How do they know ?

[apprentice87]

Have ZERO sympathy for the inspectors OR the firm that sends them.. I know they are only doing their job, but there is no need to be so nasty about it.. I was very good friends with the manager of the local MIND branch. They told me that there was one client of theirs that these *******s used to hound. This despite the MIND staff telling them on numerous occasions that this poor man did not have a telly. The poor man was so frightened by them that he used to buy a licence just so they would leave him alone...

When they come up here, how they get treated depends entirely on them. If they are polite, they will be treated politely. If on the other hand they are aggressive and rude, they shall be escorted from the premises big time..

john..

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I am sure i read from a reliable source that the Tv detector vans were a placebo. Whenever one was in an area the licence sales went up considerably. 

A sparky i used to work with never had a Tv , he said he had 2 visits a year from the authorities and once they turned up with a warrant & police. They still kept coming back after even though they found nowt

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Found this on the net

Some information regarding TV detection technology was revealed as part of a freedom of information request made to the BBC in 2013, which included details of a search warrant. The warrant revealed that a BBC contractor had used an "optical detector" to reveal the possible presence of a TV. The warrant stated that: "the optical detector in the detector van uses a large lens to collect that light and focus it on to an especially sensitive device, which converts fluctuating light signals into electrical signals, which can be electronically analysed. If a receiver is being used to watch broadcast programmes then a positive reading is returned."  The BBC stated that this was strong evidence that a set was "receiving a possible broadcast".

According to The Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office, "where the BBC still suspects that an occupier is watching live television but not paying for a licence, it can send a detection van to check whether this is the case. TVL detection vans can identify viewing on a non‐TV device in the same way that they can detect viewing on a television set. BBC staff were able to demonstrate this to my staff in controlled conditions sufficient for us to be confident that they could detect viewing on a range of non‐TV devices."

So it seems they park outside your house and look through the curtains with binoculars, if they see flickering lights they knock at the door 

 

[Tony S]

As I recall the vans used the resonant frequency of the tuning circuit to pinpoint the location of a television set.

 

[apprentice87]

I had a book, must have been 45 years ago; It said that it was all a bluff and there was no way that these vans even existed. When you think about it, if a television emitted RF "signals" it would be banned anyway. Bit like it was against the law to have a motorbike without a suppressor cap.. Anyway, the book went on to say that there WERE vans with aerials, but that they were for measuring signal strength in various places. You know, to try to do away with the areas with bad reception that you had years ago. Remember all the "boosters" and funny aerials that you could buy..

Anyway, i have actually seen, for myself, the internals of three of these vans.. One was stationary in a public place, so courgette them, i just walked up to it and looked inside. Another had broken down, the third, it was going down the motorway, and i was in my artic lorry. Because of the way the sun was shining that day, i could clearly see straight through the blacked out ambulance style windows, and take it from me, all three vans contained nothing but seats, there are minibuses, that is all..

The ONLY way they know if you have a television, [the book explained this too] is because by law, the shop selling you the thing has to fill in a form and send it it to them. Apart from that, they just rely on bullying people.

Ok, so they have a job to do, and yes, you see videos on youtube with muppets trying to be funny with them; "yes i have 5 kids and one of them 6 feet wide television, but no, i never watch it, only look at cd's on there" Yes, sure you do.. But the letters they send out are a disgrace.. When more come i will post them on here.

In a lot of ways, the first of second ones are the worst. All this, you must tell us if you do not have a television, but we might well come round anyway.. Yes?? well courgette you then, enjoy the drive..

john..

 

[Andy™]

The ONLY way they know if you have a television, [the book explained this too] is because by law, the shop selling you the thing has to fill in a form and send it it to them. Apart from that, they just rely on bullying people.

which is always fun when i buy something TV related, either for myself or business, because everything gets delivered to my business address... which doesnt have a TV licence. so im always getting letters saying im being investigated along with letters of random dates that someone may or may no arrive on

 

[sprocketflup]

I'm with you there John, I moved into my place around 10 months ago now and the letters they've been sending are shocking.

