TV Detector Vans
Discussion
Little Nicky said:
Is this an urban legend.??
If these detectors exist, how do they work.?
Whilst the vans might not exist, they do have detector machines, a bloke was going around the corridors in my first hall of residence at uni with a handheld gizmo thing, I presume he was from TV licencing...
princeperch said:
Whilst the vans might not exist, they do have detector machines, a bloke was going around the corridors in my first hall of residence at uni with a handheld gizmo thing, I presume he was from TV licencing...
Gas/electricity meter reader, perhaps...?
I tested TV Licensing this year. Ignored the threatening letters for six months, then two bods knocked on my door one evening at about 8pm.
We went through a long conversation, during which I denied them access to my house (they have to get authority from a Court).
They kept insisting they'd go away if I could show them I didn't have a TV.
If detector vans worked, they would have parked outside my house to check, don't you think...?
mybrainhurts said:
Whilst the vans might not exist, they do have detector machines, a bloke was going around the corridors in my first hall of residence at uni with a handheld gizmo thing, I presume he was from TV licencing...
Gas/electricity meter reader, perhaps...?
I tested TV Licensing this year. Ignored the threatening letters for six months, then two bods knocked on my door one evening at about 8pm.
We went through a long conversation, during which I denied them access to my house (they have to get authority from a Court).
They kept insisting they'd go away if I could show them I didn't have a TV.
If detector vans worked, they would have parked outside my house to check, don't you think...?
I guess so.
As it happens I never had a licence at uni till I moved into a house, as you only need one if your TV receives a signal, not if its used with a VCR or a DVD player.
Do you not have a TV, or is it a licence you are lacking? I thought they had to prove you were receiving a signal, then gain entry and confirm this visually?
The database thing runs in a number of ways.
Firstly they have a list of everyones name and address that buys a device capable of recieving the BBC so cable, sky, vcrs and tellys.
They then cross reference that list with the list of licences.
The ones that dont match, they come after first.
They also have a list of all the residences in the UK which they compare against the list of current licences. They will speculatively call at the mismatched addresses to ascertain if a TV is in use, via a visual check on an aerial, perhaps using detection technology in some way or by listening. If they suspect, they'll knock.
Firstly they have a list of everyones name and address that buys a device capable of recieving the BBC so cable, sky, vcrs and tellys.
They then cross reference that list with the list of licences.
The ones that dont match, they come after first.
They also have a list of all the residences in the UK which they compare against the list of current licences. They will speculatively call at the mismatched addresses to ascertain if a TV is in use, via a visual check on an aerial, perhaps using detection technology in some way or by listening. If they suspect, they'll knock.
They do work, by listening to the reciever ocsillator inside the tv, it's frequency mirrors that of the tv station being recieved, by walking past your house they can traingulate whereabouts the set is inside your house.
Old colege lecturer of mine gave me the inside on how they work.
kevin
Old colege lecturer of mine gave me the inside on how they work.
kevin
tv_licensing said:Yeah, right.
We have a range of detection tools at our disposal in our vans. Some aspects of the equipment have been developed in such secrecy that engineers working on specific detection methods work in isolation - so not even they know how the other detection methods work. This gives us the best chance of catching licence evaders.
They have the world's top scientists working on revolutionary methods of TV detection. Utter bollox.Zod said:
They have never existed. All they have ever had is a list of addresses without licences.
Wrong. I worked in the post office organisation in the 80, early 90’s and at that time they had 12 vans nationally. They were based on the old Commer PB and later Sherpa vans. They were maned by a team of 3 guys, I driver, 2 engineers. We often had them in the workshops for repair…. Quite often from vandalism!!
Sometime they would go out fully manned but most of the time though they would drive around an estate early evening with just the driver. The local TV licence investigation officer would always visit the local post office first and ask them to track the number of new or renewed licences over the next week, following a visit from the van!
I can always remember my Mums face when I paid her a visit one lunch time in a TV detector van. I went in, had a cup of tea and then she saw me to the door to find said van on the road outside the house… she went ballistic!!!
They did have detector vans.
They detect the high voltage generated in the flyback transformer as its switched on and off and which carries for some distance.
Dont believe me huh? Ok, go get yourself a telephone amplifier, the one with the suction cup on it that attaches to the receiever handset.
Switch it on and go turn on your TV set and get ready for the noise that comes out of it.
The raster is capable of being reproduced on equipment that has the facility to do this.
Thats why its impossible to detect an LCD screen, no flyback pulses.
As an aside, did you know that when a TV is in "standby" mode, the audio amplifier circuitry is still powered?
Try this for yourself: Put the TV into standby mode and put your mobile by the TV then turn the phone on. The phone powering up and communicating with its network can clearly be heard through the louspeaker.
Good eh?
They detect the high voltage generated in the flyback transformer as its switched on and off and which carries for some distance.
Dont believe me huh? Ok, go get yourself a telephone amplifier, the one with the suction cup on it that attaches to the receiever handset.
Switch it on and go turn on your TV set and get ready for the noise that comes out of it.
The raster is capable of being reproduced on equipment that has the facility to do this.
Thats why its impossible to detect an LCD screen, no flyback pulses.
As an aside, did you know that when a TV is in "standby" mode, the audio amplifier circuitry is still powered?
Try this for yourself: Put the TV into standby mode and put your mobile by the TV then turn the phone on. The phone powering up and communicating with its network can clearly be heard through the louspeaker.
Good eh?
Another confirmation here. In my amateur radio days I knew two guys who worked for the (then) GPO: one was also involved with TV detection (remember the GPO used to have a comms monopoly).
You can also (if you know what you're looking for) detect CB radios and similar by the same principle that finds TVs: re-radiation of internal oscillators.
In case you doubt this: consider that the average CB radio emits 4 Watts of radio-frequency energy. With that power it is usually possible to reach 12 miles or so and with the right tropospheric conditions, right across continents.
Now the local oscillator (or the VCO on a phase-locked loop unit
) used in such a device probably creates a signal of the order of microwatts: easily possible to detect several hundred feet away with the right sort of receiver.
And let's not forget that TV sets also pick up the radio-frequency energy radiated by cars if it's not suppressed properly...
You can also (if you know what you're looking for) detect CB radios and similar by the same principle that finds TVs: re-radiation of internal oscillators.
In case you doubt this: consider that the average CB radio emits 4 Watts of radio-frequency energy. With that power it is usually possible to reach 12 miles or so and with the right tropospheric conditions, right across continents.
Now the local oscillator (or the VCO on a phase-locked loop unit
) used in such a device probably creates a signal of the order of microwatts: easily possible to detect several hundred feet away with the right sort of receiver. And let's not forget that TV sets also pick up the radio-frequency energy radiated by cars if it's not suppressed properly...
Is this oscillator thingumybob the bit I can hear when I walk past a room with the TV turned on? Now I know it's only the young 'uns who haven't been subjected to years of heavy rock music... but when I'm in a room with a CRT TV, I can hear a high pitched whining. Even from the bottom of our stairs, you can hear if the TV's on in the bedroom. this doesn't seem to happen with PC monitors that I've noticed.
Is it x^n harmonics of 50hz I can hear ?
Is it x^n harmonics of 50hz I can hear ?
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