FCC Launches National Unlicensed Wireless Mic Registration System

By Doug Lung
published

Last week the FCC released a Public Notice (DA 12-1957) announcing the nationwide launch of its unlicensed wireless microphone registration system.

For details on how the system works, see my article FCC's Unlicensed Wireless Mic Registration Opens which describes the limited opening of the system in the northeast United States.

As a reminder, unlicensed microphone registration is only available for “major events where large numbers of wireless microphones will be used and cannot be accommodated in the available channels.” Operators of unlicensed wireless microphones must first file a request for registration and establish that they have met the necessary requirements to qualify for registration.

A list of websites for the TV bands database system is available at http://www.fcc.gov/help/database-administrators-unlicensed-wireless-microphones.

In a separate Public Notice (DA 12-1956 the FCC announced that it is authorizing an approved TV white space database system to assist in using unlicensed radio devices that operate on unused TV channels in the East Coast region. The FCC anticipates authorizing nationwide operation of TV white space databases by mid-January, 2013.

TV and radio broadcasters using licensed wireless microphones should start entering their wireless microphone channel usage and schedules in one of the TV white space databases to ensure protection from TV band white space devices.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.