TV Licences Australia

[Learjet]

The 16kHz LO on some CRT TV's was very strong! Using modern day technology, I could detect a TV up the road hundreds of metres away with a VLF loop antenna. I have spectrum graph screen grabs of it somewhere, lost on my old hard drive.

[trash]

With modern technology you would be swamped by how many 16KHz signals there were.
What you're seeing isn't unlicensed TV's. What you're seeing is a political minefield just waiting to explode.
Can you imagine by 1990 when almost every home had a colour TV and quite a few had more than one. Every TV paying a licence fee each year and then somebody with a single ticket political campaign to remove TV licences comes along. Whitlam was possibly clever to defuse that one before the cross bench did it for him.

And with the number of video screens of all types growing exponentially, could you imagine trying to enforce such a licence these days?
I giggle at all the possible scenarios with that one.

[Uncle Fester]

The 16kHz LO on some CRT TV's was very strong! Using modern day technology, I could detect a TV up the road hundreds of metres away with a VLF loop antenna. I have spectrum graph screen grabs of it somewhere, lost on my old hard drive.

Wow, when I read that something suddenly clicked in my head.
Didn't have something to do with this did it:


That was over 10 years ago, so I am not quite brain dead just yet

Unfortunately ImageShack doesn't have such a good memory:

[hinekadon]

so getting back to the point the vans were real and thats what they were using to detect the tv set from each house using a df loop hmmmmmm not possible yeah right

[trash]

You've got your wires crossed hinekadon.

The vans real - Yes
The DF equipment - No
Is it technically possible - Yes.
Was it ever implemented for TV - No.

The rumour of the DF capabilities was so effective people still believe it even today.

[hinekadon]

then what the hell was i fixing for the p&t on top of the vans formed into a loop with lever inside to rotate it ,that one had to remove to pull apart and replace the tuning capacitor mounted in the base or the ends of the loop wires that had broken off from the vans vibration and then a length of coaxial cable (120 ohms ) running to the receivers cant remember the brands ??? Nah it was all bullshit then ,
sorry great secret weapon

[trash]

Yep, you still have those wires crossed.
In terms of the P&T using DF. Yep. That is real too. But that speck of truth is what just fuels the myth.
It is still true today even though the equipment is just more modern.
Though it's a bit of a laugh that the ACMA does actually bother trying to find anybody or could
Care to try your hand at direction finding a CRT TV from the end of your street? I have a few old CRT TV's.
I'll bet $5 you can't even find the VLF signal in the spectrum with modern equipment from 100 metres away let alone work out which direction it is coming from.

I'll even make it easier for you. Rather than 15kHz, lets use NTSC colourburst 3.579MHz in the 80m band. And we'll make the signal 30dB stronger than the television AND I'll even connect it to an antenna just to make damn sure you can hear it. Do you think you can find it quicker than me?
Port Macquarie field day is this (Queens Birthday) weekend. It's a great chance to show me up


So yep. I do think you're mistaken about how the DF vans were used. There is no evidence to show they ever used them to enforce TV licences other than just a hollow threat.
It would be interesting to actual photos or drawings of the equipment or an old Electronics Australia or Radio & Television magazine article on the equipment.

[ol' boy]

Was just watching a TV show where the TV inspectors came to a house in Norway to inspect for a TV
Made me re look at the list of Countries that still ask for a TV licence to be paid either monthly or yearly.... The list is long!!



The revenue is huge!!!

BUT, it seems the Licence is a Receiving Licence for the spectrum... In some cases $320 Euro per year!

So, if one was to watch all their TV via internet streaming ????
Would that negate the need for a licence?

I know when you watch BBC iPlayer it asks you do you have a TV Licence... of course, you answer yes.
So maybe they have already thought of IPTV streaming?

[trash]

Sounds like a broadband tax might be what they want next.
Oh wait, which idiot is suggesting that now?


Now to be fair, Norway and most Scandinavian countries have a very different view of taxation than we do.
They have high taxation (often 50%) but in return they have goof free public health care, good social security and pensions, good roads and transport, good public education etc.
I'm not familiar with Scandinavian politics, so I don't know anything about corruption or political perversions.

So when it comes to their TV tax, you may find that for the 320 Euros they get government owned or funded channels with Scandinavian content.
Compare this to Australia that had the claim to fame that the ABC costs us all 7 cents per day.
Now that was a few years ago, so lets crunch some numbers.

320 Euro is about $460 aud.
We might over estimate the ABC's value and say it costs 20 cents per day to take into account inflation. That works out to be $73 per year.
Norway has ~5 million people and if we assume 1 TV for every 2 people which gives them a budget of about $1.15 billion (aud) for government funded TV.
Australia has ~22 million people assuming same 1 TV per 2 people gives us a budget of about $803 million for government funded TV.

Now there are two other factors to keep in mind. ABC (and SBS) have a much bigger area to cover than Norway. So there is a bit more infrastructure on our side.
But we have an advantage that our content is English language based and so we can buy and sell some content to offset the government funding.
Norway would most likely have a condition that their content be in Norwegian or maybe another Scandic language even though most people speak fluent English.


That brings us back to Australian mentality. How do we pay for content. We're a bit right wing when it comes to paying tax.
Introducing the tax will not win an election. If however one was re-introduced, we would find all the loopholes in it to avoid paying it.
Even if the loopholes were all closed, we would still minimise that tax by finding ways to make it unenforceable or just minimise the tax.

Reality is for Australia that we like government ownership of the ABC, privatising it would be like the commonwealth bank or Qantas or Telstra. It would go to shit.
Both the ABC and SBS are 'suspected' of being a little left leaning and that is on the nose of some Australians so there is a bit of an issue with paying for a 'television socialist safe space'

[alpha0ne]

Reality is for Australia that we like government ownership of the ABC, privatising it would be like the commonwealth bank or Qantas or Telstra. It would go to shit.
Both the ABC and SBS are 'suspected' of being a little left leaning and that is on the nose of some Australians so there is a bit of an issue with paying for a 'television socialist safe space'

It went to shit a looooooong time ago

and yes, privatizing it would just make it worse, at least the far left are happy in its current form