How They Know What You're Listening To On Your Radio!

[@jhonbus]

Imagine working for TV licencing and going to all the effort of triangulating an unlicenced local oscillator, knocking on their door and saying "Hello, I'm from TV licencing, can I come in?" just to be told "No."

[@baronedipiemonte3990]

I am something of an anglophile, and was actually shocked to learn about the TV license, and the "search van" hunting for unlicensed TVs. I mean, Damn... Honestly, I have a like for the people, the armed forces (spent 2 wks w/RN), and some of the most beautiful camping in the world. Not so much the political stuff.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Back in the day you needed a license for radio or TV reception. It was The Post Office Radio Interference Branch back then and they did have more powers than the TV Licensing mob.

[@AnthonyHandcock]

It's a fact that TVL have never used "detector evidence" in any court proceeding and give the explanation that to do so would reveal sooper-seekrit information to the defence about how it worked and its capabilities. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to think the alternative explanation is more credible. That it either doesn't work at all and it's all bluff or it does work but not to any degree of accuracy a court would be willing to accept as evidence and it's mostly bluff. I tend towards it being all bluff and even though it is, or at least was, technically possible it wasn't worth the time and expense so it was all bluff. I haven't owned a TV for over 20 years so I don't concern myself with the subject any more but TVL were sending out leaflets that claimed their "hand-held detection technology" was so sophisticated and so secret that it was designed by two teams neither of who knew what the other was doing... Yeah... Pull the other one TVL.. It's got bells on. As if designing cutting edge devices works that way.

[@JETJOOBOY]

Here is something Rather sad but true.. When I worked for RADIO RENTALS, I initially earned my stripes in a Bucket Shop.. Churning out EX RENTAL TVs etc.. Every Thing we sold had a "FREE" 3 MONTH WARRANTY... FOR ABSOLUTE FREEE! All the customer needed to do was register their NAME, ADDRESS and POSTCODE for a Possibly illegally poor warranty for 3 months.... Even though they probably had 90 days by Consumer Retail Laws anyway..... The whole agreement was that when Buddy bought a £20 14" Nearly Colour Portable Ferguson... THORN EMI... Would log the Name and Address and Postcode with TV Licensing! Greasey

[@dougle03]

@@AnthonyHandcock It's pretty common knowledge now that the vans never worked technically. But they were a great marketing tool, so their value was somewhat valid, if not technically incapable. Imagine being a TVL van crew knowing that you were effectively an actor... lol

[@philipbrown2628]

In the early 2000s two detector Vans used to park up overnight at the fire station I served at. We got quite friendly with the operators who used to pop in for a cuppa before starting work, they confided in us that the Vans were all bluff ! Not believing them they showed us that the Vans were indeed empty of anything !

[@jmialtacct]

My guess is that by 2000 there were already so many noisy switch-mode power supplies, invertors etc. that overwhelmed the airwaves and made any detection impossible. A cellphone charger probably makes more noise than a thousand old-school radios. But there are no white vans to police unwanted EMI. I mean interference, not the Abbey Road company.

[@richiehoyt8487]

Sounds like a cushy number!

[@orangejjay]

​@@richiehoyt8487Sounds BORING. Who actually wants to go to work and do nothing all day? That's a sure way for a slow day and feeling like you're not accomplishing anything. Sure, life outside a career is great but a lot of people enjoy feeling like they're accomplishing something and driving an empty van isn't going to do that.

[@mpcgamingclips]

@@jmialtacctyou do realise these vans were all a massive con yeah ? Not one single conviction has EVER been made using evidence from a detector van. Why ? Because they can’t detect anything and never have.

[@VanWeeden420]

​@orangejjay that's why people work for the government. They are just not usefull for companies so they become an officiary

[@jamesslick4790]

It still BLOWS MY MIND that there are places where listening to a scanner is unlawful. I have had a scanner on in the background almost constantly since the late 1970s. (I actually have TWO running right now, one for local police and fire, the other sweeping CB, GMRS, FRS and MURS for entertainment, LOL) in Pennsylvania (USA) Scanners are as "regulated" as any other radio RECEIVER. In other words, using a scanner here is the same as using a "normal" AM (MW)/FM or SW radio! Also of course our over the air (Broadcast) TV and Radio is ad supported and thus is free to watch or listen to without a license, In fact the local TV and radio stations want AS MANY listeners/viewers as possible. Back in the 1970s I got a pocket AM radio for FREE while attending a baseball game, The radios were being handed out by the radio station that carried the baseball games!

[@tempest411]

I agree this system used in the UK with all these 'detector vans and requiring a licensing fee just to listen to the radio or watch TV is incomprehensible. I'm surprised they don't enforce a yearly fee for breathing over there.

[@Warhawk76]

This is the difference between a citizen and a subject.

[@baileyharrison1030]

Exactly if PDs don’t want normal people listening to their frequencies, they should just encrypt them instead of outlawing it 🤦

[@enforcer-e1s]

Not illegal to listen to scanners, but it's illegal to share what you've heard.

[@LjL-Videos]

Americans detected. And it didn't even take a detector van!

[@tonymagnier9846]

Back when I was 14/15 I discovered the local oscillator leaking RF at the 1st harmonic 10.7mhz above the tuned frequency on "VHF", so a radio tuned to say 90mhz would transmit at 100.7 a blank carrier. By exploiting this feature I was able to set up an FM pirate station by opening up the radio, locating the oscillator, attach an antenna and modulate the carrier with music from my 3 in 1 stereo, all the neighbours would tune in...those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end.

[@-fuk57]

Gonna go drink a beer and listen to Mary Hopkin tonight.

[@jmr]

I had a Karaoke machine that blew some electrical part and started transmitting on an FM station. That was fun with it's tape player and built in microphone. A whole radio studio in a box. Even portable if you had enough D cells. 😂

[@sw6188]

I think you mean 10.7 MHz and 90 MHz. Megahertz. mhz suggests millihertz although that would actually be mHz.

[@dafoex]

😢

[@brendonelton]

@@-fuk57 My uncle Dated Mary Hopkin, from Pontardawe, Swansea haha

[@flyingcoconut2284]

"unlicensed TV sets" sounds really dystopian

[@SilverSpoon_]

yeah that's England...

[@Trump985]

I think they mean unlicensed TV stations not TV sets. Why would you need a license for a receiver? They are trying to stop pirate TV and Radio stations that are broadcasting without a license and probably interfering with a licensed station.

[@BODYBUILDERS_AGAINST_FEMINISM]

Bro they don't even have freedom of speech😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@SilverSpoon_]

@@Trump985 UK has insane taxes. Here in France too we had to pay a TV tax which I escaped for a while since I use a large plasma monitor that was legally a PC monitor not a TV receiver. now it is globalized to all displays and computers and included in other taxes. this is insane, all that to pay people who shit on us on TV and shitty rap on radio. «it's to fund culture» they claim. I'm an artist, I draw and paint, do I earn a single fund? 0. I don't want to. Instead I am required to pay 25% tax on my commissions. To fund the shitty crap supported by the gov.

[@Trump985]

@@SilverSpoon_ Wow, please tell me that your TV is at least commercial free? Here in the US we have free broadcast TV however it’s paid for with commercials. We also have cable and satellite TV which you have to pay for however it still has ads. Personally I don’t pay for cable, if it was commercial free I might.

