Legal bands
UHF 470 to 608 MHz: The Working Band
Quick answer
UHF 470 to 608 MHz, television channels 14 to 36, is the main legal working band for church wireless microphones. Operate only in TV channels that carry no station at your address. Four compatible analog channels fit in each empty 6 MHz TV channel, or eight digital.
This is the band almost every church wireless system in the United States lives in, and the one where the answer to "how many channels can we run" is decided by your address rather than by your budget. It is 138 MHz wide, it holds twenty-three 6 MHz television channels numbered 14 to 36, and you may use the ones that no broadcaster is using where your building stands. That last clause is what the word coordination means, and it is the whole job. Start by counting the channels you need in the wireless microphone channel calculator, then work through how to coordinate wireless frequencies.
On this page
What you are allowed to do in 470 to 608 MHz
Two legal routes exist into this band and almost every church takes the second. A Part 74 low power auxiliary station licence is available to eligible entities and brings higher permitted power and the ability to register operations for protection. Unlicensed operation under Part 15 is open to anyone, caps transmitter power much lower, and comes with the standing condition that you accept interference from licensed services and stop causing any.
Almost every church operates unlicensed under Part 15 at up to 50 mW in this band, against 250 mW for a Part 74 licensee.
| Route | Who it is for | Power ceiling in UHF | Interference protection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlicensed, Part 15 | Any church, no application, no fee | 50 mW | None. You accept interference and must stop causing it. |
| Licensed, Part 74 | Eligible entities only, see the licensing page | 250 mW | Registered operations can be protected from unlicensed devices. |
Both routes carry the same absolute rule about where you may transmit: only in television channels that are unoccupied at your location. A licence changes your power and your protection, never your right to sit on top of a local broadcaster.
How the band divides into television channels
Every frequency in this range belongs to a 6 MHz television channel, and a wireless microphone plan is really a list of which of those channels are empty. Channel 14 starts at 470 MHz and each channel above it adds 6 MHz, so the arithmetic is easy enough to do on a napkin: the bottom of channel N is 470 plus 6 times N minus 14.
The working band holds 23 television channels, numbered 14 to 36, running from 470 MHz to 608 MHz in 6 MHz steps.
| TV channel | Frequency range | Notes for a wireless plan |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | 470 to 476 MHz | Bottom of the band. In some markets shared with public safety land mobile. |
| 20 | 506 to 512 MHz | Common home for entry UHF systems. |
| 26 | 542 to 548 MHz | Mid band, usually the quietest part of the range. |
| 30 | 566 to 572 MHz | Mid band. Many manufacturer tuning ranges are centred near here. |
| 36 | 602 to 608 MHz | Top of the legal band. The next channel up is prohibited. |
Which of these are open depends entirely on the transmitters receivable at your building, so a plan that works at one campus can be illegal in spirit and useless in practice at another. Scan on site.
How many microphones fit in an open TV channel?
This is the number that decides whether you can stay analog. Analog systems need wide guard bands because their transmitters generate intermodulation products, chiefly the third order products at twice one frequency minus another, and those products land inside the band and behave exactly like another transmitter. Digital systems are far tidier and can be packed much closer together, which is the real reason to pay for them.
An empty television channel holds about 4 analog wireless channels at 400 kHz spacing, 8 digital at 250 kHz, or 15 in a high-density digital mode at 125 kHz.
| Mode | Minimum spacing | Channels per TV channel | TV channels in the band | Theoretical ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Analog UHF | 400 kHz | 4 | 23 | 92 |
| Digital UHF | 250 kHz | 8 | 23 | 184 |
| High-density digital mode | 125 kHz | 15 | 23 | 345 |
The last column is the theoretical ceiling if every TV channel from 14 to 36 were empty at your address, which never happens. Real buildings see four to ten open TV channels. Multiply the third column by the number of channels that are actually clear where you are standing.
Systems built for this band
Everything below tunes inside 470 to 608 MHz. The specification that matters most on a shortlist is tuning range in megahertz, because a wide range is what lets you move when a television station changes or a neighbouring venue installs its own system. A 24 MHz range is fine for two channels. A 42 or 56 MHz range is what you want at eight.
Shure BLX24/SM58 Wireless Microphone System - 14-Hour Battery Life, 300 ft Range, UHF
$389.00 Specs and sizingThe default analog answer, with up to twelve compatible channels per band and a capsule every visiting musician already understands. At four channels there is nothing it cannot do.
Best for: Worship vocals and a roaming handheld in a 100 to 500 seat room
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Shure SLXD24/SM58 Digital Wireless Microphone System - Includes SLXD2 Handheld Transmitter with SM58 Vocal Mic Capsule and SLXD4 Single Channel Rack Mount Receiver
$769.00 Specs and sizingDigital transmission with much tighter channel spacing than analog, which is what makes a ten channel plan fit in the spectrum that is left.
