Australasian television frequencies

Contents 1 Differences in Terrestrial TV frequencies 1.1 What led to the differences 1.2 The important differences 1.3 Important similarities 1.4 Obsolete channels 1.4.1 Australia 1.4.2 NZ 1.5 Australasian region VHF low band obsolescence issues 1.6 Channel numbering issues 2 VHF Frequency allocation table 3 UHF Frequency allocation table 4 Current Australian Channel Allocation by State/Territory as at 2011 5 References 6 External links

Differences in Terrestrial TV frequencies

What led to the differences

What are the important underlining circumstances that led to the different allocations?

• Universally the VHF low band channels of (0), 1, 2, and 3 were allocated on an ad-hoc basis in Australia and NZ without any trans-Tasman coordination.
• Australia decided against adopting the 405 line system, and indirectly forbade its experimental transmission in the VHF band until the 625 line system could be launched.
• Only after AU-VHF-6 was allocated did NZ adopt the same VHF high band allocations as Australia.
• There never have been any ongoing attempts at coordination of TV allocations in Australasia until the 1990s.
• Australia adopted 7 MHz channel spacing (PAL B) on UHF as the 8 MHz allocation associated with later versions of PAL and SECAM had not emerged.
• New Zealand considered using 405 lines for television, but adopted 7 MHz 625 lines on both the VHF low band and high band. New Zealand's initial choice of frequencies in the VHF range (CH: 1, 2, 3) was done on an ad-hoc basis. The ad-hoc allocations in the VHF low band immediately led to substantial discrepancies with Australia's VHF TV service allocation for channels allocated before AU-VHF-6.
• The NZ 405 line allocation principal only affects NZ VHF CH1, CH2 and CH3.
• Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand all adopted 8 MHz channel spacing (PAL G) on UHF more or less in unison due to their later adoption of PAL.

The important differences

Australia and New Zealand evolved different TV frequency allocations for historically different reasons

• Both Australia and New Zealand use 7 MHz channel spacing (PAL B) on VHF, but the frequencies and channel numbers differ even more substantially now because of Australia revising its VHF TV band usage.
• Australia adopted Zweiton stereo, and NZ adopted NICAM stereo.
• For analog PAL service the only difference is the placement of the NICAM carrier vs the Zweiton carrier, for broadcasters using NICAM. NZ however uses its own special NICAM offset that is not used in Europe, while Australia's Zweiton service is unchanged.
• The Australian spectrum regulator, the ACMA made a mistake in the 1960s when it was allocating television frequencies. There is an allocation for a UHF(?) channel that is 6 MHz, when it should be 8 MHz. For analogue television a 6 MHz allocation in an 8 MHz band is relatively harmless. This smaller allocation only created minor planning headaches for broadcasters and regulators. However for digital television it appears that the frequency will have to normalized to 8 MHz or allocated to other uses like Radio Astronomy.

Important similarities

• Except for a channel offset factor for Australia: Australia, NZ, Fiji and PNG have the same UHF band allocation for TV broadcasting.

Obsolete channels

Australia

Channel obsolescence related to DVB-T transition

With the introduction of Digital Television in Australia VHF channels 6-12 and UHF 28-69 will become primary.

Modified channels (2001–2004)

• With the introduction of digital television into Australia in 2001, VHF (Band III) channels 10 and 11 were moved up by 1 MHz.
  • This allocation change allowed a full 7 MHz for a new channel (9A).
  • VHF channel 12 was added following the new channel 11 to compensate for the change.

Obsolete channels (2011–2013)

• VHF (Band I & II) channels 0-2 and 5A will cease to be used for television when analogue television broadcasting ceases.
• Channels 0, 1 and 2 will be specifically be phased out as they are not suitable for digital television due to Radio Frequency Interference issues.
• Television broadcasts on channels 3, 4, and 5 were discontinued in most regional areas in 1991 and 1992. Since the frequencies for these channels overlapped the range used for FM radio, any television broadcasts on these channels prevented the allocation of new FM radio licences, predominantly in regional areas.

Other impacts

• VHF Low Band DX using ITU TV Band (I) and part of Band (III) from NZ may disappear with the transition to DVB-T.

NZ

Channel obsolescence issued related to DVB-T transition

• Channels 1, 2, and 3 may be made obsolete with the adoption of DVB-T, but this may not occur until 2015.
• VHF Low Band DX to and from Australia may disappear with the transition to DVB-T.

Australasian region VHF low band obsolescence issues

In some parts of the world, like Europe, the VHF TV band is used by other services because UHF has propagation qualities that are better suited for densely populated urban centres and regions.

Why VHF will remain in use in Australasia for TV broadcasting

• NZ will keep using the VHF band, as VHF has propagation characteristics that allow it to serve large regions with modest power requirements.
• However some of the NZ and Australian VHF low band channels [(0 Australia only)), 1, 2, 3] and [4, 5A Australia only] may be reallocated to bring the region into line with a more common VHF high band allocation scheme.
• Due to similar economics of broadcasting in rural Australia, it is expected that the VHF high band (above 5A) will remain in use with no appreciable changes.
• With the introduction of Digital Television in Australia (using channels VHF 6-12 and UHF 28-69), VHF channels 0-5A will cease to be used for television when analogue television broadcasting ceases.

