dB Broadcast wins service contract for TV detector vans

Cambridgeshire-based independent systems house dB Broadcast has won the contract to service and re-calibrate the new generation of TV detector vans, which came into service in the summer of last year.
The contract was awarded by Capita, which operates the vehicles on behalf of TV Licensing.
Designed by the BBC's research and development department in Kingswood Warren, the new vans use GPS satellite technology to track targeted addresses. The use of a television can be detected in as little as 20 seconds. Once detected, the vans' equipment, which works from up to 60 metres away, can pinpoint the actual room that a television set is in.
The vans use multiple detection methods, one of which detects the magnetic field within a TV set. The whole system is under control of a powerful computer, which makes it easy and quick for the operator to do his detection work and record the results.
dB Broadcast's service work will involve one dedicated test engineer and one wiring technician working on each of the vehicles for a week at a time every six months.
Tom Swan, dB's sales and marketing director, said: "As we built and tested most of the new generation of detector vans, we naturally know a lot about them and are delighted to be awarded this service and re-calibration contract."
(KmcA)