[@NevilofMars]

When I was in the Army training at Fort Devens, MA, the barracks I lived in had people who would tune in a local AM country music station and blast music in the barracks. I had to use earphones with my radio so I could hear the station I wanted to listen to. One day the country music was very loud. I was tuning through the AM band to check out what AM stations I could hear, when I heard a faint whistle grow louder in the country music until it was almost all that could be heard on the other guy's radio. The whistle grew quieter until it disappeared as I continued tuning through the AM band. When I turned the knob and tuned back, the whistle returned to the other radio. The guy changed to a different AM station and turned the volume up even louder. I tuned back and fourth across the band until the whistle appeared on the new AM frequency. When the other guy found he could not make the whistle go away, by changing radio stations, he turned his radio off and put it away. It was years later that I found out that the local oscillator of my radio was transmitting a signal that interfered with the other radio, causing a heterodyne noise, which was the whistle. Even though I did not know what it was or how it was happening at the time, I realized that I was jamming the other radio and used it to good effect. Whenever someone turned up the volume of their radio to an annoying level on an AM radio station frequency, I would get my radio out, put earphones on, and tune around the AM band until the heterodyne jammed the other radio. In a short period of time the other radio would be turned off. I also found out that it only worked with AM radio stations and not FM.

[@harrysmith8338]

Cannot say, that any of this is impressive. Observing what "Government" has done, and find it to be deleterious. Truth hidden at every turn, by "Government". Who is the Governor of this World?? Do you really believe, that any Man is Fit to Rule any other Man?? Or Human to rule Humanity?? Would you forcibly rob your neighbor, to pay for things you want?? Then why in the World, do you find it acceptable to "Vote" for someone else to do this?? That is exactly what you do, everytime you "Vote" for "Government".

[@dicktonyboy]

I knew they were monitoring me as they kept giving it away by announcing "You are listening to Radio 4 ........" - now I've had it confirmed.

[@HumanWreckage89]

Underrated comment

[@goofballbiscuits3647]

I don't get it 😢

[@summerlaverdure]

thats the best dad joke i love it 🤣

[@Tenajeh]

@@goofballbiscuits3647 The radio told the listener which channel they were listening to. The "normal" explanation is that every channel would just name themselves and one can expect that every listener understands it as self-naming. The crackhead-conspiracy theorist (and a joke-teller with sarcasm in the voice) would immediately question "How do *they* know what I am listening to?!"

[@goofballbiscuits3647]

@@Tenajeh thank you 😊

[@opts9]

I saw the inside of a detector van in the early nineties. Except for a crisp packet, it was completely empty.

[@wigglepig115]

You were misled...

[@opts9]

@@wigglepig115 by what?

[@wigglepig115]

@@opts9 whilst it true that *some* of the vans were dummies (for purposes of research) there were a number of real, working setups (more than two and fewer than twelve.) The equipment was/is complicated to operate, extremely costly and not completely reliable, especially with the changes in radio designs in use.

[@opts9]

@@wigglepig115 yeah, I can believe it.

[@roberthilton172]

@@wigglepig115 absolutet rubbish

[@Gazarhya]

Fun fact: I do believe that even though you had/have to supply a name and address when buying a TV, for licence purposes, neither you nor the retailer were obliged to prove that address was correct. Cue thousands of TVs being watched in 10 Downing Street, by Mickey Mouse.

[@snuggleseal]

Fun fact: you're not obliged to pay the TV licence as you don't watch live TV. ;)

[@Gazarhya]

@@snuggleseal indeed, they are exceptionally good at sending 'threatening' letters (no joke, at least one a month for the last 9 years), some what less good on actioning the mentioned visits... Which is a shame. Even made it 'easy' for them with a telly in the front room. (disclaimer : I don't actually watch telly, at all, but why do *they* need to know that...)

[@2Steppa2]

Buy a nearly new set from a friend :-)

[@bugz000]

​@@Gazarhyathis seriously needs more publicity... they've been hounding me for 2 years, they use incredibly tactical wording to make it seem like you need a licence if you have TV, phone, tablet, firestick, pc, any device at all, but reality is, for those who are paying needlessly... you only need to pay if you watch BBC, ITV, or any other government subsidised media.... its got nothing to do with the device, if it's not from the BBC/ITV etc, they have absolutely no grounds... it's netflix, but enforced by law. this is why i say don't tax the corporations. i don't trust the government with that money... netflix can't pass laws....

[@phantomtr1]

@@bugz000 ur in that mess right now because corporations CAN pass laws. Not only that, but they DO.

[@Biggerbadwolf]

In South Africa we once made an oscillator that ran off a 9v battery. We tossed it into various trees, the signal being so strong it would swamp their equipment. We seldom had much trouble with them after that.

[@smorrisby]

Swamp whos' equipment?

[@RT-qd8yl]

Do you know Winston Sterzel?

[@baileyharrison1030]

Who? The Zulus?

[@dampandrew]

@@baileyharrison1030 The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

@@dampandrewok….. but he was in south africa

[@rayoflight62]

The main culprit in modern electronic TV are the computer (an ARM chip) clock circuit, and the backlit LED driver. But those signals are drowning in a plethora of clock signals and switching power supplies present by the dozen in any house nowadays. I have problems listening LW band for this very reason. The Powerline adapters, which send Ethernet over the main power line, are a work of the devil, as they radiate powerful harmonics up to the 10 meters band! Thank you for the video, was a trip down the memory lane...

[@SuperCanuck777]

I am trying to listen to radio caroline from home on a hot GEC AM/FM radio from the 70's known to be a great MW performer. although the freqencies either side of caroline are dead quiet in the daytime, when i'm smack on their 648 khz freqency, i can all sorts of squawks, and constant crackling about their weak signal from 160 odd miles away. wish i could recieve ONLY their signal ...

[@billballinger5622]

Do these signals have ill health effects do you think?

[@tigertiger530]

​@@billballinger5622yes. Check out Mike Adams the health ranger.

[@markkotarski4659]

​@@billballinger5622 shhhhhhhhh

[@Madness832]

There was a similar system used, in the States, in the 1950s. At prime time, a detector van would drive around a given neighborhood w/ a system to detect which households had their sets on. But not only that, they were also able to detect which channel the sets were tuned to (presumably via the harmonics). These were tallied up for the TV ratings.

[@amojak]

they could pick up the local oscillator for the TV, TV sets had a standardised I.F. so it was easy to do.

[@houstonfirefox]

Wait a minute, you mean in Europe you had to supply your name and address to buy and use a friggen TV? Talk about government overreach!

[@stevelaminack1516]

Yeah, but not to find violators with unlicensed TV, since no license was required in the US. At least we did something right.

[@stevelaminack1516]

@@houstonfirefox You have to buy a licenses also.. that is FU.

[@bobboscarato1313]

@@houstonfirefox In most countries governments use their overreach as a source of intimidation and control. I also live in the Houston, TX area.

[@davidmckee5659]

The whole idea that you cant receive any electromagnetic radiation that goes through your property or yourself is idiotic at its core. Do not comply with anyone who declares such idiocy. And always make your LO run at a frequency they don't expect, make it changeable, and always shield and separate the LO from the antenna. Stick it to the man!

[@harrysmith8338]

Cannot say, that any of this is impressive. Observing what "Government" has done, and find it to be deleterious. Truth hidden at every turn, by "Government". Who is the Governor of this World?? Do you really believe, that any Man is Fit to Rule any other Man?? Or Human to rule Humanity?? Would you forcibly rob your neighbor, to pay for things you want?? Then why in the World, do you find it acceptable to "Vote" for someone else to do this?? That is exactly what you do, everytime you "Vote" for "Government".

[@rogerphelps9939]

All irrelevant. Posession of capable equipmentt is all that matters.

[@adamzieba8364]

German WW2 uboats were equipped with a radar detector operating in the VHF band used by earlier Allied anitsubmarine radars. The detector was called Metox and it was a superheterodyne receiver. "Metox also emitted a weak signal, a property common to many radio receivers, especially superheterodyne receivers. In an indirect way, this had serious consequences. In the spring of 1943, the U-boats suffered badly because of the introduction by the British of a 10cm ASV radar. But a captured British officer told the Germans that their misfortunes were caused by the transmission of Metox, which were detected by Coastal Command aircraft. After verifying that this was technically possible, the Germans believed the story. This delayed the introduction of Naxos by some months, during which the U-boats suffered heavy losses." Naxos was a newer radar detector built to detect signals with wavelengths between 8cm and 12cm.