Channel numbering issues

Currently neither Australia, New Zealand, Fiji nor Papua New Guinea intend to normalize the numbers in the channel frequency table.

VHF Frequency allocation table

DVB-T channel allocation note

• The allocation for terrestrial television must be seen in terms of uniform 7 MHz blocks after the cessation of analogue television (with a 250 kHz guardband).
• After analogue television transmissions have ceased, only the preferred main carrier wave centre frequency should be listed as DVB-T embeds both audio and video into one datastream.

VHF (Australia) Channel Video (MHz) Audio (MHz) 0 46.25 51.75 1 57.25 62.75 2 64.25 69.75 3 86.25 91.75 4 95.25 100.75 5 102.25 107.75 5A 138.25 143.75 6 175.25 180.75 7 182.25 187.75 8 189.25 194.75 9 196.25 201.75 9A 203.25 208.75 10 210.25 215.75 11 217.25 222.75 12 224.25 229.75 Australia note: with the coming of Digital Television, channels 0 to 5A will be reallocated to other uses. Australian channel 12 was discontinued decades ago but is being reintroduced with digital television, generally for the ABC. VHF (New Zealand) Channel Video (MHz) Audio (MHz) *1 45.25 50.75 *2 55.25 60.75 *3 62.25 67.75         #4 175.25 180.75 #5 182.25 187.75 #6 189.25 194.75 #7 196.25 201.75 #8 203.25 208.75 #9 210.25 215.75 #10 217.25 222.75 #11 224.25 229.75 (*) Not part of the Australian VHF allocation table at all, a "unique to NZ" frequency allocation. (#) Offset from the Australian VHF allocation table by -2 channel units, starting at base channel AU-VHF-6. UHF Frequency allocation table DVB-T channel allocation note The allocation for terrestrial television must be seen in terms of uniform 8 MHz blocks (for NZ) and 7 MHz blocks (for Australia) after the cessation of analogue television. DVB-T and PAL utilize a 250 kHz guardband. After analogue television transmissions have ceased, only the preferred main carrier wave centre frequency should be listed as DVB-T embeds both audio and video into one datastream. UHF (Australia) Channel Video (MHz) Audio (MHz)       28 527.25 532.75 29 534.25 539.75 30 541.25 546.75 31 548.25 553.75 32 555.25 560.75 33 562.25 567.75 34 569.25 574.75 35 576.25 581.75 36 583.25 588.75 37 590.25 595.75 38 597.25 602.75 39 604.25 609.75 40 611.25 616.75 41 618.25 623.75 42 625.25 630.75 43 632.25 637.75 44 639.25 644.75 45 646.25 651.75 46 653.25 658.75 47 660.25 665.75 48 667.25 672.75 49 674.25 679.75 50 681.25 686.75 51 688.25 693.75 52 695.25 700.75 53 702.25 707.75 54 709.25 714.75 55 716.25 721.75 56 723.25 728.75 57 730.25 735.75 58 737.25 742.75 59 744.25 749.75 60 751.25 756.75 61 758.25 763.75 62 765.25 770.75 63 772.25 777.75 64 779.25 784.75 65 786.25 791.75 66 793.25 798.75 67 800.25 805.75 68 807.25 812.75 69 814.25 819.75 UHF (NZ, Fiji) Channel Video (MHz) Audio (MHz) 25 503.25 508.75 26 511.25 516.75 27 519.25 524.75 28 527.25 532.75 29 535.25 540.75 30 543.25 548.75 31 551.25 556.75 32 559.25 564.75 33 567.25 572.75 34 575.25 580.75 35 583.25 588.75 36 591.25 596.75 37 599.25 602.75 38 607.25 612.75 39 615.25 620.75 40 623.25 628.75 41 631.25 636.75 42 639.25 644.75 43 647.25 652.75 44 655.25 660.75 45 663.25 668.75 46 671.25 676.75 47 679.25 684.75 48 687.25 692.75 49 695.25 700.75 50 703.25 708.75 51 711.25 716.75 52 719.25 724.75 53 727.25 732.75 54 735.25 740.75 55 743.25 748.75 56 751.25 756.75 57 759.25 764.75 58 767.25 772.75 59 775.25 