Good to see...

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Good to see...

Postby gary » Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:43 am

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20957218

I wonder how many are mechanical? ;-)

BTW how many of you UK Televisor owners have a valid license? (i.e. one that didn't expire in 1936) ;-)
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Postby Steve Anderson » Fri Jan 11, 2013 1:07 pm

Interesting factoid. However the UK colour TV license also covers monochrome TV's, so although 13,000 B&W-only licenses have been issued this year, many more B&W sets could still be in operation...which is rather pleasing to consider.

You can still buy new B&W CRT TVs here, generally with smaller screens though, 17" or under. They're made (as you'd expect) in China and traded under totally unknown brand names...The Ying Lee Electronics Corp. for example.

We still have analogue TV transmission here on VHF (625 PAL), not UHF, and will do for at least another decade. There is no digital TV except via satellite or cable/fibre.

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Postby gary » Fri Jan 11, 2013 2:44 pm

Does the UK TV license work on a per set or residence basis? I would assume the latter and I would say there are probably quite a few residences that would have a colour TV AND 1 or more B&W which have proven to be very reliable over a long period of time.

I have to hold my hand up and say I am a big fan of B&W TV - I amd not sure however it is the fact that it is B&W or that the programme material was so much better in the period - a bit of both I think.

On the subject of reliability I recently received my Raspberry Pi and as it only supports composite and HDMI video I dug out my old Micron 3 Monochrome VDU that I bought for use with my System 80 (so it wouldn't have been purchased any later than the early 80s) - I am not sure which was more surprising, that it worked perfectly, or that I still had it after all this time.
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Postby Steve Anderson » Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:57 pm

gary wrote:Does the UK TV license work on a per set or residence basis? I would assume the latter and I would say there are probably quite a few residences that would have a colour TV AND 1 or more B&W which have proven to be very reliable over a long period of time.


Per residence, so you could have 25 colour TVs in your sprawling mansion and as many B&W sets as you desired. It also covers portable TVs (like the old Sinclairs) used on a picnic(?) or in a car...not easy to enforce though and no-one seems to bother about it too much.

Many years ago in the UK you needed a separate radio license, but when TV became widespread it was abolished. Tracking down those teenagers in the 60s with their new-fangled transistor radios and checking licensing became impossible.

Steve A.

I remember my first transistor radio, I was probably around 10 at the time (1966), it was branded 'Civic' and had five transistors, yes five, count them. On the back of the plastic case was proudly embossed, "Made in the British Empire. Hong Kong." The Chinese were at it even then.
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Postby Viewmaster » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:16 pm

Steve Anderson wrote:
gary wrote:Does the UK TV license work on a per set or residence basis? I would assume the latter and I would say there are probably quite a few residences that would have a colour TV AND 1 or more B&W which have proven to be very reliable over a long period of time.


Per residence, so you could have 25 colour TVs in your sprawling mansion and as many B&W sets as you desired. It also covers portable TVs (like the old Sinclairs) used on a picnic(?) or in a car...not easy to enforce though and no-one seems to bother about it too much.
.


And in the UK, if you are over 75 the licence is free, so you can watch all the rubbish for nothing. They still send you a licence each year though, must be just to waste paper?
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Postby gary » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:23 pm

Steve Anderson wrote: "Made in the British Empire. Hong Kong." The Chinese were at it even then.


LOL - but then you would have to say we taught them how...
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Postby Steve Anderson » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:24 pm

Viewmaster wrote:And in the UK, if you are over 75 the licence is free...


Yes, I'd forgotten about that, I must check with my parents that they are aware of that, they're both 77 this month...

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Postby Viewmaster » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:32 pm

Steve Anderson wrote:
Viewmaster wrote:And in the UK, if you are over 75 the licence is free...


Yes, I'd forgotten about that, I must check with my parents that they are aware of that, they're both 77 this month...

Steve A.


"Happy birthday to them, .....happy birthday, dear parents............" :lol:
I seem to recall that the free licence is issued without one having to apply ??
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Postby Viewmaster » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:40 pm

You DO have to apply when 75........
http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-y ... over-aud3/
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Postby gary » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:49 pm

Viewmaster wrote:You DO have to apply when 75........


Still, consider yourself fortunate, we in Australia have to pay, no matter what age, 8 cents (+ inflation) a day for the ABC to try and keep the illegitimate La'Bore party in government...
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Postby AncientBrit » Fri Jan 11, 2013 6:58 pm

I gather that a licence is only necessary if you have the facility to view live TV as it's broadcast.