Best for: Churches running more than about six wireless channels at once
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Sennheiser Pro Audio Sennheiser EW 100-835S Wireless Dynamic Cardioid Microphone System-A Band (516-558Mhz), 100 G4-835-S-A
$749.00 Specs and sizingA 42 MHz tuning range with true diversity and a scan function that finds clear frequencies for you. Tuning range is the specification that matters near a broadcast tower.
Best for: Crowded RF markets and buildings close to TV transmitters
Check price on AmazonWhat coordination actually involves
- Find the local television stations. Look up which UHF channels carry a station receivable at your building. A channel occupied by a broadcaster is off limits at any power, whatever your receiver scan says.
- Scan on site, with the building live. Run the receiver scan from the position the receiver will actually live in, with the lighting rig, the LED wall and the Wi-Fi switched on. Dimmers and LED fixtures raise the noise floor in this band substantially.
- Group your systems inside as few TV channels as possible. Four analog channels inside one empty television channel is a tidier plan than four channels scattered across four, because it leaves the other channels clear for the next purchase.
- Write the plan down and tape it inside the rack door. Frequency, channel name, transmitter serial and the position it serves. The plan that lives in one volunteer memory is the plan that breaks when they move house.
- Re-scan when anything changes. A new television station, a neighbouring venue installing wireless, or a visiting band arriving with their own systems all invalidate the plan. Re-scan before the service, not during it.
What usually goes wrong in the UHF band
The commonest failure is a plan that was made once, five years ago, in a market that has since repacked its television stations. The second is a visiting worship band with four of their own transmitters and no idea what yours are set to, which is why a written plan matters. The third is antennas: receiver antennas need line of sight to the platform, and a tidy rack with the door closed over them costs you range you paid for. The fourth is counting only microphones. In-ear monitor transmitters live in this same band and must be counted in the same plan, so a church with eight microphones and six in-ear packs is coordinating fourteen frequencies.
If you are close to the ceiling, the fix is usually mode rather than money: moving from analog to digital roughly doubles what fits in the same open spectrum. See analog versus digital wireless and the wireless channel count chart.
How we chose
We did not test these products in person and we never claim to. Picks are researched from manufacturer specification sheets and operator manuals, FCC rules where spectrum is involved, published standards, warranty terms, and the recurring themes in verified owner reviews. Every pick is matched to a real room size, seat count or input list rather than to a price bracket, and it is placed in the tier where its capability actually belongs. Where a product is wrong for most churches we say so on the page.
Sources
- FCC guidance for wireless microphone users
- FCC Part 15 rules for low power wireless microphones in the TV bands
- FCC Part 74 Subpart H, low power auxiliary stations
- Published manufacturer specifications for the Shure BLX and SLXD and Sennheiser evolution wireless platforms
Frequently asked questions
Can I use any frequency between 470 and 608 MHz?
No. You may only operate in television channels that are unoccupied at your location, which is what coordination means. A broadcaster on channel 22 makes 518 to 524 MHz unavailable to you even though the range is inside the legal band. Look up the stations receivable at your address, then scan on site from where the receiver will live.
How many wireless microphones fit in the UHF band?
About four compatible analog channels per empty 6 MHz television channel at 400 kHz minimum spacing, eight digital at 250 kHz, or fifteen in a high-density digital mode at 125 kHz. Multiply by the number of television channels actually clear at your building, which in most markets is between four and ten rather than the full twenty-three.
What is the highest frequency a church wireless microphone may use here?
The band stops at 608 MHz, the top of television channel 36. The next slice up, 608 to 614 MHz, is television channel 37, and it is prohibited for microphones because it is reserved for radio astronomy and wireless medical telemetry. Above that sits the 600 MHz service band, which is illegal to operate in at any power.
Does a wider tuning range really matter?
It does once you have more than two or three channels. Tuning range is how much room you have to move when a television station changes, a neighbouring venue installs wireless or a visiting band arrives. A 24 MHz range holds a handful of channels. A 42 or 56 MHz range gives a coordinator somewhere to go when the plan breaks the week before a large service.
Do LED lights and video walls interfere with UHF microphones?
They raise the noise floor rather than occupy a frequency, and the effect is real. Cheap LED fixtures, dimmer packs and large video walls all radiate broadband noise in this band, which shortens usable range and causes intermittent hiss that looks like a failing transmitter. Always run the receiver scan with the stage lighting and screens switched on.
Should our church get a Part 74 licence for this band?
Almost certainly not, because the eligibility rules do not cover a typical congregation. Unlicensed operation under Part 15 at up to 50 mW is what nearly every church does, and at church distances the power difference is rarely the binding constraint. Read the licensing page before spending time on an application that is unlikely to apply to you.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, operator manuals, FCC rules, published standards and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Sound system design, rigging loudspeakers overhead, and any electrical work are jobs for a qualified professional: have flown loudspeakers and their attachment points signed off by a structural engineer or a certified rigger, and have all wiring done by a licensed electrician to your local code. Wireless microphone rules change, so confirm the current FCC position before buying. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.