Introducing the New Wireless Frequency Finder
Over the past few months, the Shure team has developed a new Wireless Frequency Finder (WFF) tool. We updated our data sources to ensure the most accurate location and wireless frequency availability data. We also have reworked the design to support desktop and mobile uses. The new and improved finder will give you a better experience across multiple devices and provide better results.
Updates and Benefits
- Results now include low powered TV stations
- Results now show spectrum that is reserved for wireless mics
- It includes more powerful location entry including latitude/longitude combination, street address, city/state, or a zip code
- It's designed for any device
We believe this collection of data and design enhancements will expand the utility of the tool, ensure the accuracy of the data, and improve the overall Wireless Frequency Finder experience and for both wireless professional and direct customers. The response and feedback we've received from our beta testers has been very positive and we are excited to launch it publicly.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The old WFF said there were open wireless mic channels on my frequency band, but the new one says there are no available channels for my band. Why the difference?
The old WFF didn't have any low powered TV stations in its database, but the new WFF does (as well as translator stations). You should avoid these low-powered stations and the new WFF indicates that possible interference. If you have an existing system, use the scan function built into the receiver to find a clean frequency at your venue.
Why can't I enter the mileage radius of the lookup anymore?
The old WFF used a distance calculation to predict if a TV channel might interfere with a wireless mic. The new WFF uses the same equations as the FCC to calculate the actual received signal strength to determine if a TV channel might interfere. These equations take into account the transmitting power of the TV station as well as their antenna directionality, antenna height above terrain, etc. Since these equations are calculating the TV channel received signal strength, it is not necessary to enter a mileage. Also, since these equations are set by the FCC, it is not possible to allow the threshold of the TV channel received signal strength to be changed.
What are Reserved Channels? What is the difference between Reserved Channels and Available Channels?
The FCC dictated that two TV channels (12 MHz of spectrum) will be reserved for wireless mic usage. This Reserved spectrum is free of TV stations and White Space Devices. The Available Channels are shared by wireless microphones and White Space Devices, but does not have TV stations on them. Unlicensed wireless mic users should use the Reserved Channels before any other Available Channels. Note that the Reserved Channels are likely to go away by 2018 due to the 600 MHz Incentive Auction.
