TV Licence

[Richard Russell]

The link that was given here previously reveals quite a lot about the different modes of operation of the vans and the hand-held detectors:

suspect, but don't quote me on this, that the hand-held detectors were developed for use with the older generation of detector vans which couldn't pin down the location of a TV that precisely from a distance. The current vans can identify the property in which a TV is in use (e.g. an individual dwelling within a block of flats) from - it says at that link - up to 60m away. With that capability I don't really know why hand-held detectors are used at all (maybe they aren't any more).

Richard.

[The Natural Philosopher]

oh, with current technology, its very tricky to pick it up.

You are HOPING that there will be some leakage of some signal out of what is today a very low powered set.

Its probaly easier for the beeb to try and tie IP addresses that access its online content to households..

[geoff]

But, as pointed out elsewhere, licence collection has been farmed out to an external agency, what are they doing getting involved in something which is no longer within their remit ?

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember geoff saying something like:

ELINT isn't only about TV sets - I suspect that more than one of these vans is in plain clothes.

[John Rumm]

Well indeed, there are far more interesting applications of remote detection (and more importantly viewing) of screens - and in particular not just those displaying TV/video.

[ARWadsworth]

Maybe something more sophisicated than this

[geoff]

In message , ARWadsworth writes

It might not detect, but it certainly made Mr McCormick a bomb