[@r0cketplumber]

Luis Alvarez, who later proposed the asteroid impact K-T extinction theory with his son Walter, realized that U-boats' radar detectors non-directionally measured the signal from the airborne search radar. Since the radar pulse drops with 1/r2 and the return also goes as 1/r2, adding a circuit reducing the transmitted signal by 1/r3 during an attack run would still allow the return signal to get stronger during the approach- but make the signal detected at the U-boat decrease as 1/r. This spoofing lulled U-boats into to staying on the surface to run their diesels since the radar always seemed to be going away...

[@waylonk2453]

I remember a Lindybeige video about this. I believe it's titled "The Battle of the Atlantic: U-Boats and How to Sink Them"

[@robertkeyes258]

When my brother and I were young teens, our bedrooms were across the hall and on a separate floor from our parents. We didn't get along. My brother would often plan his radio late at high volume. I was a radio geek and had several old receivers including an old Hallicrafters that I found leaked quite a bit. I would rune to the appropriate frequency near the station he was listening to and essentially jam it. He'd get frustrated, tune to another station (we had 4 which played rock music) and I'd do the same, until he gave up. I owned that radio for another 20 years, before I sold it as an anquite for $250, quite a profit over the $15 I had paid for it 25 years earlier.

[@boilerroombob]

Redifusion set up a large cable undertaking here in the south east essex uk in 1964 it closed the antiquated 5 channel system in 1997 due to competition from the superiority of the the multichannel vrigin media system ...in late 80s though they introduced Premier movie channel .£10 per month ..but my friend noticed that all they encrypted it with was a simple signal that they removed with an inline notch filter at your end ...so a few electronic buffs soon copied these filters / pcb .....lol.....and sold them in local pubs ...for £20 sovs Or £30 sovs if you wanted the fitting service x

[@geniferteal4178]

One time, after a pay per view session ended, they had a free give away. No one should have seen it, except those bypassing all encryption, which kept the Chanel open all the time. Everyone who responded was cheating.😂

[@DeejvilleTV]

I remember 20 years ago when TVX was on Freeview there was a guy who used to run a keygen website on the internet to unlock the premium content. All you had to do was get the code from the TV for that nights viewing, insert it into the keygen page on the website and it would generate the release code so you could watch the channel for the night. I tried it for two nights but stopped watching it because British Porn is tame. You see more action in my back garden at night with the badgers lol!

[@alastairbarkley6572]

Brilliantly researched, as usual, Lewis. Truly the Mark Felton of radio geeks! The German WW2 submarine service was absolutely paranoid about local oscillator radiation - by mid 1942, they'd issued directive after directive on radio procedure and even banned the use of the military issue 'civilian' type broadcast receiver that was issued to U-boats to amuse the submariners (the output could be interfaced with the boat's PA system so the crew could all be entertained) except when the vessel was in port. The Kriegsmarine SIGINT people believed that the LO on this non-military designed radio was particularly leaky. Could D/f be used on a specific radiating LO signal from an operational U-boat? I think it could. The principal sub command net was hosted on a powerful permanent LF/VLF transmitter at Lorient, France, on Brittany's Atlantic coast, which operated on a fixed frequency. Furthermore, U-boats carried a standard complement of radio transmitters receivers (some with their own D/f capability) so, 99% of the time, listeners to Lorient (of the naval rating, Oberfunkmat, U-boat type, anyway) were using exactly the SAME type of receiver. - and therefore, identical LOs. The Allies by this time had captured enough U-boats to understand this. Knowing the receiver IF and also the frequency of the incoming transmission, means that the likely frequency of the radiated LO signal is exactly known. Sure, the power of the radiated LO signal will be extremely low. And, in fact, the U-boat receivers DID use an RF stage ahead of the mixer. But, those valve mixers (triode/hexode or pentagrid) are unbalanced and provide nil in/out port isolation, so SOME of the LO will be radiated regardless of the RF amp stage. Remember that this is a LF/VLF signal which will propagate via ground wave - and over a highly conductive (seawater) surface will get a considerable distance. The idea that an aircraft within a few kms could accurately detect this easily identifiable signal (and home in on it) isn't so fanciful. However, LO radiation wasn't really the U-boaters headache. It was a red herring - but a herring that also caused them to abandon the R600A 'METOX' 200MHz aircraft radar detection receiver device on the same basis, 'vulnerable emissions'. Had they known about British HF/DF detection and most importantly, Bletchley Park's penetration of the naval Enigma, they would have lost interest in local oscillators completely.

[@Andrew-rc3vh]

Oddly I was just reading about an anti-ship missile that does not use radar so it can operate in stealth mode. So it is not just ships - you want you missiles to go undetected too.

[@ramjet4025]

Love this highly accurate and detailed comment.

[@boredguy10100]

I love reading things I really don't understand. Good job on you, nerd. That is both a compliment and a derogatory.

[@generalmarkmilleyisbenedic8895]

Excuse me what? mark felton gives the most basic information possible and doesnt give detail or nuance on anything. Unreal people like you exist

[@msamour]

I think it's hilarious how in North America, and many other places where no idiot tax is collected that electronic technicians call bullshit on the whole tv reception detection equipment and propaganda spewed by their respective local authorities. I asked my dad who is a certified electrician and electronic technician who used to service radar equipment (of all things RF). We spent several hours with RF detection equipment trying to catch the famous "European LO leak" and get this YOU CAN'T DETECT ANY RF LEAK FROM THE MAJORITY OF TV SETS OF THE 80'S AND 90'S. We tried for hours on 8 different tv models. The only one the leaked any RF was an old Hitachi from 1977. It could only be detected up to 6 feet away max. So, detection vans are only propaganda to justify stealing money from people so they can keep doing bad things to children.

[@0raj0]

I personally saw a live demo of even cloning the image on the screen (although with very poor quality) from a TV set on CeBIT in Hannover in some early 2000s (they actually used a 90s TV, I don't remember the brand). But actually it was over a very short distance, the TV was close to a wall and the receiving equipment was on the other side of the wall, so maybe it was 2 meters or so...

[@rogerphelps9939]

Wrong. Not stealing. Posession of a TV requires that you have a license. It is as simple as that.

[@msamour]

@@rogerphelps9939 Yes, licence for peasant in a backwards society. Do you think the King and his retenue pays for a tv license? Why do you think they never implemented a TV license scheme anywhere in North America? The TV license scheme has been nothing more than a revenue for pedophiles for decades. That is what they did with your tax money, and I'm willing to bet, you are still supporting these folks that did these awful things to children.

[@felixjohnson3874]

​@@rogerphelps9939okay so men coming to your door and demanding you give them money otherwise they'll take your property and/or kidnap you and stuff you into a barred room isn't stealing? Out of curiosity, do you mind if I come over sometime? No reason of course I just really want to hang out; you don't happen to have any security cameras do you? Again, no reason, no reason at all, I'm just curious.

[@felixjohnson3874]

RF leaking definitely is possible, but yeah in an area as congested as an even vaguely dense town pinpointing exactly who has a TV running would be completely impossible realistically speaking. I'm much more inclined to believe the story about allied ships sending off leaked frequencies because there would be incredibly low congestion and clear signals, but I have a damn hard time buying 'detector vans' from a technical standpoint

[@MirlitronOne]

Back in the 1960s/70s, the Philips Electronic Engineer kits had a circuit that could be tuned to receive and locate the line scan oscillator frequencies for 405 and 625 line (and indeed, 819 line) TV sets. Indoors, it worked well enough to illustrate the point with a dual-standard TV set. There were regularly TV detector vans seen around our area. One day on the way to school, I saw one with an impressive-looking Yagi aerial on the roof. The driver was nowhere to be seen and he had left the back of the van open, so being a nosy kid with an interest in electronics, I took a peek inside the back of the van. It was completely empty! 😁

[@longsighted]

I have only recently come across this Manchester Ringway site. As an ex Eccles stonian now living in Australia and a very long time ago a JET (Junior engineer in Training) at Winter Hill ITA transmitter. I found the article on Winter Hill first on a nostalgia search most interesting and surprisingly accurate. I was there during the effects of the Emley Moor mast collapse and the implications on the Winter Hill mast. I was on my basic training course at Marconi Chelmsford when Emley More actually collapsed. Exciting times as colour for ITV and BBC1 was being implemented. How technology had moved on in the last two decades particularly.