780.75 60 783.25 788.75 61 791.25 796.75 62 799.25 804.75               Current Australian Channel Allocation by State/Territory as at 2011 The following tables demonstrate the number of frequency allocations in each state an territory of Australia. It is interesting to note the reduction in allocation to the VHF Low band - Channel 2 remains in high use in most State Capitals as the original frequency allocation of the ABC (now ABC1). A number of channel allocations have been transferred from Chs 3,4 & 5 since the introduction of commecial FM radio broadcasting in Australia. These allocations are likely to change considerably over the coming years as more and more stations convert their remote repeater stations to digital. Analogue Channel Allocation Channel ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA Nationwide 0 4 1 5 1 4 2 6 2 7 6 1 1 1 2 18 3 4 1 2 7 4 1 1 5 1 1 5A 4 6 2 12 6 11 3 19 1 3 17 54 7 1 6 4 14 3 2 2 13 45 8 8 6 27 4 5 23 73 9 1 8 4 17 3 1 2 16 52 9A 1 1 4 6 10 14 4 19 5 2 2 18 64 11 8 4 13 5 16 46 12 1 1 3 5 28 1 8 3 3 2 3 1 7 28 29 4 7 1 1 7 20 30 9 1 7 1 1 2 21 31 1 7 1 3 1 4 1 6 24 32 7 8 2 2 1 5 25 33 9 10 1 4 2 26 34 1 5 2 5 1 3 5 22 35 3 8 2 4 17 36 2 2 3 7 37 1 2 2 2 7 38 1 1 3 5 39 12 10 2 3 1 28 40 1 5 1 7 4 7 25 41 11 9 1 1 22 42 12 1 5 2 3 1 3 27 43 1 7 1 8 2 6 5 30 44 10 7 1 12 30 45 9 1 7 2 2 1 4 26 46 1 12 2 13 2 6 1 6 43 47 10 1 5 4 1 21 48 6 1 8 2 2 1 3 23 49 1 9 1 12 2 4 4 5 38 50 9 2 6 3 2 22 51 2 2 10 2 2 1 2 21 52 1 18 1 18 4 5 6 4 57 53 1 11 3 17 7 11 7 57 54 1 11 5 21 4 9 9 60 55 1 38 4 30 5 10 5 7 100 56 1 19 9 24 7 13 6 13 92 57 17 29 31 7 12 3 28 127 58 1 36 9 35 6 8 6 27 128 59 18 10 35 8 9 7 27 114 60 1 26 40 56 14 8 2 54 201 61 1 31 8 35 5 8 5 23 116 62 19 10 35 11 11 6 28 120 63 1 32 43 58 22 9 3 56 224 64 1 32 7 34 4 1 3 20 102 65 17 13 32 11 6 22 101 66 1 34 46 65 29 3 55 233 67 1 20 7 19 3 1 17 68 68 9 11 20 3 6 14 63 69 1 22 37 53 17 3 41 174 Total 22 659 338 906 210 198 91 666 3090 [1] Digital Channel Allocation Channel ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA Nationwide               6 1 4 2 6 2 3 7 25 7 5 7 1 1 3 9 26 8 3 2 6 3 1 3 5 23 9 5 3 1 1 9 19 9A 1 4 4 2 3 5 19 10 4 4 1 2 1 12 11 1 5 7 3 1 3 7 27 12 1 6 7 2 5 4 25 28 3 3 7 2 15 29 6 1 3 1 5 4 20 30 1 9 1 2 2 3 18 31 5 1 2 1 2 5 2 18 32 6 1 2 1 1 4 2 17 33 7 1 2 3 5 18 34 10 4 3 1 7 2 27 35 4 3 2 1 1 11 36 7 14 1 6 5 1 34 37 11 5 1 7 11 35 38 7 5 2 2 3 1 20 39 1 3 5 5 2 16 40 10 1 6 4 6 7 1 35 41 5 5 2 3 9 2 26 42 2 12 1 3 3 2 23 43 7 13 1 3 8 1 33 44 2 3 3 2 7 17 45 5 7 2 6 4 3 27 46 6 12 1 2 8 29 47 2 10 4 4 4 1 25 48 7 8 2 3 5 1 26 49 3 13 1 4 1 22 50 3 8 1 2 10 24 51 7 7 1 1 17 33 52 5 10 4 2 7 2 30 53 11 14 5 2 18 4 54 54 5 15 1 3 12 1 37 55 12 12 6 3 12 4 49 56 14 25 1 2 10 5 57 57 2 4 18 2 2 10 1 39 58 10 10 6 4 11 3 44 59 2 18 18 2 1 10 3 54 60 5 14 1 4 14 1 39 61 15 11 4 2 11 43 62 1 15 20 2 1 10 2 51 63 7 15 3 13 38 64 10 10 2 5 15 42 65 1 15 17 1 11 10 3 58 66 4 12 3 3 11 33 67 9 8 1 18 1 37 68 1 7 15 1 9 1 34 69 3 10 13 Total 12 337 10 443 95 118 378 104 1497 [1] References ^ a b Source Australian Communications & Media Authority [1], accessed 21 September 2011 External links New Zealand VHF & UHF Frequency user databases New Zealand TV Channels Radio Spectrum Usage in New Zealand Australia Australian PAL B/G allocations PDF extracts of the licence holder database VHF DTV Channel Embargo