If you are watching catch-up TV from the internet on a mobile or PC, and have no other TV in the house, apparently a licence is not need.

An unlikely situation I agree.

Returning to the B&W sets, I presume they must be using a set top box to decode the digital signal for display using the set as a monitor.

To my knowledge there are no digital monochrome receivers!

Cheers,

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Postby Viewmaster » Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:19 pm

gary wrote:
Viewmaster wrote:You DO have to apply when 75........


Still, consider yourself fortunate, we in Australia have to pay, no matter what age, 8 cents (+ inflation) a day for the ABC to try and keep the illegitimate La'Bore party in government...


Fortunate? If you pay 8 cents per day = about 30 dollars each year =
about £20 in UK.

So, the UK licence is £145 so over 7 times bigger then yours. :shock:
The BBC throw money away as though they have the keys to all the banks.....to pay off overpaid staff when they get the sack....sorry, "when they stand down, or loose the grip".

added...... The working class get the sack. The middle class are fired and the upper echelons stand aside. :lol:
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Postby gary » Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:42 pm

Viewmaster wrote:
gary wrote:
Viewmaster wrote:You DO have to apply when 75........


Still, consider yourself fortunate, we in Australia have to pay, no matter what age, 8 cents (+ inflation) a day for the ABC to try and keep the illegitimate La'Bore party in government...


Fortunate? If you pay 8 cents per day = about 30 dollars each year =
about £20 in UK.

So, the UK licence is £145 so over 7 times bigger then yours. :shock:
The BBC throw money away as though they have the keys to all the banks.....to pay off overpaid staff when they get the sack....sorry, "when they stand down, or loose the grip".

added...... The working class get the sack. The middle class are fired and the upper echelons stand aside. :lol:


Yes, but Albert, YOU only have to pay if you are silly enough to watch TV...

BTW I am assured that the 8c a day was coined in the 80s and now it is only 7c a day - it seems all of the automation I helped design and build for them eventually paid off - LOL - I only regret not having built in a right wing bias to even things up.

> the upper echelons stand aside

yes they resign to take up a higher paid position...
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Postby M3DVQ » Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:15 am

AncientBrit wrote:I gather that a licence is only necessary if you have the facility to view live TV as it's broadcast.

If you are watching catch-up TV from the internet on a mobile or PC, and have no other TV in the house, apparently a licence is not need.

An unlikely situation I agree.


Not really, I know quite a few people who have no television set at all. This concept seems totally alien to TV Licensing UK though!

In fact, just having a TV in the house doesn't necessarily mean you need a licence either. You can fill in a form to say that you don't use it for receiving live television* and theoretically they then leave you alone. Of course in reality they will continue to send you piles of angry letters. "How dare you not buy a TV licence? Of course you watch TV, everyone does! give us your money!"

If they send their inspectors around to harass you for not buying a licence for a TV you don't have, you should tell them to come back when they have a warrant and slam the door in their face.

If they tell you that you have to let them in to inspect, it's the law etc. Then ask to see their ID. take down their name and report them to the police.

Of course if you do watch live tv, either broadcast or streamed then you need to have a licence. It's down to your individual conscience if you evade the licence fee. Personally I think despite its faults the BBC does a pretty good job.


*This traces back to the days when VDUs were very expensive and most home computers generated a baseband or UHF modulated composite signal to feed into a domestic television, but the same still applies if using a TV set to watch DVDs etc. The onus is on them to prove that you're lying.
Last edited by M3DVQ on Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Steve Anderson » Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:05 pm

Albert, David "Moneybags" Anderson (farter) was aware of the 75-year old exemption for the UK TV license. We don't have a Scottish name and Scottish blood in our veins for no reason! But thanks for the reminder.

As for the BBC, the versions we get here do carry commercials, BBC World, BBC Entertainment and BBCK (what the 'K' stands for I have no idea). With the exception of the news all the programs are years old. The current season of 'Top Gear' is from 2007!

All of the domestic terrestrial channels carry commercials so there is no TV license fee here.

As the terrestrial channels are on VHF and the transmitters are scattered around the city, not co-located, you end up with the very familiar sight below...this is right across the street from us. You'll note the rather tasteful colours some people paint their houses.

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