UHF Radio Frequencies in the USA

Roland · 19th March 2007, 10:35 AM

A friend of mine is a location sound recordist for ENG/Documentary type thing. He has to go to America with a cameraman he regularly works with and record some interviews for which he knows tieclips and radio's will be required, but he is unsure about frequncy allocation. Does anyone know what channels are available and licensing rules that apply to those channels?

Regards

Roland

Jim vanBergen · 19th March 2007, 12:40 PM

While the USA are currently in the hotbed of new legislation that is potentially disastrous for RF mics (the FCC is auctioning off the "white space"- the bumper zones around television channels- mainly to wireless internet/data suppliers, which could render most RF miking useless) that's a whole other can or worms, as it were.

Each city has it's own different special problems, and what works in one city is useless in another. The best I can suggest is: find out what kind of gear he has (Lectrosonics, Shure, Sennheisser, something else) and see how frequency agile it is. Most of the manufacturers have sections on their websites that show what frequencies of a particular model will work in a given area.

Shure:
http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/TechLi...nder/index.htm

Sennheiser:
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite...inder-open.asp

After I check the manufacturer's suggestions, I go to the FCC's website, which is a vast resource: www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html

Search by state, then by city, and the current licenses will be shown. You will still have to do a frequency coordination to make sure 3rd and 5th order harmonics will not render his gear useless.

Again, having a frequency agile transmitter/receiver is imperative. Fortunately, a great deal of information is available that can help him to plan his frequency changes if he is travelling from location to location.

Does this answer your question? I hope it helps!

Jim

Karl_Lohninger · 19th March 2007, 08:09 PM

Most of what Jim said - what works in one town (in one part of town) doesn't necessarily work on the other side. Mysterious radio hits come and go. As of Los Angeles, where I mostly operate, I have Lectro blocks 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 and one of those or often 2 frequencies in those blocks tend to work fine. But there's never a guarantee. first thing I do when arriving at location is scanning all frequencies and go from there.
Forget all the regulations etc. they don't mean a thing or help you in any way. If the frequs. of your friends radios don't work, rent some over here.

Karl Lohninger
audio etc.
Los Angeles

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19th March 2007, 10:35 AM	#1
Roland Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: St Leonards on Sea, England Posts: 1,382	UHF Radio Frequencies in the USA A friend of mine is a location sound recordist for ENG/Documentary type thing. He has to go to America with a cameraman he regularly works with and record some interviews for which he knows tieclips and radio's will be required, but he is unsure about frequncy allocation. Does anyone know what channels are available and licensing rules that apply to those channels? Regards Roland

19th March 2007, 12:40 PM	#2
Jim vanBergen Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New York Friggin' City Posts: 2,294	Resources for determining available spectrum for Wireless Mics While the USA are currently in the hotbed of new legislation that is potentially disastrous for RF mics (the FCC is auctioning off the "white space"- the bumper zones around television channels- mainly to wireless internet/data suppliers, which could render most RF miking useless) that's a whole other can or worms, as it were. Each city has it's own different special problems, and what works in one city is useless in another. The best I can suggest is: find out what kind of gear he has (Lectrosonics, Shure, Sennheisser, something else) and see how frequency agile it is. Most of the manufacturers have sections on their websites that show what frequencies of a particular model will work in a given area. Shure: http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/TechLi...nder/index.htm Sennheiser: http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite...inder-open.asp After I check the manufacturer's suggestions, I go to the FCC's website, which is a vast resource: www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/audio/tvq.html Search by state, then by city, and the current licenses will be shown. You will still have to do a frequency coordination to make sure 3rd and 5th order harmonics will not render his gear useless. Again, having a frequency agile transmitter/receiver is imperative. Fortunately, a great deal of information is available that can help him to plan his frequency changes if he is travelling from location to location. Does this answer your question? I hope it helps! Jim

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19th March 2007, 08:09 PM	#3
Karl_Lohninger Gear Head Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 57	Most of what Jim said - what works in one town (in one part of town) doesn't necessarily work on the other side. Mysterious radio hits come and go. As of Los Angeles, where I mostly operate, I have Lectro blocks 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 and one of those or often 2 frequencies in those blocks tend to work fine. But there's never a guarantee. first thing I do when arriving at location is scanning all frequencies and go from there. Forget all the regulations etc. they don't mean a thing or help you in any way. If the frequs. of your friends radios don't work, rent some over here. Karl Lohninger audio etc. Los Angeles