Don't think you have ever needed a licence to possess a TV in the UK (you do in Ireland), it was always to use it. Certainly many years ago I had a visit after not renewing a licence because the TV had failed. I told the inspector that yes I still had a TV, it no longer worked, and was in the loft. He went away happy.
Catchup TV
- Thread starter Nitell
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That is correct, which explains why they had TV Detector Vans - to detect the use of a TV, as proof that a TV was being used. They would be able to detect the interference generated and being radiated by the scan coils on the back of the CRT, then match that to an actual channel the set was locked to. Much easier in the days when there were only one, two or three TV channels to watch. Much more difficult now they number hundreds and no chance now there are no CRT sets. They had very few actual vans, because they were so expensive, so chances of getting caught by such a van were remote - it was cheaper to just rely on the threat of being caught and someone knocking on the door (where no licence had been bought for the address) seeing a TV in use through a window, or the owner admitting a set was in use.
Back in the day, when living in flats numbered 6A, 6B, 6C Anyroad - I would have a bit of annual fun with one of the licence people for the area. I would take out and renew my TV licence as just 6 Anyroad, deliberately omitting the letter to wind him up. Each year, a couple of months after it was due for renewal, there would be a knock at the door complaining that I was being reported for having no TV licence. Each year I would produce my licence with a flourish and send him disappointed on his way.
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I was always told tv detector vans were just empty vehicles used to scare public into buying a license, you don’t need to detect a tv , every property was assumed to have one and BBC licensing have a record of every properties license rendering a detector van pointless.One reason all new tv sales require your address so no one is overlooked .
Having said that my brother in law and Brother have never purchased a license and when visited just deny having one ( even though my brothers was playing in the background ).
Having said that my brother in law and Brother have never purchased a license and when visited just deny having one ( even though my brothers was playing in the background ).
Long ago, I knew one of the operators, used a sliding door Commer van I think - they genuinely could locate TV's, but I knew that anyway. TV timebases were really very easy to detect and compare to the channels then available to decide which channel was being watched. It was that that easy, I could do it back then. The thing was, chances of getting caught by a van was very unlikely, they had very few vans to cover the country with.
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Just found a comment from an operator of the vans who stated they had no equipment to detect tv, was not required since they had a list of all addresses with licenses.
Also BBC refused to confirm there ability under freedom of information act .
Also found this .
Hundreds of people here are rebelling against the TV licence by banning the BBC's enforcers from visiting their homes.
More than 400 households used a little-known legal loophole to block inspectors in the last year.
They removed the "implied right of access" to their front doorstep, effectively threatening to sue licence fee collectors for trespass if they continue to turn up.
The practice is entirely legal and described by anti-TV licence campaigners as "a useful tool" in avoiding the £145.50 fee. But TV Licensing warned addresses that removed right of access were "prioritised for detection".
Anyone who watches TV as it is being broadcast must have a licence. The maximum penalty for non-payment is a £1,000 fine.
Also BBC refused to confirm there ability under freedom of information act .
Also found this .
Hundreds of people here are rebelling against the TV licence by banning the BBC's enforcers from visiting their homes.
More than 400 households used a little-known legal loophole to block inspectors in the last year.
They removed the "implied right of access" to their front doorstep, effectively threatening to sue licence fee collectors for trespass if they continue to turn up.
The practice is entirely legal and described by anti-TV licence campaigners as "a useful tool" in avoiding the £145.50 fee. But TV Licensing warned addresses that removed right of access were "prioritised for detection".
Anyone who watches TV as it is being broadcast must have a licence. The maximum penalty for non-payment is a £1,000 fine.
They cannot detect modern TV's at all, the only way is to physically see a TV in use, so they don't now possess any detector vans. They used to be able to detect the old CRT line timebase, compare that to the transmitted timebase of each channel and the one which matches indicates which channel is being watched. DF (direction find) the source, via the loop on the roof and you have the address. It really was that easy.
This says...
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10893842/bbc-tv-licence-criminal-offence/
In the past year, more than 121,000 were fined an average of £176 for fee evasion. Five were jailed.
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I used to think this was a really clever bit of kit. Are you now telling me I was being hoodwinked? 
I used to think this was a really clever bit of kit. Are you now telling me I was being hoodwinked?
Who are you replying to?
Old CRT TV's used to lock onto a timebase of 15625Hz, each channel would vary slightly, so the TV detector van operator would lock onto the transmitted channel and compare the lock to the 15625Hz being generated by the field coils of a suspect TV. Thus they could determine which channel the suspect was actually watching.
The loop antennas on top of the van, are to DF the source of the 15625 signal. They couldn't do that as a drive by, as in the above video, they DF'ed by rotating those big loops around, for either maximum signal or minimum signal (the null). The null could sometimes be sharper than the maximum. Each loop produces a bearing to the signal, where the path of the two bearing cross, is where the signal is from. The nearer the van is to the TV, the more accurately the TV can be located. They only worked horizontally, not vertically, so they could tell if you were on the sixth floor of a block of flats.
Nowadays, the Radiocommunications Agency use much more sophisticated means to track down illegal transmitters. They use remote controlled receiving stations scattered around the country. They use a combination of DF and signal delay timing differences, to trace the location of a transmitter.
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Nobody/anybody. Just saying!
I looked into all of this before I cancelled my TV licence, of course.
Yes, if you are lucky enough to receive a visitation from the BBC Police (Capita), you are definitely entitled to refuse them entry even without the need to provide them with a reason.
They, in turn, are entitled to obtain a court order permitting them to enter your property, though how often they bother to do this I have no idea.
The simple expedient, of course, is simply to remove the aerial cable from your television (or PVR, etc) as I have done. If they gain admission to your property, either with or without your permission, they can ask you to turn on your television and, should that happen to me, they would see on the screen the immortal words "No Signal" (on any channel).
They can, of course, ask you why you have a television and, in my case, I would reply that I have a Fire Stick and regularly watch non-live TV programmes (except BBC iPlayer, of course), I also watch pre-recorded programmes/films and DVDs/BDs on my PVR/recorder. All of this entirely legal.
Of course, it is perfectly possible to do this and then plug in the aerial again after they have gone and then watch live TV! I might add, though, that I don't do this for two reasons: 1. I'm a very honest person, and 2. there's bugger all on TV these days anyway!
Seriously, the only thing 'Marge' and I regularly watch is Coronation Street, and we watch that on catch-up (ITV hub) 5 minutes after the live programme has finished.
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