I've had dozens of them, starting with things like "We've noticed that someone has moved in and there's no licence on record for this address. We may come get you if you don't buy a licence" had about 15 of those. Then they started getting more threatening, until I'm now at the point where theyve said that yes, they will definitely be sending someone round to check that I am obviously doing something naughty. Ive had about 15 of those too. Not seen anyone yet though.

Thing is, I genuinely am one of those folks who just doesnt watch telly. I don't listen to the radio and I'm not bothered about watching stuff on iPlayer, juts got no interest. Ive never bought a telly, and I didn't even own one until my neighbour noticed I didn't have one and gave me her old one for the kids to be able to watch DVD's on. It sits in my living room, with the aerial point being on the opposite wall. I actually do want the threatening courgettes to turn up, so they can try and detect that I'm watching telly. Coz they wont.

 

[apprentice87]

Same here, I am simply not interested in the lettuced.. I have been to my friends house a few years ago and they used to watch this thing called "american chopper" and that was something vaguely interesting  to look at, but apart from that i am simply not interested in the lettuced. All these people that look at stuff like "east enders" Why would you want to watch "make believe" people going about their lives, when you could be out and about having a life of your own??

Like you, i have never had a telly either, and i never want one. I would rather go and do something constructive, or read one of my engineering books, or go for a ride on my 59 year old motorbike, or go in my shed [when i get it finished] and make something. Plenty of work to do on my house, and when i am not doing that, plenty of work to do at the hospital. That is what i am going to do today..

It is like you said, the letters they send are truly shocking... trust me, NO-ONE enters my home by means of threats. They had their chance to be civil, but they chose to be nasty. That is fine, i will just send them on their way if they turn up..

john..

 

[Evans Electric]

These semi - government outfits can get stroppy .      I had two similar cases , one from  the CITB  wanting a percentage of my earnings  and one from The Office of National Statistics  .  

I was required , by law, to return a form they sent .  They thencalled me to say they had never had a return that was so negative in the answers.    Thing was it was aimed a the building trade ,   questions like  How many houses do you build a year ?     How many people do you employ ?    Every question , including my turnover was ,  None /zero/ nothing/ no one/ not applicable.        They said I could be made to answer by law ...I had to say , so be it , the same answers apply.   And I'm not disclosing my earnings except to HMRC.

 

[M107]

Ain't jus the telly's that are spying on us.

:innocent

Not just big brother either .................. take the simple supermarket points cards, all manner of info is pulled from them. 

Then you have your smart device (only as smart as the muppet using it though) again have you ever looked at what the apps want access to? 

As individuals we are under surveillance the moment you open the front door..........that I dont mind so much , but its the erosion of free speech, PC lunacy &  the censored media coverage that we are fed , that I find a little concerning.

 

[Evans Electric]

but its the erosion of free speech, PC lunacy &  the censored media coverage that we are fed , that I find a little concerning.

I agree with that .   PC lunacy was rife last week when I caught the end of a radio news item ,  some group of people objecting to the  use of the English flag  ( Cross of St. George)  locally  , to quote them  " As we all know it stands for racism "       Well NO  it doesn't  ....maybe in your head it does  . 

Yes we are often fed a version of the news that suits the establishment .         We have local radio now ...the establishment prevented that for years .... we have phone - ins now  , unheard of until the 1970's I think ...free to express your opinion on air .......but don't  mention race or immigration  or the line will start to "break up"  & they'll have to lose you .

I remember a  show , possibly twice weekly , The Simon Dee Show , one of the most popular shows of it's day .    He had a guest on who was the first to cast doubt on the JFK  assassination  in the UK ...Dee I believe , wanted to  follow  up the story .     He was discouraged as we heard it ,  eventually his show was cancelled and he  was hardly seen again .      

Bit like Graham Norton  or Steven Fry today .. being taken off the air and into obscurity .