[@jamietaylor5570]

I never saw the point of Post Office detector vans. Post Offices aren't that hard to find!

[@Thursdaym2]

They are these days down our way.

[@HarryBallsOnYa345]

It's more of an old school problem. They had to use those big vans because the equipment was so big and sometimes you may need to carry auxiliary power (which requires more room). Finally they are still used today but I believe only for longer stake-outs, but often times they are just resorting to "dead cars" that are just wired to the teeth.

[@Molon_Labe1776]

Ha

[@brendanstoran7555]

Nowadays they are pal!😳😂

[@artykohl1118]

The one in South Prarie was hard to find until one day I had to take a pee and saw a Port-O-Toilet, but when I went in, it actually was the Post Office.

[@Rayman1971]

For a country that fought for "Freedom" against the Snotzies, it sure is oppressive in many ways....

[@donsurlylyte]

and the traditional englishman is supposed to be very guarding of his rights.

[@felixjohnson3874]

​@@donsurlylytestop deadnaming, they identify as Americans. (I mean they don't care about their rights either anymore, but they at least did actually used to.)

[@brianbrinn9781]

Honestly appreciate the ‘plain language’ and analogies. Not a radio geek since the 60s. You brought together your research, visuals and knowledge in an explanation a layperson could comprehend. Really enjoyed it.

[@ChoppingtonOtter]

A friend retired as a cop and got a job driving the detector vans. This was around 2007 if I recall correctly. He told me the van was in fact empty by then and his job was to drive round areas and park up for 10 minutes at a time to be sure to be seen.

[@dawid8844]

I was in the police when these vans were in use. They were simply transport to take the TV licensing officers to the next batch of addresses and frighten the locals into paying. Detection was 99.9% people confessing on the doorstep. We used to reluctantly enforce the warrants.

[@DaedalusYoung]

It still is 99.9% people confessing on doorsteps, the other 0.1% is the enforcement goons twisting people's words into confessing. And they don't use the vans anymore, they use their personal cars. Whenever someone questions whether they have business insurance on their vehicle, they quickly drive away.

[@SuperCanuck777]

Ah, yes. crown enforcers all the truths coming out now, you will be judged .

[@JLPCORR]

It's still 99.9% detection from doorstep confessions. They have no right to access your property

[@majorkonfuzion1007]

gestapo 20xx and beyond

[@brentboswell1294]

Our local cable company (USA) would drive a windowless van through neighborhoods during TV prime time...the rumor was that they were looking for people watching scrambled "premium" channels that weren't paying for them. Showtime could be descrambled on an old Atlanta Scientific push-button cable tuner by depressing the "3" and "7" buttons together 😂 (note-it required taping the buttons down, as the spring mechanism would release when two buttons were simultaneously pressed!).

[@TheBaldr]

As someone who worked for Time Warner Cable as a Technician, many cable devices have backdoor menus usually for testing purposes. You could also get 3rd party boxes that de-scrambled channels, you can still buy them today. The cable company was more concerned with illegal cable connections outside than anything that happen inside your house.

[@W4BIN]

@@TheBaldr The FCC fines cable companies if they allow their cable connections to leak their cable signals out, so many company vehicles have alarm devices that monitor a single fixed frequency CW signal on their cable system. I am sure that is all that is happening where I live, your mileage may vary. Ron W4BIN (in Florida)

[@spvillano]

@@TheBaldr two different systems. With the antique mechanical tuner box, "scrambling" was via interference and paid subscribers got a notch filter to filter out the interference. Scrambling, I have a network tuner that can descramble the cable signals, if I purchased the subscription and QAM card. I'm sure there are similar that are dummied to not require the card, but I never bothered trying them. I only needed the network tuner so I could use MythTV to legally record my programs I wanted to watch.

[@9HighFlyer9]

In the late 80s early 90s my dad was a cable tech for a small company now owned by Cox. We had Scientific American boxes on all our TVs. An eeprom swap was required to get the premium channels unscrambled. After the swap a code was punched into the remote for access to HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, The Movie Channel, PPV, and my 12yo selfs favorite Playboy.

[@donsurlylyte]

i watched a lot of porn, scrambled. still did the trick.

[@paulgriffin5237]

one bloke who worked for them in a past life, was being asked a bout the vans in an interview and said the van he had, had no equipment in it, and was just used as a scare tactic and also for geting a round in, said it have cost too much to have thst type of stuff.

[@PaulMetzler-c1b]

In the 1990's I worked with a client in the electronics industry. At that time video billboards along the busy freeway were coming into regular use. My client said that some of the billboards were equipped with detectors that could detect what radio stations were being tuned into by the passing cars. Then the displays on the billboard would change accordingly to maximize the advertising impact. So if a lot of drivers were tuned into a ball game the billboard might display ads for pickup trucks, if a lot of drivers were listening to soft rock then fashion clothing could be displayed. Ringway you've made this seem plausible.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

Seems dangerous to drag drivers attention off the road.

[@wrongsideof40]

Great video. I was about to mention 'Spycatcher' but you beat me to it! It reminds me of the time I discovered - completely by chance - that by mixing the radiated LO carrier (or a harmonic of it) from a nearby valve mediumwave radio, to my portable, Marine Band radio, I could resolve SSB and CW transmissions from radio amateurs on 160 and 80m. I was chuffed (I was 10!)

[@anthonypaulgarnett4920]

Yep. Been there, done that. I used to resolve ssb on my cheap Niponease multiple waveband portable by putting a MW receiver alongside it

[@bill-2018]

I did it too. G4GHB

[@mmwaashumslowww7167]

Local oscillators send a carrier wave further than you would think. Back in the 80s a friend used the oscillator from a grundig transistor radio and just by attaching an fm dipole at the coil and feeding in an audio output, managed to broadcast over half a mile.

[@artifactingreality]

why?

[@dimm__]

@@artifactingreality why not

[@EbenBransome]

As a teenager I was experimenting with a push-pull double power triode, building what I thought was a low power oscillator to do some experiments with NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) as described in Wireless World. I managed to blank out the BBC2 channel over a half mile radius. Fortunately the valve burnt out before they were able to get organised and locate the signal.

[@mmpiforall5913]

Back in 1994 at work a FM table radio had a local oscillator signal strong enough to appear on the screen of a spectrum analyzer what was testing a FM broadcast interface for a rear window antenna intended to address high interference in Detroit's Greenfield Road test course due to the many radio stations there. Broadband field strength at Greenfield was over 500,000 uV/M! Two FM stations even created cross band suppression of a AM station at 590Khz!! (The table radio at work was 200 Ft away from the lab! Finally, a shielded room was installed.)

[@bill-2018]

I built a one valve regenerative radio kit, H.A.C., in 1969 and confirm they put out a signal. Spy radio operators in WW2 were located by the regenerative receiver as well as by the transmitted signal, the most well known was the Paraset. When I tell people a t.v. could be detected by a van they don't believe it, yes, around 10 and 16 kHz with harmonics into the 160m and 80 m bands causing a lot of noise to radio amateurs. I knew when my neighbours switched on a t.v. so a detector van was very possible. G4GHB.

