TV Licence Super Thread

Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,304
I wonder how it detected it though? The TV doesn't transmit anything, and surely if you're watching a dvd you're tv would still be receiving some signal? They might know you had the CRT on, but how detailed I wonder was the military tech?

They emitted cathodes which you could use to re-contruct the image. Or figure out what channel someone is watching.

But most devices do leak signals unintentionaly which can be tapped in to, sometimes even down the mains supply. It's all part of Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename)
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2017
Posts
8,385
Location
Beds
They emitted cathodes which you could use to re-contruct the image. Or figure out what channel someone is watching.

But most devices do leak signals unintentionaly which can be tapped in to, sometimes even down the mains supply. It's all part of Tempest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_(codename)
Nothing emits cathodes.

When a TV tunes to a particular frequency signal it has to generate that same frequency locally in order to blend the local and received signals, which cancels out the carrier frequency and leaves the baseband signal behind to be used.

tl;dr TVs use several frequencies of their own to demodulate and decode RF signals.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2012
Posts
2,500
Location
Second Star to the Right
BBC could be run on the same basis as Ch4 I suppose and I much prefer their news so maybe it would improve them a bit competitively. The subsidy element of BBC is valid for the news possibly just the radio which is significant globally, that budget would be tiny vs the amount wasted on TV which could work vs adverts.

I may be wrong, but as I understood it Channel 4 is the BBC's commercial arm.
 
Permabanned
Joined
13 Nov 2005
Posts
4,158
Parents are refusing to pay for theirs since the free licence ended for them, their choice and I don't blame them.

We need to pay as we watch a lot of live sports, and while they may be reluctant to go after the over 70's, I doubt they'll hesitate for anyone else.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,167
I wonder how it detected it though? The TV doesn't transmit anything, and surely if you're watching a dvd you're tv would still be receiving some signal? They might know you had the CRT on, but how detailed I wonder was the military tech?
probably signals travelling along the neutral cable.

there was a thing where you can spy on keyboards like a keylogger just by tapping into the neutral wire the keyboard is connected too, the same messages that got sent to a pc go down that wire.


there was a way to do it with laptops as well but I can't remember how it was done but I don't think they even needed to be plugged in to the mains
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,304
Parents are refusing to pay for theirs since the free licence ended for them, their choice and I don't blame them.

We need to pay as we watch a lot of live sports, and while they may be reluctant to go after the over 70's, I doubt they'll hesitate for anyone else.

A lot of old people are likely doing the same in protest. They can't visit them all, more people cancel than they can visit lol
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Jun 2006
Posts
12,354
Location
Not here
It's an old and totally outdated tax. It needs scrapped and the BBC should have a monthly fee or advertising to pay for it now.

It's an "Boomer" tax. The UK loves tax so they will not scrap it. Even as the younger generation move to watching TV online. They move the goalposts to include services such as iPlayer and demand pensioners to start paying the licence fee again.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
It's an "Boomer" tax. The UK loves tax so they will not scrap it. Even as the younger generation move to watching TV online. They move the goalposts to include services such as iPlayer and demand pensioners to start paying the licence fee again.

That was hardly surprising as you can watch live BBC channels from iplayer.

There will eventually be a tipping point where the number of subscribers dips below the minimum amount needed to fund the BBC. Which means the only way they'd continue is:
a) requesting extra funding from the government - would seem unlikely to happen long term
b) increase the cost of a license - again unlikely, the government might allow minor increases, but at that point the general public are going to be more put off paying for it.
c) have to swap to a commercial model by way of adverts or start charging a subscription for iplayer etc
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2007
Posts
9,736
Location
Surrey
Haven't had a TV license for about 5 years now. No need. I just use streaming apps and gaming. I fill out their form to say I don't need it whenever they ask (every 2 years?) And I don't get any hassle in-between.
 
Back
Top Bottom