TV licence help!

Jane Doe

I am renting a house for 9 months and was informed that the house has no tv aerial. I intend on using a tv combined with a dvd player to watch films occasionally. Do I still have to pay a tv licence as there is no way possibly of getting a signal??

muletide

yea sorry to break the bad news but a tv in house means a licence. Even if you are only using a clothes hanger as an aerial

feylya

If you have a tv with a tuner, you have to pay unfortunately.

Ruu_Old

Yep, read the FAQ. The part you are interested in below.

Do I need a TV licence?
Every household, business or institution that has a television set (within the meaning of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972) must by law be in possession of a current TV licence.

ircoha

While the law is v clear on the need for the TVL, iff the box is only used for watching DVd's, will the box emit a signal that can be picked up by the scanners.

Secondly, if the tuner were to be "disabled", it is no longer a TV.

[I know a "disabled" dog still requires a dog licence but it is a dog licence, not a hardware licence]

from http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA5Y1972S1.html

definition of a TV
"television set" means any apparatus for wireless telegraphy designed primarily for the purpose of receiving and exhibiting television programmes broadcast for general reception (whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction therewith) and any assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus.


What is also interesting is the need to register all TV sales!

Tom Dunne

And what scanners would that be?

Red Alert

The 'scan vans' are bollocks, always were apparently too so a reliable source informs me.

jhegarty

Red Alert wrote:

The 'scan vans' are bollocks, always were apparently too so a reliable source informs me.

i think the bbc had them years ago (1970s or before).... you don't think rte/an post ever spent money on anything like that....

anyway they just assume you have a tv unless you knock at your door , come in and find otherwise...

Tom Dunne

Red Alert wrote:

The 'scan vans' are bollocks, always were apparently too

Exactly what I was thinking. I just didn't want to accuse anyone of posting ill-informed drivel.

Red Alert

years ago, a TV or radio set was about the only thing in a house that had a local oscillator (part of the tuner) in it. Now millions of things do, for example your electronically controlled microwave or cd player.

BrianD

Jane Doe wrote:

I am renting a house for 9 months and was informed that the house has no tv aerial. I intend on using a tv combined with a dvd player to watch films occasionally. Do I still have to pay a tv licence as there is no way possibly of getting a signal??

Surely with a coat hanger stuck into the back of the TV you should be able to pick up the 4 indigenous channels?

ircoha

tom dunne wrote:

Exactly what I was thinking. I just didn't want to accuse anyone of posting ill-informed drivel.

They did have them, my late uncle used to drive one so please dont accuse me of "posting ill-informed drivel"

gerryo

ircoha wrote:

They did have them, my late uncle used to drive one so please dont accuse me of "posting ill-informed drivel"

I saw one way back in the 70's, so they did exist.

How effective were they?
Probably worked well out in the countryside, but I doubt they would be able to detect exactly who has/has not got a telly in a block of flats.

I think if you have a telly where the tuner is broken you still need a licence.

I suppose if you had a monitor (i.e, not designed to pick up TV signals) that might be OK, but you'd have to convince any TV inspectors who come a-callin'.

Saruman

Technically yes.. but if its a rented house then assuming there is no main TV in the living room and you keep your little combo in your room.. there is no way they can ask to search the house looking for a TV.. just say you are renting short term and do not have a TV and give them your landlords details.

trout

wow! ... are tv license inspectors entitled to search a premises looking for a telly ? them lads on the ads look well 'ard

i have a dim recollection of 'tv detector' vans in the late 70's ... but surely they wouldn't be feasible now, what with the density of housing and the proliferation of wireless and radio chatter ?

gerrycollins

ircoha wrote:

While the law is v clear on the need for the TVL, iff the box is only used for watching DVd's, will the box emit a signal that can be picked up by the scanners.

Secondly, if the tuner were to be "disabled", it is no longer a TV.

[I know a "disabled" dog still requires a dog licence but it is a dog licence, not a hardware licence]

the fact that you can "disable" it is kinda getting into the if's and but's of the whole thing and i understand where you are coming from but the fact that the device is still in the TV it still will constitute a fully functional TV thus licence fee please thank you very much

ircoha

gerrycollins wrote:

the fact that you can "disable" it is kinda getting into the if's and but's of the whole thing and i understand where you are coming from but the fact that the device is still in the TV it still will constitute a fully functional TV thus licence fee please thank you very much

Very fair comment, when one considers the words designed primarily below.
From the act:
definition of a TV
"television set" means any apparatus for wireless telegraphy designed primarily for the purpose of receiving and exhibiting television programmes broadcast for general reception (whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction therewith) and any assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus.

It makes me wonder whether you actually need a licence for a castrated bull.

gerrycollins

ircoha wrote:

Very fair comment, when one considers the words designed primarily below.
From the act:
definition of a TV
"television set" means any apparatus for wireless telegraphy designed primarily for the purpose of receiving and exhibiting television programmes broadcast for general reception (whether or not its use for that purpose is dependent on the use of anything else in conjunction therewith) and any assembly comprising such apparatus and other apparatus.

It makes me wonder whether you actually need a licence for a castrated bull.

ha ha nice one

gonna go technical here

if you have a set top box (sky/ntl etc) you more than likely connect it using the euro scart lead,this connection is not like the tuner that emits the signal,plus if your using it for DVD etc this connection will also be used thus meaning that the TV can still be used for its designed purpose as set out in the act

Hobbes

The bottom line is this. If you have a TV (or something that is classified as a TV) you need a tv license.

If that TV is broken sitting in your attic gathering dust you still need a TV license. Sucks.

blorg

What Hobbes states is right, you need a license even for a broken TV.

You do _not_ need a license however for a computer monitor, (not primarily designed to work as a TV) and you can hook a DVD player to that without any issues.

Irish Gardener

blorg wrote:

You do _not_ need a license however for a computer monitor

I'm gonna push the boat out on this one......
Do any of ye think you would require a license for a projector (set up in a living room) such as the type used for presentations.

blorg

Irish Gardener wrote:

I'm gonna push the boat out on this one......
Do any of ye think you would require a license for a projector (set up in a living room) such as the type used for presentations.

No, unless it is capable of receiving TV. So unless you are connecting it to a video recorder with a tuner, or a computer with a TV card... and in that case it has nothing to do with the projector in any case, you would need a license for the video recorder or TV card irrespective of your display device.