[@kensmith5694]

The super-regen[1] receivers were even easier to detect. Normally a regen only makes some radiation that is exactly on top of the signal you are listening to. This means that so long as the regen control wasn't set too high, the signal being listened to would help to hide the leak from the receiver. On the super-regen, the leaked RF was AM modulated at the squegging frequency which was above the audio range. This meant that a narrow band receiver to tune into the sideband. Mostly for others: [1] "regenerative" means you feed back some of the amplified RF back into the input of the amplifier stage. This has the effect of greatly increasing the amplification you get. The down side is that if you feed back too much, your radio oscillates, transmits, and you don't hear anything. Regenerative receivers have a control for this you need to adjust for good results. "super-regenerative" receivers didn't need this control because they had a circuit that would repeatedly kill the oscillation at some rate above what humans can hear. The effect was as though it was a regenerative set adjusted to just below the threshold of oscillation. Sometimes this effect was done with clever design of the RF amplifier stage because tubes were expensive. I meant that there were a lot more "not a tube" components in the design but that was fine with most people.

[@bill-2018]

@@kensmith5694 Yes, super regens were bad for that, I built a valve 2m xtal tx in 1976 which had a super regen rx but didn't have it for long. The Wireless 19 Set had one but it is said they were no good if a number of stations were operating. I have a 1944 Mk 3 much modified in which the B Set had already been removed and completely re-wired with pvc wire by REME in 1958, c.w. only 2 Watts out, great fun, and usually 5.262 MHz, a modification by me to xtal on tx for stability. G4GHB

[@RevMikeBlack]

Although I understand why licensing of radios and television sets was implemented in the UK, the whole idea of pay radio sounds strange to those of use who grew up in America. The rule of thumb here is that if it's coming through your airspace, then you're free to listen... unless, of course, you're using equipment designed to illicitly decode secure government, military or financial communications. You can get in a lot of trouble for doing that and rightfully so.

[@RT-qd8yl]

All the cool kids have a "Malicious use of radiocommunications services" charge under their belt 😂

[@ethanlamoureux5306]

If the government, military or bank want to prevent eavesdropping, they need to secure their own signals. If they fail to secure them, then they are solely responsible for anybody listening in.

[@jamesblair9614]

Can you imagine what all those government employees, bureaucracy and equipment cost. There’s probably still a few of those old TV police still kicking, sucking at the public teet. A Government doing their little bit to discourage people from going out and buying a tv or radio, suppressing retail and manufacturing. The Beatles song Tax Man comes to mind.

[@chrislee6650]

As children in the late 70s early 80s we'd often run home to tell our Mum and Dad we saw a TV dector van on the street with their big arials, and the TV would immediately be switched off 🙂 We didn't quite understand why until we were older, and so being a poor family we must have had spells without a TV licence, little did we know at the time the TV vans were all fake. It's a bit like the CCTV in Boots with the domes containing dozens of cameras that would turn and stop at random, most of those were fake.

[@sw6188]

I am surprised to hear that people have been prosecuted for listening to transmissions. Here in New Zealand, there is no law against listening to anything. Basically if you can hear it, good for you. The only thing you are not allowed to do is act on any information you hear. For example, if you hear that the police are about to raid your neighbour's place, you're not allowed to call them and tip them off.

[@andrewsmart2949]

as was the case in western australia until recently

[@sw6188]

@@andrewsmart2949 What was Australia's position on this? You say "until recently" - what changed?

[@tonycapone2016]

Digital encrypted now

[@SuperCanuck777]

Worcester police made threats against me for alledgely monitoring them in the late 90's before they moved to digital. mind you every man and his dog was eavesdropping on them for entertainment purposes and worse back then.

[@andrewsmart2949]

@@sw6188 they changed the law and made it a seroius offence

[@Fred-rj3er]

A radio signal goes everywhere. Everything and anything picks up radio signals. A bit of wire or a steel girder. No one can ever tell if someone is listening in. TV detector vans simply read addresses off address lists from shops where they had just sold tellies to and people who had not renewed their license. Mi Dad used to work for them in the 70s.

[@JoeBorrello]

I’ve heard that the Cat Detector Van from the Ministry of Housange could pinpoint a purr at 400 yards.

[@daveys]

Was that the van which had the word “Dog” crossed out and “Cat” written on in crayon?

[@Ressy66]

I still cant get over the fact that in 2022 UK charges citizens for licences to WATCH tv or LISTEN to broadcast radio. In Australia 99.9r% of our laws are based on the UK/EU - I'm so very glad this is ONE thing we do NOT copy.

[@Equiluxe1]

All the radio/TV licensing goes back to the great scam artist Marconi who got the post office to do his research and put his name on all the patents, he then got a cut of all sets sold (ten shillings I think) back in the days when that was a weeks wages for some then you had to pay a licence to listen to the thing or go blind trying to watch a rolling flickering image that disapeard at every opertunity.

[@belstar1128]

Its to fund the bbc in most countries that is just funded with regular taxes.

[@wigglepig115]

The radio precept went away many decades ago, so there is no licence required to listen to the radio.

[@Ressy66]

@@wigglepig115 ahh thanks for the correction

[@Equiluxe1]

@@belstar1128 It is now but thats not how or why it started

[@skysurferboy]

Imagine back in the day the lengths people would go to to avoid detection and now we just give governments and corporations our most intimate personal data, our thoughts, feelings , our contacts list, our tastes in hobbies and pastimes, our finances and purchases and our political and sexual persuasions .....all through our phones. We give it up freely without a second thought.

[@yankee7664]

Well because you all said I don't have any ting to hide... Bull s***. You have many things that you what to keep private... people don't need to know you private life...the government and private company's for what they want you information....i bet that is to make money from you or spy on you.... don't give up you private information for free...you have rights...and they don't have any business to know you private information...don't give them any ting...( Asked for what they need it..and say no you don't need it )

[@merlin5476]

There's 1 reply to your comment... but its vanished !! Perhaps Big brother has removed it for some reason!!

[@ethzero]

Genuine thing: just outside a supermarket in a carpark in Oxford back in the late 90s when I was a teenager, I spotted a rather conspicuously parked "TV detector van" (fairly near the shop's entrance, but not too close). I remember one mother commenting to her child not to go close to the van with the blacked-out windows. I on the other hand was both far too curious and was prepared for any consequences. Sure enough as I suspected just with a bit of life knowledge from the shape of this vehicle, when I cupped my hands on the side window to block the outside light to see into the van it was just a regular minibus. A classic bit of propaganda. Of course TV licence "detection" is mostly done by having to register your details with the retailer at the point of sale and of course the rare visit from the licensing people.

[@jammiedodger629]

My Mum (God Rest her soul) used to work for the GPO as it was then, she told me the old "comma" vans at the Norwich Depot had 2 chairs, a table, a transistor radio along with a large flask of tea for the "operators", no electronic gear whatsoever. They would often drive around and park up on an estate , then stop while the Football was on.

[@Electronics-Rocks]

I missed this first time around & just found it. So many people think detector vans never worked but I had a run down of how the detection vans worked & got to see inside in 1984. Then they got decommissioned in 84 to be replaced with fake vans looking for just the masts. I was told at the time that the newer TV could not be detected so days was numbered This also gave me an insight into why you could not share a TV aerial as before the filter design change they would interfere. Like the end of the detection vans so did my apprenticeship but the first few weeks I learned so much before leaving. I was NOT going to be part of the detection team but the same company.

[@prad6543]

Paying for a licence to watch the BBC they should pay us

[@1700iDiGuy]

Into a bit about the incorrectly operated 2 TRF set can break into ocillation (high pitch squealing) and transmit that, much to the annoyance of your neighbours often doors away.. some people had their licences revoked for doing it on purpose 😂

[@joeblow8593]

All our TV here in the states was supported entirely by advertising with the exception of PBS which was mainly supported by viewer donations. Beyond that, any commercial free TV that was available was on cable TV like HBO which we had to pay extra for.

[@stevelaminack1516]

So in the UK you pay for the right to watch TV and still have to watch adverts...total BS. We get a lot of UK shows here in the states, wonder when the UK government is going to try to suck money out of us.

