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Television channel frequencies

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Television channel frequencies

The following tables show the frequencies assigned to broadcast television channels in various regions of the world, along with the ITU letter designator for the system used. The frequencies shown are for the analogue video and audio carriers. The channel itself occupies several megahertz of bandwidth. For example, North American channel 2 occupies the spectrum from 54 to 60 MHz. See Broadcast television systems for a table of signal characteristics, including bandwidth, by ITU letter designator.

Contents

North and South America (most countries), South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines

Channel 1 was finally withdrawn on June 14, 1948, and allocated to fixed and mobile services. In some countries using the standard, channels 5 and 6 are allocated to non-broadcast services. An international agreement provides for a unified television bandplan, with 6-MHz channels throughout ITU Region II for both VHF and UHF bands, except for French territories, Falkland Islands, Greenland and Netherlands Antilles. Not all territories observe this bandplan.

During World War II the frequencies originally assigned as channels 13 to 18 were appropriated by the military, which still uses them. It was also decided to move the allocation for FM radio from the 42-50 MHz band to a larger 88-106 MHz band (later extended to the current 88-108 MHz FM band). This required a reassignment of the VHF channels to the plan currently in use. [1]

Assignments since February 25, 1946

Notes:

  • System M 525 lines (most countries in the Americas and Caribbean, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines)
  • System N 625 lines (used in some South American Countries)

    • Note: FM channel 200, 87.9 MHz, overlaps TV 6. This is used only by KSFH and K200AA. Channel 6A is only used in South Korea and the Philippines.
    TV 6 analog audio can be heard on FM 87.75 on most broadcast radio receivers as well as theoretically on any European TV tuned to channel 4A, but at lower volume than wideband FM broadcast stations.

    Japan

    Note : Basically the frequency spacing for each channel is 6 MHz as the countries above, except between channels 7 and 8 (which overlap).

    Republic of Ireland

    Note: Channel A was never used terrestrially. The only System I Band I transmitter on Channel B was RTÉ One from the Maghera, Co. Clare transmitter during 1963-1999. Channel A was initially intended for use at Maghera but Channel B was used instead because of the risk of interference to (overspill) reception of BBC 405 line transmissions [2]. It was moved to Channel E due to interference from distant transmitters during certain atmospheric conditions and other reasons. Channel C was used by a relay transmitter in Glanmire, Co. Cork. There are currently no Band I Channels used in Ireland (except on cable TV, and these have mostly been phased out for DOCSIS use) and no plans to resume using them. Most Irish Cable TV systems do not follow the above channel plan as their analogue (video) carriers are usually at multiples of 8 MHz (i.e. 176, 184, 192 MHz etc. in Band III)

    Western Europe, Greenland and most countries in Asia, Africa and Oceania

  • NOTE: Channels 1 and 1A were used for early experimental broadcasts and are no longer allocated.
  • NOTE: Channels 15 and 16 are allocated for use in the African Broadcasting Area only.
  • Channel 2A was only ever used in Austria for the Sendeturm Jauerling to avoid interferences with neighboring Eastern European TV stations.
  • Channel 12 was reserved by the military in some countries (like Germany (West Germany only)) so only relay transmitters operated on this frequency.
  • Channel 4A audio carrier's frequency is very close to US Channel 6 audio carrier and overlaps the FM band in Europe

    • France

  • NOTE: Channel 1 used an earlier 441-line system and was discontinued in 1956.

    • Italy

    Channels A through H are indicated in many European TVs as Channels 13-20. Channels B through H2 are identical to Channel E4 and up. Channel A video carrier is the same as Channel E2 video carrier and thus it used to be common that the audio from a distant TV station on channel E2 received via Sporadic E interferes with Channel A video and vice versa.

    East Germany (DDR)

    In its very early days DFF made some test transmissions using the D/K standard (6.5 MHz audio) before reverting (around 1957) to System B/G (5.5 MHz audio) but still (initially) using some oddball frequencies # .

    # From 1960 onwards (West) European standard channels were adopted.

    Australia

    Note

  • Channels 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 5A are no longer used since the transition to Digital television.
  • With the introduction of Digital TV in 2001, the last two channels were moved up by 1 MHz to allow a full 7 MHz for a new channel 9A and channel 12 was added following the new channel 11.

    • New Zealand

  • NOTE: Channels 10 and 11 weren't added until the late 1980s.

    • Americas (most countries), South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines

    See North American broadcast television frequencies for frequencies used in North America.

    Notes
  • The frequencies used by UHF channels 70 through 83 were reallocated to the Land Mobile Radio System (Public Safety and Trunked Radio) and mobile phones in a CCIR worldwide convention in 1982, and thus were never used for digital TV but are listed here for theoretical use.
  • In certain metropolitan areas of the United States, Channels 14 through 20 have been allocated to Land Mobile Radio (LMR) use. [4]
  • Channels 52 through 69 in the United States have been reallocated now that conversion to digital TV was completed on June 12, 2009. Channels 70 through 83 in the United States and Canada were re-allocated to AMPS cellular phone use in 1983.
  • On August 22, 2011, the United States' Federal Communications Commission announced a freeze on all future applications for broadcast stations requesting to use channel 51, to prevent adjacent-channel interference to the A-Block of the 700 MHz band. Later that year (on December 16, 2011), Industry Canada and the CRTC followed suit in placing a moratorium on future television stations using Channel 51 for broadcast use, to prevent adjacent-channel interference to the A-Block of the 700 MHz band.
  • Not all countries listed use ATSC (South Korea, Suriname, North America, etc.), which has a single VSB carrier wave. Other countries use COFDM modulation for DVB-T (Taiwan, Colombia, etc.)or ISDB-Tb (Philippines, Brazil and most of South American countries), which has dozens of carriers within the channel.
  • Channel 37 is reserved for radio astronomy in the United States, Canada, Bermuda and the Bahamas, thus there are no television stations assigned to it. Mexico also informally observes a ban on transmitters using this channel.

    • Japan

    Note: Channels 13-62 are used for analog and digital TV broadcasting.

    Frequency spacing for each channel in Japan is the same as in the countries listed above, but the channel numbers are 1 lower than in those countries; for example, channel 13 in Japan is on the same frequency as channel 14 in North and South America (most countries), South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

    United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, Macau, Falkland Islands and Southern Africa

    NOTE: Channels 21 to 60 used for DVB-T Digital TV broadcasting in the UK, with the exception of Channel 38, which is used by PMSE. Channels 61 to 69 used for 4G LTE.
    NOTE: Channel 69 was not used for TV broadcasting in the UK, used by MOD and until 2012 by PMSE.
    NOTE: PAL I was withdrawn from broadcasting use in the UK during 2012 and 2013.

    Western Europe, Greenland, most countries in Asia and Africa, and most of Oceania

  • NOTE: Former channels 14 to 18 renumbered as 21 to 25 in 1961.
  • NOTE: Channels 70 to 81 no longer allocated to television. They were only used in Italy.

    • Australia

    Channels above C52 are being progressively phased out since the introduction of digital television and rationalisation of the spectrum

    References

    Television channel frequencies Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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