Free TV?

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verytalldave

Member
Can the new(ish) LCD/Plasma screen TV's be detected the same way as CRT TV's?

Only, if they cant, then surely it must be open to abuse by some not to pay their licence fee.

You know what I mean??????
 
It’s the tuner in the TV that emits the signal that is detected, so anything with a TV tuner in it (CRT TV, PC, Plasma TV, TFT TV etc) can be detected.

Whether or not the TV licence people actually try to detect anything or hope to get people to buy a licence through intimidation and threats remains unanswered.
 
Roberts Radios used to make a radio (primarily aimed at blind people) that also tuned in to UHF TV channels. Therefore would this radio have the potential to be "detected" as if it was an actual TV?
 
Yes, if it tunes into UHF then it could be detected, but I don’t know if it would class as a TV or not in the eyes of the TVLA people.

Someone who is completely blind can get a 50% discount on their TV licence.
 
They only have a small number of vans for the whole country, they rely almost entirely on the records showing households without licenses and have a team of people touring the country and knocking at these doors. If you don't have a license, the chances are that at one time or other they will knock at your door.
 
As I understood it (past tense) the detector vans could tune into the oscillations from the line (or was it frame) oscillator in the TV which escaped back up the aerial feed. If the TV doesn't have an oscillator then they can't detect it.

It's possible they have other means but, as rolfw says, they seem to rely upon the list of people who don't have a licence and then just park a detector van outside the house as a menace.

PaulR
 
I the old days they parked the vans outside schools and the kids go home and tell their parents they saw the van. It proved very effective until computer records took over.

Remember going to work one morning and met the bloke from the detector van at the gate. He asked if I had a license and I told him it was in a shoe box on top of the wardrobe - just ask the wife.

So he went to the door and asked to see the licence, the wife didn't know where it was. The bloke asked her to try the shoebox on top of the wardrobe.

A couple of minutes later she arrived with the valid licence, 'that's some van you've got there' she said!.

Sorry!
 
PaulR said:
As I understood it (past tense) the detector vans could tune into the oscillations from the line (or was it frame) oscillator in the TV which escaped back up the aerial feed. If the TV doesn't have an oscillator then they can't detect it.

It's possible they have other means but, as rolfw says, they seem to rely upon the list of people who don't have a licence and then just park a detector van outside the house as a menace.

PaulR
Click to expand...

Yes, the old method used the radiated line timebase frequency, which could be detected even without an outside aerial connected.
Now, as Polomint says, they can pick up the tuner's IF radiation. This goes for Sat.TV,PCTV cards too.
Llew
 
Llew said:
Now they can pick up the tuner's IF radiation. This goes for Sat.TV,PCTV cards too.
Llew
Click to expand...
If a receiver uses direct conversion then there is no intermediate frequency. In which case a TV so equipped (are there any?) would be undetectable then?

Just a thought...

PaulR
 
PaulR said:
If a receiver uses direct conversion then there is no intermediate frequency. In which case a TV so equipped (are there any?) would be undetectable then?

Just a thought...

PaulR
Click to expand...

Yes this is the principle of 'zero IF' tuners, which downconvert to baseband.
It will still use a local oscillator though, running at a much higher frequency.
I expect this can be detected though.
 
This is getting a bit over my head now.........
What about this scenario.......
If you have your PC on.....and it has TV card installed.......but (for example) you are on the net.......could that still be detected as a TV? Or does the TV card only switch on and power up when you select that option from your operating system?
Again.....just curious.......!!!!
 
verytalldave said:
This is getting a bit over my head now.........
What about this scenario.......
If you have your PC on.....and it has TV card installed.......but (for example) you are on the net.......could that still be detected as a TV? Or does the TV card only switch on and power up when you select that option from your operating system?
Again.....just curious.......!!!!
Click to expand...

The PCTV card is fully operational when the PC is on.
In the case of cards used for analogue TV or DTT transmissions, radiation through your aerial will be able to be detected.
For Satellite PC cards, while the card is also powered up, the LNB can be switched off. But there will still be a connection to your cable from the tuner.
I'm not sure what radiation levels can be detected via the cable in this case.
Shall have to look further into this.

Llew
 
Of none of that removes the fact that you would still need a TV licence if your PC was equipped with a tv card - even if you never used it.
So I suppose theres no way round it - buy a licence - or risk the wrath of Satan.
 
verytalldave said:
Of none of that removes the fact that you would still need a TV licence if your PC was equipped with a tv card - even if you never used it...
Click to expand...

Not so, you only need a TV licence if you watch (receive, record etc) TV broadcasts. You do not need a TV licence if you have a TV card in your PC and never use it.

Likewise if you have a TV card connected to a VCR and watch pre recorded videos you don’t need a licence (the same is true for a TV connected to a VCR – no licence is needed for that either).
 
So then.......in theory of course......it would be possible to have a tv card in your pc and watch tv without anyone being the wiser. Assuming of course that the tv card is always powered when the pc is on, then it would be impossible to PROVE that you had been watching tv on your pc. Is that right? Or have have I made some incorrect assumptions?
Maybe proof is not required - just the "ability" to receive tv is enough to need a licence. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
 
They can in theory tell what channel you are watching, when you are tuned into a certain frequency the signal the tuner emits is a set distance from that of the signal you are receiving. So if you are watching ITV analogue you are emitting a signal slightly above or below (I can’t actually remember which it is) the ITV signal – proof that something is tuned into ITV.

Of course this is all in theory and in practice they probably do none of this. Showing them that there is no aerial connected and no channels are tuned in normally gets rid of the inspectors.

But you don’t have to let them into your house unless they have a warrant, and they can’t get a warrant without giving a magistrate some evidence that suggests you are watching TV. Despite all their publicity it isn’t all that easy to do, especially if you have a shared aerial.

But what they can do is take you to court, send a summons through the post asking you to turn up in court, where they will ask you under oath if you are using a TV without a licence. You can plea by post, and the vast majority of these get sent back with a guilty plea.

The ability to receive TV, as I said, does not mean you need a licence, you only need a licence if you are receiving broadcasts.
 
One thing that I have never understood is why you have to fill in the TV license forms when you purchase a DVD player, I had an arguement in tescos years back over this, stating that there was no tuner in the DVD player, so why did i need to. However they just said unless you want to go home without the player then fill it in.

I guess that is just a ploy to the affect of, if he has a DVD player he probably has a TV, but I always thought that it missed the point.
 
here's something which a lot of you won't know. If you have a B&W TV (and pay a reduced licence fee) then if you have a VCR connected then you have to buy a Colour TV licence.

'Strue. The reasoning is that the VCR records in colour and these can therefore be viewed on a suitable TV later.

Nice little "gotcha" for you.

PaulR
 
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