[@Mark1024MAK]

@@stevelaminack1516 - no commercial advertising on any BBC TV or radio stations. That’s what the license fee is paying for. But yes, if you watch a commercial TV station, you will obviously get the advertisements as well. However, generally (it varies slightly on the time of day) the amount of advertisements is limited to 15 minutes per hour. Most broadcasters therefore run up to 4 minutes of advertising four times per hour.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

@@stevelaminack1516 no. In the UK you pay to own a TV capable of receiving non-commercially funded TV or watching said non-commercially funded TV on iplayer. Hm. Though you may have a point. You pay money to virgin and sky right? And well those channels are full of adverts so yeah I guess you do pay money to watch adverts on TV. Just it isn't the BBC or the TV Licence, but your Satellite or Cable sub.

[@straightpipediesel]

Public television (e.g. PBS) is mainly supported by Federal tax dollars: money from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and grants that pay for individual programs (National Science Foundation gave money for Bill Nye The Science Guy). The UK's TV licensing made sense back in the day when TVs were a luxury good owned by the elite. Today, everybody has a TV or screen, so it should be rolled into taxes, and you don't need the overhead of enforcement. But the system is too entrenched to change.

[@computersales]

It's crazy to think there are countries that are so backwards you can't take advantage of radio signals going through the air.

[@TexasPrisonStories]

This channel just gets better and better. I'd like to see a video about the first Freebanders.

[@mcmaddie]

Back in the early 2000's I had tv license inspector to come ring my doorbell asking if I had tv and license for it. I said 'no'. He didn't believe me and threaten to come back with police. I said 'you are welcome' and closed the door. It's been over 20 years now and he still hasn't come. I've moved few times since so he might not have my address anymore. Then again there hasn't been 'tv-license' anymore over a decade since they decided to make it a tax so you can't avoid it anymore.

[@amojak]

the detector van thing was a case of "they could detect" but in reality it was all a visual threat and as it worked so well in the early days they had no need to actually do any detecting.. the old 405 line aerials were huge too.

[@DaedalusYoung]

Maybe they could pick up some electromagnetic harmonics, but there's no way they could pinpoint a single household in a flat (as measured from the ground with a handheld antenna no larger than 1 foot), and determine with 100% certainty that they were watching Columbo.

[@SuperCanuck777]

i still see the occasional one rotting on a half fallen down pole of someones chimney .

[@amojak]

@@SuperCanuck777 you have to hand it to the original manufacturers of those H aerials, they were pretty robust :)

[@SuperCanuck777]

@@amojak Yes. heavy duty thickness alloy unlike now. i salvaged one of those vhf low H antennas and used the element brackets to make a 3 ele yagi for 27mhz which i spoke all over the world on in 1982.

[@OldManBadly]

When it comes to TV and radio, the UK has got to have the dumbest laws possible. TV licenses are an absolute sham, a way for government to tax the poor. As for radio receivers, the stupidity is even bigger. I tend to follow the simple rule that if you transmit something that I can receive, then I should have the right to receive it as transmitted. Analog or digital, I should be able to receive it as it was sent without question. Now actively trying to bypass encoding as an example is sort of a different game. Even then, unless I am disclosing the content of communication to others, it's just something for myself. I can understand licensing transmitters over a few milliwatts to make sure the bands are not packed with unlicensed users. Reception should never be a crime.

[@MAlanThomasII]

It was technically possible to build a working detector van, and in fact they did have some for when there was some genuine issue with interference or land-based pirate radio. (There are some wild stories of random things they found throwing off RF because of an electrical fault or such.) But it was much cheaper to use regular vans with some fancy paint job for PR and personnel transport, so that was the usual.

[@lelsewherelelsewhere9435]

Crt detector tech was also used to "see" what was on the crt remotely. There was this old school spy invention magazine detailing it.

[@lomgshorts3]

We never had to license our TV's. We wouldn't have stood for it. I realize that conditions were much different during the war in Britain, but even our power grid now emits "broadband - over - power - line" interferences because the power companies just got lazy and didn't want to pay a meter reader and so set things up to read meters remotely. A Ham Operator has to endure so many illegal signals that sometimes we receive nothing but illegal interferences. So, one day I had had enough. I put a low frequency bandstop filter on the incoming mains, and then searched out every switching power supply there was, and replaced them with transformer operated power supplies. Did it get rid of all the noise on my receivers? No, but after shooting out a security light often enough with my airgun, they finally gave up on it. No noise anymore. I imagine that I had pretty much the same equipment that your "post office" officials had to search out all the offending noisemakers. In America, Ham Operators police ourselves - and others. Those who do not cooperate are taken care of.

[@JediOfTheRepublic]

You sound like an old man yelling at clouds

[@Dorpmuller]

Yeah, but he's right... there's so much RFI at my place that SWL is almost not doable. 10 over power line noise. And I unplug or turn off terminal strips on wall warts and battery chargers, otherwise the noise is full pin.

[@AdamosDad]

As an American I cannot even imagine getting in trouble for having an unlicensed TV. While in the US Navy I knew that during the Vietnam war, we could tell when a receiver was turned on within 50 miles, we could even tell the brand of the radio.

[@thomasbrostrom]

And the audio volume.

[@nerdlife8122]

I can't imagine paying a fee just to watch over the air broadcasts.

[@AdamosDad]

@@fungo6631 How many dense apartment blocks do you think are at sea or in a backward jungle coastline from 1600 meters? I was in radio one behind a door that you had to put your hand in a box and push the code buttons to enter and a marine guard checked you for access. I saw the equipment but was not an operator of ECM, my job was cryptographic machines. I was friends with the ECM people and believe them. I saw some of the signals on the scopes, and even took apart some signals myself. I was told that besides jamming we could receive a radar signal for instance, modify it send it back to the enemy radar and change what they see in their repeater. BS if you want, do all the math you want, I saw what I saw back then in the late 60's in Vietnam.

[@grandrapids57]

In Germany the monthly fee for a car radio is $20.

[@AdamosDad]

@@grandrapids57 That to me is a sad joke. I would guess there are a lot of holes in dash bords.

[@aliveandwellinisrael2507]

5:05 I was just about to comment on how ridiculous this picture was, but then I remembered the current state of the UK...

[@choppergirlfpv]

In an AM AA5 five tube radio, in order to receive the signal, you have to down convert the signal to another frequency, that is then amplified and output on the speaker. So at least on those old vacuum tube radios, everything thing you listened to, regardless of the frequency, was down converted to the exact same frequency. All someone would have to do would be to tune to that frequency with a directional high powered antenna and pickup receiver, to pick up that signal and listen to exactly what you were listening... it's called a side band attack. I don't know how digital receivers work, but I imagine they do the same.

[@choppergirlfpv]

AA5 AM radio: "The first two grids of the converter tube form an oscillator. As the radio is tuned across the dial the frequency of this oscillator is changed so as to be 455 kc above the desired station. This is termed the "local oscillator". So if we want to listen to a station on 780 kc we must tune our local oscillator to 780 kc + 455 kc = 1235 kc. The 1235 kc local oscillator combines with the incoming station at 780 to produce two new frequencies at 455 kc and 2015 kc. The tuned circuit in the plate of the converter tube selects the frequency at 455 kc and rejects all others. A station coming in at 770 kc will combine with the oscillator to produce 1235 - 770 = 465 kc. This frequency will be greatly reduced in power by the four tuned circuits in the two IF transformers, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Similarly, the station on 790 will combine with the local oscillator to produce 435 kc which will be reduced in power so you will hear only the station on 780 kc. The frequency of 455 kc is in-between the station's frequency and the audio frequencies so it is called the "Intermediate Frequency" or just IF for short. "

[@donchaput8278]

I was around 6 or 7 (1980s) and was given an electronics set. I wired it as a radio and ended up on military frequencies, having fun talking to helos. We lived on naval base and the MP's showed up that day. My parents were impressed and also not.

[@NoYoSaySo]

Who could have predicted the banality of life in a dystopian hellscape

[@arbutuswatcher]

Across the pond in the 'States', there was something called "The Tempest Standard", also known as Van Eck phreaking or radiation. Specialized equipment was used to detect leaky signals from CRT Displays, such as TV's or Computer Monitors, & display them on a remote display. With the right equipment, this was successfully accomplished from a respectable distance, unbeknownst to the surveilled individual.

