A television station broadcast Radio Frequency (RF) channel is allocated 6 MHz of bandwidth for over-the-air transmission in part of the VHF or UHF Radio Frequency Band.
Band | Nomenclature | Frequency |
---|---|---|
ELF | Extremely Low Frequency | 3 - 30 Hz |
SLF | Super Low Frequency | 30 - 300 Hz |
ULF | Ultra Low Frequency | 300 - 3000 Hz |
VLF | Very Low Frequency | 3 - 30 kHz |
LF | Low Frequency | 30 - 300 kHz |
MF | Medium Frequency | 300 - 3000 kHz |
HF | High Frequency | 3 - 30 MHz |
VHF | Very High Frequency | 30 - 300 MHz |
UHF | Ultra High Frequency | 300 - 3000 MHz |
SHF |
Super High Frequency Microwaves |
3 - 30 GHz |
EHF |
Extremely High Frequency Millimeter Waves |
30 - 300 GHz |
Hz kHz MHz GHz |
-- Hertz -- kilohertz -- megahertz -- gigahertz |
Cycles per second 1000 Hz 1,000,000 Hz 1,000,000,000 Hz |
TV Frequency Bands
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TV Frequency Chart (MHz)
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Calculate TV Channel Wavelength |
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RF Channel:
RF Ch |
VHF Band 54 - 216 MHz 1947 to present
12 VHF Band RF Channels |
VHF-Lo 54 - 88 MHz
5 VHF-Lo Channels |
VHF-Hi 174 - 216 MHz
7 VHF-Hi Channels |
RF Channels 14 - 36
July 1952 to present
23 RF Channels |
RF Channels 37 - 51
Being Phased-out July 1952 to
14 RF Channels |
RF Channels 52 - 69
July 1952 to June 2020
18 RF Channels |
RF Channels 70 - 83
July 1952 to 1983
14 RF Channels |
Channel 37
Channel 37 (608-614 MHz) is/was reserved for radio astronomy research conducted by the University of Illinois’s Vermilion River Observatory
(40.0611°, -87.5511°)
near Danville, IL. From 1959 to 1970 the observatory used a 400 foot wide by 600 foot long linear parabolic radio telescope to focus on 3 frequencies, 410, 610 and 1400 MHz. Channel 37 transmissions within 600 miles of the observatory would interfere with the 610 MHz frequency. In 1963 the FCC reserved channel 37 for radio astronomy, there were no TV stations using the channel at that time. The Observatory closed in 1981 and was decommissioned in 1984, but RF channel 37 remains reserved.
Spectrum History
In the 1950's there were very few TV UHF broadcast. In the 1960's the number of UHF broadcast started increasing, but never came close to the number of VHF stations until digital broadcast started in 2009. Today UHF stations far outnumber VHF stations.
The Television allocated spectrum has been reduced over the years.
Year | VHF | UHF | Channels | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1947 | RF 2-13 | 12 | ||||
1952 | " | RF 14 - 83 | 82 | |||
1963 | " | RF 14-36, 38-83 | 81 | |||
1983 | " | RF 14-36, 38-69 | 67 | |||
2020 | " | RF 14-36, 38-51 | 49 | |||
20__ | " | RF 14-36 | 35 |
OTA DTv
Television Broadcast Frequencies |