the mid 80s onwards that you could argue that you legitimately owned and used a TV without receiving broadcasts, with home VCRs becoming popular.

[Jaymoss]

The law was just owning a TV I remember being asked for my address when I bought one once so they could report it to them

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Chris

That’s a conspiracy theory based on the fact that nobody was ever convicted based on TV detector van evidence.

They were a real thing, the documentary evidence is vast, and the claims sometimes made that the vans and documentation around them was just one massive psyop really isn’t credible.

The reality though is that they weren’t very accurate and at best gave enforcers a pointer as to which unlicenced houses to knock at. Then as now it’s almost always confession evidence that does it. The vans were a starting point and a deterrent, as they were quite visible.

I remember clamping one 20 years ago, a very satisfying day

[nodrogd]

Originally Posted by Chris

Not really - just a receiver capable of picking up interference pumped out by an old-fashioned CRT screen. A directional antenna would assist with working out which house it was coming from. If it seemed that signal was coming from an address that did not have a TV licence, they’d get a knock at the door.

It wasn’t a pointless exercise back in the mid-late 20th century because a measurable number of homes genuinely didn’t have a TV and therefore no TV licence. It’s only from the mid 80s onwards that you could argue that you legitimately owned and used a TV without receiving broadcasts, with home VCRs becoming popular.

Old CRTs had very leaky intermediate RF circuits that could be picked up yards away. From tuning into a single frequency, detector vans could tell not only that you had a TV on, but what channel you were watching at the time.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Chris

That’s a conspiracy theory based on the fact that nobody was ever convicted based on TV detector van evidence.

They were a real thing, the documentary evidence is vast, and the claims sometimes made that the vans and documentation around them was just one massive psyop really isn’t credible.

The reality though is that they weren’t very accurate and at best gave enforcers a pointer as to which unlicenced houses to knock at. Then as now it’s almost always confession evidence that does it. The vans were a starting point and a deterrent, as they were quite visible.

It's also said that, if their evidence was used in court, those being prosecuted would have the right to cross examine this evidence and this would disclose information that TVL don't want to get into the public domain.

A retired and trustworthy TV engineer has told me in the past that he was shown inside one and that it wasn't fake. However, maybe this conspiracy came about because some were empty inside?? TVL have long said that simply parking a branded TVL van up in various places resulted in a spike of TVL's being purchased in that area

---------- Post added at 14:26 ---------- Previous post was at 14:17 ----------

Originally Posted by nodrogd

Old CRTs had very leaky intermediate RF circuits that could be picked up yards away. From tuning into a single frequency, detector vans could tell not only that you had a TV on, but what channel you were watching at the time.

You could test this yourself by holding a portable radio near to the television, made a horrendous noise.

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by nodrogd

Old CRTs had very leaky intermediate RF circuits that could be picked up yards away. From tuning into a single frequency, detector vans could tell not only that you had a TV on, but what channel you were watching at the time.

Wow I didnt reaiise that!

I gather that only worked if you were using the TV TUNER and not a cable box?

[nodrogd]

Originally Posted by Dude111

Wow I didnt reaiise that!

I gather that only worked if you were using the TV TUNER and not a cable box?

Until cable in the UK went digital (early 2000s), the boxes provided were just frequency converters that changed the incoming cable VHF channel to a fixed UHF channel tuned on the TV. Hence the IF circuit would still be working & leaking the channel output.

[Jaymoss]

Originally Posted by nodrogd

Until cable in the UK went digital (early 2000s), the boxes provided were just frequency converters that changed the incoming cable VHF channel to a fixed UHF channel tuned on the TV. Hence the IF circuit would still be working & leaking the channel output.

They used to transmit UHF down the cable you could just an adapter plug it into the TV in and get terrestrial. They transmitted FM too Well NTL did round here anyway