[@dougle03]

Yes, but to be fair, that technology was intelligence state level and would certainly not have been shared for the GPO to put it in a Sherpa van on the mean streets of Manchester... lol

[@damo9891]

Very different to LO detection and with different end-game. What links the two? Peter Wright does.

[@petehiggins33]

I once had to design a power supply to the TEMPEST standard for a military application. When I asked how low I needed to get the emanations I was told "We can't tell you, it's secret".

[@ealingbadger]

Been there. Done that. Ridiculous. [Redacted as I signed the official secrets act.] :-)

[@arbutuswatcher]

A chap I knew talked a bit about the wiretaps he did, while in the employ of the local phone company. Mind you, this was back in 1970's & 80's, so technology was slightly primative, when compared to today. He worked in one of the central buildings.... the type with no windows. Anyway, he would wire to the 'suspect or marks' line, and then tie it to another line, which I'm told lead to a local govenment building. Essentially, the government types got an extension on the phone line of their 'person of interest', without going near the place. There were other configurations, that used tape recorders or monitoring services, commonplace at the time. It was less 007-type work, & more 'tight-lipped' electrical/telephone work.

[@the80hdgaming]

I personally find it ridiculous to need a licence to have a receiver in the uk...

[@Murderdogs]

Good thing it's not been required for 50 years then!

[@TonyLing]

It is a flawed payment model, however, we do have a few channels from which we can seek refuge from commercials.

[@SuperCanuck777]

Well they had to fund the likes of jimmy savile and cohorts somehow .........

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Its a good way of ensuring quality content for all. The BBC is mostly known for its TV programming, but it produces a hell of a lot of ancillery content for education for example. Its radio services whilst a licence is not required for their enjoyment are still funded by it and do provide entertainment for the young and old. Its services across the globe (BBC America is a special case) such as the world service receives funding from the licence fee too. In general, licencing makes sense given an individual in the UK is highly likely to have benefited from its content or will continue to do so over their lifetime. Equally its not a compulsory licence, I myself went 10 years without one and a simple reply to the letter with "I don't require one" and they left me alone. Think I needed to redo it occasionally but it wasn't every year, more like every three. It could move to a subscription model but I think the funding would dry up and services suffer as a result. We would likely lose several radio stations, programming for deaf people may cease, no more educational programming or information, and quality of shows would drop, etc. Personally I think licencing is a great idea and makes sense. Hell take the hobby of ham radio, BBC engineering folk are pioneers in a number of technical fields related to it.

[@Dragoon91786]

@@lmaoroflcopter there is another optional funding model-do like the NHS and fund it off government appropriations and general wealth taxes (particularly those aimed at rent seekers) like we generally used to do in the US with PBS. That got bored the same way NHS has been borked. I was of the understanding that the UK already switched over to something of a subscription model quite a while ago, which is why the UK at present is having huge issues with BBC funding, and in particular with regards to the current BBC propaganda problems where it fails to report on the "plausible genocide" in Gaza stipulated by the ICJ-JIC leading to mass calls for boycotts-on top of the mass influx of people switching from the BBC to to other services because most people have gotten rid of their traditional over-the-air broadcast equipment. And now the BBC for the first time is being forced to compete with the likes of major US and other corporate outlets 😀. And now, the BBC is suffering blowback due to organized attempts by reactionary right politicians and political pundits to get long-standing UK institutions shuttered, such as Doctor Who. So if you're already going to have those kinds of problems, it seems to me that the solution is to find the BBC like nhs, and then actually fund those institutions, and then to for stories and other politicians who wished to eliminate those institutions by defunding them, be they tories or labor or other political parties, switch to my understanding is an already extant problem in the UK that needs severe resolution the sooner the better.

[@statusquofugitive8554]

SWIM modified a Walkman in the 90s to modulate the IF and would play their own music over restaurant radio PAs that they patronized. Of course now everything is Bluetooth. The good old days.

[@TRIPPLEJAY00]

No need for a TV licence anymore 🙌

[@dave161141]

No need for a TV at all. The content broadcasted is not worth it.

[@johnthompson2598]

@@dave161141 how can you say that........Re-Repeats of Bargain Hunt are worth every penny

[@mor4y]

Halfway through writing the spycatcher comment when you mentioned it 🤣 amazing that they had planes fitted with the RAFTER system, never mind vans.... but it's also the start of the 'white van outside listening to me' trope that started in TV and movies, All the early vans were white as they needed to be made out of fibreglass, and white was the only colour they could do it in and still have it look like a metal bodied van afterwards. Weird how a little detail like that goes on to spawn a trope that's still being used today

[@darylcheshire1618]

Fortunatly TV licences were abolished in Australia in the early ‘70s I think by Whitlam, I remember a TV ad which showed a man furtively watching a TV and then he gets a knock on the door. I recall it was $12 a year and included all radios not just TV and you paid at the post office. (PMG).

[@crispy9175]

What a sad state of affairs the UK is in.

[@SUPERSMASHTV177O13]

You don't need a TV license now

[@MacksCurley]

Great video,thanks,I never thought about the IF stage leaking. None of the techniques you described would work these days as the noise floor or EMI in residential areas is about S6 to S9 due to cheap electronic appliances and solar panels.

[@galfisk]

Do solar panels create any inherent EMI, or is it due to the inverters?

[@MacksCurley]

@@galfisk All electrical appliances with switch mode power supplies generate electromagnetic radiation however there are regulations on how much radiation they may produce which is all good and well. A Tridactylidae's don't make a loud noise but when are thousands of them, the noise is deafening. The EMI from appliance has the same effect when there are thousands of them on at the same time. Ask any armature radio operator that lives near high voltage power lines what level the noise floor is.

[@Silverhornet81]

This video makes all of the Monty Python sketches about detector vans make a LOT more sense now..

[@w8biatvrepeater638]

Wow! At some point, I bet that they will start making certain kitchen knives illegal.

[@jannikheidemann3805]

They already have length limits on knige edges as far as I know.

Hello: In your country you needed a licence to watch TV? (!!!). it is unusual today but in Argentina you just put an antena and watch some channels, analog and digitals. I still have them . Vans are very usual, filled pickig illegal FM Radios and use >100 m high antenae to investigate them. Cheers from frozen Patagonia.

[@Vanu-i4o]

Just say to them "this is me Relaxation oscillator to get me to sleep".

[@ItsJustPhillip]

Aaah the good old super heterodyne receivers!!.. If I’m not mistaken the original receivers had just 100 nanometers of prefabulated aluminium, that were 100 microns deep - these were surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two main spurving bearings were in a direct line with the pentametric fan. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzlevanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented. The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semi-bovoid slots in the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremie pipe to the differential girdlespring on the "up" end of the grammeters

[@jannikheidemann3805]

That is quite some sphisticated nonsense.

[@roberthilton172]

This is the biggest con the post office ever came out with, all they had was the addresses of everyone with no TV licence, the vans were empty all they had was a yagi on the roof leading to nothing

[@stunimbus1543]

The UK detector vans didn't actually have any working equipment in them - only tea and coffee making equipment and a chemical toilet.

[@cplcabs]

So they say….but what they (whoever they are) say is usually incorrect

[@gracefool]

​@@cplcabsMultiple people in the comments say they've personally seen inside them.

[@cplcabs]

@@gracefool indeed, but then multiple people have said they have seen big foot, UFOs and ghosts and yet they haven't

[@mikewright447]

interesting about the tv vans and how they "worked" but im not sure as there has been no court cases (as far as i know) where evidence gathered by a van has been used and theres anecdotal evidence from ppl that used to drive the vans saying they didnt work it was all fake equipment , they had a list of houses that didnt have a license and they just drove down the street looking for at first an aerial and then the flickering light from a tv and reportedly turned a tv on inside the van and just went through the 2 or 3 channels until they matched the flickering seen through curtains when matched they knocked on the door of the target house and i was told by a salesman that the uk in the 70s and 80s had to report the addresses from tv sales to the relevant body at the time.

