robtheplod Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudds Lad Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 Excuse me sir, do you have a licence for that content? 😛 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartland Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 I seem to recall the BBC Report showed a drained pound on the Huddersfield- was that the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudds Lad Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 5 minutes ago, Heartland said: I seem to recall the BBC Report showed a drained pound on the Huddersfield- was that the case? Seen a pic recently of a drained pound with a cruiser suspended mid-air by its mooring lines, can’t find it now though. However, drained pounds have been the norm long before any drought on the Narrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtheplod Posted August 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 16 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said: Excuse me sir, do you have a licence for that content? 😛 not needed... cheeky! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudds Lad Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 6 minutes ago, robtheplod said: not needed... cheeky! You wait, when i see the detector van i’m gonna tell on ya 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy D'arth Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 25 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said: You wait, when i see the detector van i’m gonna tell on ya Spinning roof racks are an urban myth, they didn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 55 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said: You wait, when i see the detector van i’m gonna tell on ya I expect they have TV detector boats. You should flag one down and tell them, not a van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gravy Boater Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 9 hours ago, robtheplod said: I should have known Rob would beat me to this post and put it in the right place, sorry Athy! Top marks to the BBC kneeler for finding an interviewee with a neckerchief... I'm surprised the makeup girl didn't try to dab some coal dust on his face. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gravy Boater Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, Hudds Lad said: You wait, when i see the detector van i’m gonna tell on ya The detector vans were... famously... always a myth. But then you already knew that. Edited August 18, 2022 by The Gravy Boater 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo47 Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) You didn't need anything complicated in 405-line TV days to find out if a TV was being used. . The radiated horizontal scan waveform used to cause considerable interference on medium wave, and could be readily picked up by an ordinary transistor radio, especially when you were trying to listen to Radio Luxembourg. The approximate bearing could be determined by rotating the radio, as the usual ferrite rod aerial was pretty directional. The waveform of the signal would tell you which programme was being viewed. It would not have been rocket science for a sensitive detector, used in conjunction with a directional aerial, to be used to get a bearing on a working TV. Regarding detector vans, while licence evasion used to be the responsibility of the Post Office, more than 30 years ago, when the BBC started adding RDS data to their FM services, I managed to get the BBC to send round an engineer to investigate my RDS-related reception problem. He came in a BBC Land Rover fitted with a rotatable telescopic mast on which was mounted an impressive directional aerial that he used, in conjunction with the equally impressive array of electronic stuff in the back, to check the quality of my received signal. It certainly got the attention of my neighbours! Edited August 18, 2022 by Ronaldo47 typos 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gravy Boater Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 7 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said: You didn't need anything complicated in 405-line TV days to find out if a TV was being used. . The radiated horizontal scan waveform used to cause considerable interference on medium wave, and could be readily picked up by an ordinary transistor radio, especially when you were trying to listen to Radio Luxembourg. The approximate bearing could be determined by rotating the radio, as the usual ferrite rod aerial was pretty directional. The waveform of the signal would tell you which programme was being viewed. It would not have been rocket science for a sensitive detector, used in conjunction with a direction aerial, to be used to get a bearing on a working TV. Regarding detector vans, while licence evasion used to be the respinsibility of the Post Office, more than 30 years ago, when the BBC started adding RDS data to their FM services, I managed to get the BBC to send round an engineer to investigate my RDS-related reception problem. He came in a BBC Land Rover fitted with a rotatable telescopic mast on which was mounted an impressive directional aerial that he used, in conjunction with the equally impressive array of electronic stuff in the back, to check the quality of my received signal. It certainly got the attention of my neighbours! There hasn't been a single successful prosecution using a "detector van" as far as I am aware... willing to be educated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo47 Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 I don't kniw that either. Just pointing out that making a detector van to detect a working TV would have been techically possible in analogue TV days. Some 20 years ago, when computers used CRT monitors, I remember seeing a TV programme about computer security. A guy sat in a van parked outside an office was able to.pick up the signal radiated from a computer monitor in the building and use it to display what was bring displayed on the monitor, on his own computer's monitor. CRTs used to need very high voltages to display their images, unlike the low voltages used by today's flat screen displays (plasma excepted).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Lewis Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 13 hours ago, Heartland said: I seem to recall the BBC Report showed a drained pound on the Huddersfield- was that the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerra Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 1 hour ago, The Gravy Boater said: There hasn't been a single successful prosecution using a "detector van" as far as I am aware... willing to be educated. I can't say it was owing to a detector van but back in the 60s a colleague was "done" for not having a licence. His excuse was out on the fell side reception was so poor he didn't think he should pay. How they knew he was using a TV I don't know. Presence of an aerial doesn't say you are using it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gravy Boater Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 Riiiight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianws Posted August 18, 2022 Report Share Posted August 18, 2022 1 hour ago, Ronaldo47 said: You didn't need anything complicated in 405-line TV days to find out if a TV was being used. . The radiated horizontal scan waveform used to cause considerable interference on medium wave, and could be readily picked up by an ordinary transistor radio, especially when you were trying to listen to Radio Luxembourg. The approximate bearing could be determined by rotating the radio, as the usual ferrite rod aerial was pretty directional. The waveform of the signal would tell you which programme was being viewed. It would not have been rocket science for a sensitive detector, used in conjunction with a directional aerial, to be used to get a bearing on a working TV. Regarding detector vans, while licence evasion used to be the responsibility of the Post Office, more than 30 years ago, when the BBC started adding RDS data to their FM services, I managed to get the BBC to send round an engineer to investigate my RDS-related reception problem. He came in a BBC Land Rover fitted with a rotatable telescopic mast on which was mounted an impressive directional aerial that he used, in conjunction with the equally impressive array of electronic stuff in the back, to check the quality of my received signal. It certainly got the attention of my neighbours! I don't understand how or why it happened. Around 1980 I had my first cheap electric guitar and a small valve combination amplifier to play it through. One Saturday afternoon I was trying to learn my blues scales and, at low volume background noise level, the greyhound racing on ITV World of Sport was coming through my speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtheplod Posted August 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2022 14 hours ago, Jerra said: I can't say it was owing to a detector van but back in the 60s a colleague was "done" for not having a licence. His excuse was out on the fell side reception was so poor he didn't think he should pay. How they knew he was using a TV I don't know. Presence of an aerial doesn't say you are using it. The 60's was a different era. If you watched anything by any means you needed a licence as it all came via the transmitters. On the plus side if you couldn't get a good picture you could complain and they were obliged to assist (as they are still now if pushed hard!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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