Best of the ISP-Lists

Television News Gets Me Down

Members of the ISP-Wireless list define and discuss the frequencies used by mobile television Electronic News Gathering (ENG) crews.

[August 2, 2001]

On the ISP-Wireless list in July, JD queried,

"Can anyone tell me what frequencies TV News ENG (Electronic News Gathering) crews use? Are they in the 2.4 GHz range? I'm wondering if we'll be able to coexist with them on the same towers or in the same facilities. This area is going to be in heavy use during the 2002 Winter Olympics, so I'm worried about interference during that period. "

A number of respondents suggested the goalposts may be shifting:

[SP offered] "I just got off the phone with an engineer at a local TV station. He tells me the units they use spread across two bands: 1.99 GHz to 2.11 GHz, and 2.45 GHz to 2.50 GHz. He said PCS service is killing them in the low spread, and the FCC may be mandating that they replace the mobile truck gear with another band. So the final outcome of where they will be spectrum-wise is still unknown."

[RC added] "As the FCC just gave away the 1.99 GHz to 2.11 GHz band to mobile satellite, ENG users may start moving up to 2.4 GHz."

JH noted that his own experience indicates there shouldn't be a problem:

"I'm operating 2.4 GHz equipment in the same room and from the same rack as a STL (Studio Transmitter Link) for a television station. The antennas are within 25 feet of each other on the tower, and no problems with link quality so far. The system has been up for about eight months."

RB suggested there's a significant difference between STL and ENG:

"STL links are typically around 940 MHz or so. They send the engineered signal from the studio to the transmitter site and are on, for the most part, all the time. The ENG stuff is only there when they have a really cool, gory car crash on Interstate 5, or if they have live, on-the-spot coverage of another senator trying to hide another body."

JH followed up with a thorough explanation of the situation:

"Some television STLs are in the 2 GHz band, although most have moved higher into 6 or 7 GHz to free up the lower 2 GHz for ENG use. The 940 MHz STLs are strictly limited to FM broadcasting between the studio and transmitter site. Listed below are the broadcast frequencies allowed by the FCC for television use.

Band A

MHz	Channel Designation
1990-2008	A01
2008-2025	A02
2025-2042	A03
2042-2059	A04
2059-2076	A05
2076-2093	A06
2093-2110	A07
2450-2467	A08
2467-2483.5	A09

As you can see from the chart, the frequency range 2.412 to 2.484 GHz, which is used by our wireless Access Points (APs), is not available for television use. Hence no interference to us."

—End

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