Where Do You Get A Monochrome T V ?

[ToraToraTora]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46125741
I suspect most of these are watching in colour. The Monochrome licence is cheaper and they leave you alone.

[Ken4155]

Your question is answered by the last paragraph in your link, TTT. Up until his death in 2007, my dad used to retire to his bedroom at 9pm every night to watch his black and white tv in the bedroom, allowing my mother to watch the so-called 'reality tv' shows which she was fond of. Dad's portable was about 30 years old and worked perfectly. I was loath to throw it out when clearing the house after mum's death in 2012 but i couldn't find anyone who wanted it.

[ToraToraTora]

yes ken, no doubt some are watching on old TVs but I reckon a good proportion are watching in colour.

[derek-33]

well i dont know how that works, you would have to have a digital receiver as analogue has gone and i dont recall any b/w sets having a scart never mind a hdmi input

[Ken4155]

You appear to be casting aspersions on my little anecdote, Derek! If you go to the tv licensing page itself, Sunderland MP Chris Mullen is quoted as saying, "My reason for sticking with my 30 year old black and white tv has nothing to do with parsimony or an aversion to the latest technology. It has to do with waste. I simply can't bear to throw away something which still works." Must have used the same magic powers as my dear departed dad :-)

[derek-33]

ok ken but it appears thousands say they can use these old b/w sets my question is how do they get a signal, now digital (b/w are analogue) without buy an IE : a digi box and a rf modulator box,
seems a more expensive way to watch tv than a dirt cheap colour tv you can get from a second hand shop, if there that hard up,

[dannyk13]

Derek 33.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/08/uk-households-black-and-white-tv-licensing

[Togo]

You can purchase digital to rf modulators to run old b&w sets from a sky or free view digital box. The older sky boxes have an rf output but the newer models do not.

[dannyk13]

TTT
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p1883.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.H0.Xblack+and+white+television.TRS0&_nkw=black+and+white+television&

[aelmpvw]

the first remote control device was called 'lazy bones' ...
https://www.metv.com/stories/a-history-of-the-television-remote-control-as-told-through-its-advertising

[derek-33]

danny your missing my point how do they get to work without what i said in my text if these b/w sets are 40 year old

[Togo]

£18.00 av to rf convertor.

https://www.storkz.com/rca-crf907r.html?currency=GBP&;country=GB&msclkid=53cb5c053ab21110fc2907e121dec4a8

[Togo]

Do you remember the one "click" channel remotes ael? They just used to click up one channel at a time.

[derek-33]

i know you can buy these i'm not after one actually i have sony bravia 55"

[Ken4155]

Dad wasn't 'hard up' Derek. He just preferred his b&w bedroom tv to the smart tv in the living room. Especially when watching his drama programmes at 9pm. Again, i haven't a clue as to how he received a signal but, knowing dad, if it meant a modest outlay to achieve such, he would have certainly dipped into his pocket.

[Togo]

I can just about remember the ultrasonic clicker remotes that were replaced by infra red in the 70s and 80s.

[aelmpvw]

no 'remote' when we had our first telly in the fifties Togo but i bet the remote that was connected to the telly with a wire caused some accidents

[Togo]

Lol Ken I wasn't suggesting that you wanted one. I was just pointing out that it was possible to get an old set running from a digital source. I should have added that the old receiver needs to have a uhf tuner and be running 625 lines. I am now wondering whether it is feasible to run a really ancient vhf set scanning at 405 from our modern signal sources. Bet someone has managed it. Still some clever old engineers from way back drawing breath.

[Togo]

The first remotes were a well trained child or a broom handle ael. :))

[Buenchico]

If it was ever put to the test, it would be interesting to see how the courts viewed the use of RF modulators to feed a signal from a Freeview (or Sky) box to a B&W TV.

When VHS recorders first came in the licensing authorities went to great lengths to point out that anyone who used one with a B&W TV would require a colour TV licence. Their argument was that, because the VHS recorder had a tuner capable of receiving colour signals, the user had 'installed' a device for receiving colour TV and therefore needed to pay the full licence fee (even though they were only watching in black & white).

It would seem logical that a similar argument could be applied to the use of Freeview & Sky boxes. (It would also be interesting to see what position the licensing authorities would take if someone said that they only watched TV via their PC, with just a mono monitor connected to its output).

[zebo]

When we lived in Gibraltar there was only a black and white service. Spain started broadcasting in colour and a lot of people bought colour TVs and the Gib Govt wanted them to pay for a colour service they weren't broadcasting.