How is the 600mhz elimination going to work?

Ben Lawrence

Ben Lawrence

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Mar 2, 2011
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Vermont
vtaudiovisual.com
The previous changes didn't really render stuff unusable in our area. I believe it affected more dense areas a lot more. With this 600mhz being used for what looks a T-Mobile broadband how will that work? Is the whole range going to be getting blasted with RF or certain bands again? What does that leave us with? 500mhz? Will that even be possible to run large quantities in that tight of a space? From what I remember 2.4ghz was running into issues with large audiences overcrowding pinging receivers.
 
600MHz equipment will still work. It will just be working in a frequency band that is deemed illegal for non-licensed operation (save for a few "guard bands", which are narrow bands in that frequency spectrum that can be used by equipment made to be used ONLY in those guard bands). Using equipment in that 600MHz space runs the risk of interference, both FROM and TO any 5G devices working in that bandwidth. The potential exists for the illegal user to be caught and face hefty fines.
400MHz, 500MHz and 900MHz are the frequency ranges I've been seeing used mostly in professional settings. Generally, the more expensive units from Shure (Axient, ULX, QLX) and Sennheiser (Digital 9000, 6000, 5000, 3000) do allow for more units to be used in those frequencies, while the less expensive units from those respective companies generally don't use as narrow a bandwidth, thus limiting the amount of units that can be used in the same space.
2.4gHz units can't be run together in large quantities - from what I remember the Sennheiser 2.4gHz units recommend only a total of 4 units run at a time. The aren't reliable at a distance.

I'm surprised at this question being asked now, as this is basically old news. Did the switch over in the 600MHz band just happen in your area? It happened a year ago in my area.
 
Just got an e mail reminder that the transition cut off is coming July 2020 so popped back up on my radar. Looks like you are right though its been a 39 month transition.
Thanks for the response. Its interesting as it looks like some of the older units will operate in banned and legal bands.
 
Ben, what rock have you been under for the last 3 years? I want a space there, too!

The ruling is that any transmitter that is capable of being turned to unauthorized frequencies cannot be used. Shure has a firmware update for a couple of models that removes all but the legal bits of the 600mHz band from the tuning menu and makes those mics legal... but it's for only a couple of models.

While the entire 600mHz band wasn't successfully auctioned (i.e. T Mobile didn't buy everything), nontheless it is still off limits.
 
Ben Lawrence said:
Just got an e mail reminder that the transition cut off is coming July 2020 so popped back up on my radar. Looks like you are right though its been a 39 month transition.
Thanks for the response. Its interesting as it looks like some of the older units will operate in banned and legal bands.
Click to expand...

The cut off has already happened in nearly all markets. Some for years now.

Apparently portions of Vermont still have yet to be cut off. You can find the time lines per market here...



As Tim said, if the "older unit" can operate in both legal and illegal bands, that unit is now illegal without a firmware update preventing it from operating in the illegal spectrum.
 
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