I find there's little on ITV I want to watch. The days of decent drama and quality investigative journalism have long gone with all the strong regional programming having been homogenized into lowest-common-denominator drivel.Originally Posted by gammidgy
Of course TV in general is mind-rotting tripe. If I had money, maybe I'd go white-water rafting or BASE jumping; but I don't so it's the idiot box for my leisure time.
The change will come before then. The critical factor is when a sufficient number of licence payers believe they are being cheated, either because they perceive they are paying so that others can watch for free, or because they are not getting value for money from the BBC. It's all subjective, and the nation's mood could change very quickly.
And to be clear, you don't need a licence to own a TV, only to receive a broadcast signal.
Nor do you need to let them into your house when they come knocking,* and never ever ever sign any piece of paper they may thrust you way.
skb
*unless they have a court order to do so.
A number which is getting larger everyday thanks to campaigns in certain newspapers against the BBC. (I wonder who owns those newspapers?)
Correct, but how many people spend a small fortune buying an HD TV without wishing to be able to watch a broadcast channel?
Very few, probably.
Slightly O/T, but something I've occasionally wondered about - do detector vans actually work? Is it possible for equipment, in a mobile van, to detect a TV set and locate it in someone's house?
Obviously, it's easy enough to detect a signal being transmitted, but how does that work for a receiver ( a TV set )? I've never been entirely sure about that...
TV tuners emit weak RF signals.Slightly O/T, but something I've occasionally wondered about - do detector vans actually work? Is it possible for equipment, in a mobile van, to detect a TV set and locate it in someone's house?
Obviously, it's easy enough to detect a signal being transmitted, but how does that work for a receiver ( a TV set )? I've never been entirely sure about that...
Sure, but don't a great many household appliances do the same? Is it really possible for someone sitting in a van in the street to point a dish/antenna at a house and determine if a TV is switched on, and its precise location?
Yes.
As a Post Office apprentice in 1979, I saw the equipment and technique demonstrated. At the time, it was P.O. technicians (later to be B.T.) who manned the detector vans and operated the gear, their day to day work was investigating RF interference.
It was remarkably simple to use a direction antenna, and to display the the waveform of the RF oscillator in the TV. By comparing the waveform side by side with the broadcast signal, it was simple to show that it was a TV, and not some other source, and even identify the channel that was being watched.
Of course, our multi-channel systems have complicated things rather, but the detection technology has moved on too.
" 'Politics' is made up of two words. 'Poli,' which is Greek for 'many,' and 'tics,' which are bloodsucking insects. " - Gore Vidal
Very many thanks for that informative answer, Bruce!
I had occasionally, idly wondered whether the publicised threat of detector vans might be something of a 'bogey man' - just something to scare people into buying a TV licence.
Now I know the answer. And I never mind being shown that my thinking is wrong, if I learn something new in return.
No problemo, Simon. :)
" 'Politics' is made up of two words. 'Poli,' which is Greek for 'many,' and 'tics,' which are bloodsucking insects. " - Gore Vidal
It is even possible with televisions and, more worryingly, computer monitors, to intercept signals radiated by the LCD/CRT and reconstruct the actual image currently displayed on its screen. Other parts of TVs and computers and associated gear also radiate signals which can be intercepted and analysed.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7863852/A-...omagnetic-Wave
That's amazing, Brian - I had no idea that detection equipment could possibly be so sensitive. Very many thanks for the fascinating link.
Ah, but...I had occasionally, idly wondered whether the publicised threat of detector vans might be something of a 'bogey man' - just something to scare people into buying a TV licence.
Now I know the answer. And I never mind being shown that my thinking is wrong, if I learn something new in return.
How many of these vans are there in use now? What are the chances of them driving past my house?
The Beeb have a database of every address anyway, and write letters to any address that doesn't have a licence. Someone I know has had annual visits from them demanding to be let in to check for a TV. They clearly haven't been using a detector because he doesn't have a TV.
So, I accept that the technology works, and that the BBC used to use it, but do they still? If so, do they rely on it or is it just a 'bogey man' threat?
Your in the EU and can expect your TV licence to morph into a Media Tax payable by every postal adress. Finland are piloting it and they it start next year. YLE is thir equivalent to the BBC.
Link translated to english here http://translate.google.co.uk/transl...en-GB:official .
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