[@kevinrkinsella]

As you know Tempest proofing both buildings and kit was big during the Cold War. A principal driver for these efforts was the knowledge of just how much information was being gleaned from Soviet bloc kit. Nothing was covert in central London, the I.F. receiving aerials were just impossible to hide. The easiest to spot were between the buildings on Church Street and Kensington Palace Green/Gardens;with the obvious data sources being the various Soviet bloc buildings lining the private road. Top left side of any southbound bus gave a grandstand view if you were looking - very few were. These were very large vertically polarised aerials with limited swing. After the Cold War ended the site became a large housing block with eye watering service charges. Regarding information in the public domain:- Wikipedia has a Tempest category which covers a wide range of topics. Remember to check the edits log for some of the information submitted by the public.

[@David0lyle]

I’m really curious about what emissions that the most modern Software Defined Radios produce. Going forward it’s reasonable to expect that anyone listening in on really anything will probably carry out the final steps with an SDR. 🤔 I am however wondering about the preceding steps. Do signal pre amps produce any radiation?

[@HB-ps6rn]

Thats a shame they went after scanners. I'm in a rural area in the US and they are essential for us farmers who have to fight fires too. Super useful to be able to hear the FD about how a fire is progressing or to hear what they want to do with air support.

[@TurboTimsWorld]

Who was the comedian that said "watch out for the vans with the spinning roof racks" ? lol

[@fireflyrobert]

Tony Hancock?

[@There_Is_No_Spoon]

Thats interesting .... I heard on the radio the other day that TV Licencing admitted that the detector vans were actually fake and were used as a kind of deterrent because they couldn't actually tell if a tv set was on in any particular house 🙂

[@1963knight]

the only thing inside a tv detector van was a list of who had purchased a tv licence and who had not

[@Mike-H_UK]

Using a very primitive set up with just a short wire antenna and an RSPduo SDR, I can pick up the LO from a small handheld MW radio about 5metres away - so not much. Has anyone any idea of the range with a more optimised set up (good directional antenna, LNA and a professional spectrum analyser)? I imagine that tube receivers with an attached outdoor antenna were also much better radiators.

[@AdamosDad]

We could detect this type of signal from a little more than 50 miles away with our shipboard ECM gear.

[@Mike-H_UK]

@@AdamosDad Thanks, I'll assume that that is about as good as can be obtained if ECM equipment is used.

[@ejonesss]

i think there are flaws in the circuitry of the receivers that the police can detect such as the local oscillator and the oscillator used to set up the cancellation to extract the signal. there was a device back in ww2 that was supposed to go between the antenna and receiver that would block the stray signals from coming back out to the antenna so you could listen in secret.

[@mybluemars]

So, in general you have to transmit (leak radio waves) to be found?

[@vortexgen1]

Here in the US the radar detectors detectors do the same thing for the police looking for people using radar detectors on the interstate highways or any roads to drive above the speed limits.

[@ianbelletti6241]

The UK licenses devices. The US funds local stations with tax money to pay for availability for emergency broadcasts. That's why local TV stations still broadcast for free over radio signals in the US.

[@worldofrandometry6912]

I get that it might be possible to detect a TV in operation, but how can they tell if you are watching Eastenders or Netflix?

[@Mark1024MAK]

To answer some of the points in other comments… The U.K. tv license is actually a tax. The actual U.K. TV License operation is contracted out to a commercial company. It’s not BBC staff that get involved in the day to day operations. Most of the time, the automatic computer generated letters go out regardless of your reason why you don’t have a license. Unless you admit to watching television, or you let them in, or they can see in through a window and see you watching television, they will have great difficulty prosecuting you. Having said that, assuming you can afford to pay for a tv license, it is actually good value for money compared to commercial subscription tv or a typical mobile telephone contract that has a high data usage/allowance. And the money from the license funds the BBC. Whatever individuals may think of the BBC, they are one of the better broadcasters in the world. Some money from the U.K. TV License fee has been used in the past for other public service broadcasters and for other television distribution equipment costs. It was technically possible to pick up the local oscillator of (analogue) radios and televisions. And to pick up the line output frequency of analogue televisions. But as more and more houses got equipment, and as radio/tv equipment got better, it becomes more difficult to isolate which building the ‘transmission’ is coming from. Also the type of construction of the building has a significant effect on the strength of the signal that escapes… It’s much easier to look and see who has an aerial… Or look in through their windows… Or compare the database of homes vs. registered licenses…

[@larkhill2119]

Police in Australia used modified seized radar detectors to pick up the local oscillator of other radar detectors. No point having one your going to get caught and add more detectors to the pool. I did consider modifying one to detect the detectors.

[@Sgt_Bill_T_Co]

Most of the TV detector vans were fake, they drove round and basically scared people by their presence, also they knew which addresses had licences thus which did not, they would then look for aerials and simply check in the front window for the 'flashing' associated with tv usage. This is in the UK.

[@spoonikle]

we may need a new crack down on RF leakage. The air is getting pretty noisy and we are all losing out on clean wireless transmissions.

[@rakeau]

Listening through the first bit of your video, it sounds like how detecting a device receiving radio, is very much the same way that a radar detector -- and thus a radar-detector-detector -- works. Because the hardware to receive these signals, is very much the same as the hardware to broadcast the same signals, they can inherently "leak" and retransmit what they receive on a shifted frequency.

[@oculosprudentium8486]

but the key question here is still unanswered can the authorities detect the presence of a radio e.g. a common Baofeng radio or even a higher-end expensive HAM radio as they are just in listening mode and not transmitting?

[@robertsteinbach7325]

This reminded me of the World War 2 "Foxhole radios" sets built American soldiers. These were essentially homemade primitive radio receivers using a pencil lead instead of a crystal as the diode ("cat whisker") and didn't use electric components to give away its location like regular radio receivers would. These radios were the only way American soldiers could hear radio stations for news and entertainment.

[@chrisreed5463]

The technique was called Rafter (Wright), I've used it before some years ago. But have had little success with modern kit. In the modern urban RF environment without knowing what the target is monitoring and what kit they're using, Rafter is very difficult.

[@cryptickcryptick2241]

If you have a radio on in the car, I have heard it can be detected by monitoring the headlights of the vehicle. When the speakers are playing music, the "load" on the electrical system fluctuates. As the load fluctuates the amount of electrical energy going to the headlights changes, making the headlights get dimmer and brighter. One could also bounce a laser off a car windshield as well. This type of thing might be useful if a radio station wanted to know how many people were listening to them verses the other stations.

[@Mark1024MAK]

Filament lamps are too slow to react to anything but low frequencies…

[@scott7305]

⁠@@Mark1024MAKPlus the chances of the lights flickering just from the amplifier alone is low, many other parts. At normal listening levels, most car amplifiers should have way more than enough amperage or headroom from the alternator, meaning that no flickering should be going on.

[@brianfretwell3886]

To be honest they can tell what your radio is tuned to when it is turned on, but they can't tell if you are actually listening to it.😊

[@PaulFisher]

So what you’re saying is that in the 50s, one of the major ways you could detect the presence of a TV or radio inside a home was the electromagnetic radiation coming from its antenna, but in the visible spectrum. Worse yet, the leakage was present even when the device was fully turned off!

[@AZTechLabs]

their cell phones are sending data to the authorities

[@Choober65]

How can they prosecute someone for listening to something? If they openly transmit unencrypted audio then more fool them. I'll listen to what I want if it's open unencoded.

[@drcyb3r]

Here in Germany it's even worse (or easier for the government). Everyone has to pay for a license if he owns a radio or TV or even any internet capable device. So every household has to pay that fee and they can opt out if they can proove they don't own any of those devices. But as everyone owns ar least a phone, it's easy to say everyone has to pay.