Australasian television frequencies

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Contents

[edit] Differences in Terrestrial TV frequencies

Australia and New Zealand evolved different TV frequency allocations for historical reasons. There are some interesting historical reasons for this.

  • New Zealand considered using 405 lines for television, but adopted 7 MHz 625 lines on VHF instead.
  • New Zealand's initial choice of frequencies was aimed at New Zealand adopting a 405 line service, thus substantial discrepancies with Australia's VHF TV service allocation.
  • 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.
  • Australia adopted 7 MHz channel spacing (PAL B) on UHF. Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand all adopted 8 MHz channel spacing (PAL G) on UHF
  • For analog PAL service the only difference is the placement of the NICAM carrier vs the Zweiton carrier, for broadcasters using NICAM.
  • With the introduction of digital television into Australia in 2001, VHF channels 10 and 11 were moved up by 1 MHz. This allowed a full 7 MHz for a new channel (9A). Channel 12 was added following the new channel 11.

[edit] VHF 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. The United States has decided to phase out its System-M VHF TV low band frequencies (channels 2 to 6), although this is expected to take 10 years. The United States has already phased out Channel 1, and channels 70-83 for non-broadcast uses, and also plans to phase out channels 52-69 as well. The United States reserves channel 37 for radio astronomy.

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.
  • Due to similar economics of broadcasting in rural Australia, it is expected that the VHF band will remain in use with no appreciable changes.
  • It is possible that Australia's VHF channel 0 may be phased out, as it is not appreciably used.
  • With the introduction of Digital Television in Australia (using channels VHF 6-12 and UHF 28-67), VHF channels 0-5A will cease to be used for television when analogue television broadcasting ceases.

[edit] Channel numbering issues

So far neither Australia, New Zealand, Fiji or Papua New Guinea intend to normalize the numbers in the channel frequency table.

[edit] TV Frequency Allocation Table

VHF (Australia)
Ch 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
VHF (New Zealand)
Ch 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
UHF (Australia)
Ch 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 (Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea)
Ch 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

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