Buying radio mics for use in UK and US

[willbob8]

I'm from the UK and looking at buying a set of 12 mics that can be used both here and in the US. The band we have available to use here is 606-613MHz. Is this usable at all in the States? Looking at buying a Trantec 5.3 which is tuneable from 606-622 MHz. Would this give us enough bandwidth to fit 12mics in and will it remain that way once the auctions have finished?
Our only other option would be to spend a bit more on EW100 which can tune between 606-648 MHz, but then if the FCC sell off those higher frequencies, that doesn't really help.

I'm getting very confused with channel numbers because I believe what we call Ch38, you call Ch37!

Any help and advice on frequencies and systems would be greatly appreciated

 

[Chris15]

Momentary detour into channel numbering...
As the various systems have evolved around the world, NTSC vs PAL, and then DVB-T vs ATSC.
The differing systems have had different requirements for channels and so we have channels of 6 MHz, 7MHz and 8 MHz width across the world.
Down here we're on 7, the US I believe is 6 and I think the UK are 8.
Funnily enough, that means the numbers can't line up when they're different sizes, and so we find ourselves in the current complex global situation...

 

[TimMc]

US TV channel 37 is open for mic use pretty much everywhere, and it occupies 608-614 MHz. That lines up with Bank 1 of an EW100, channels 4-12. That will get you a maximum of nine units. If you really need 12 units, then go to EW300 receivers in Bank 6.

On the bright side, TV channel 37 will remain vacant and not affected by the current spectrum auction.

Because ch 37 is dedicated to radio astronomy, my understanding is no other uses can be made of that bandwidth. Perhaps this is old info and the FCC has changed the regulation regarding other uses but there is a permanent moratorium on issuing TV licenses for that bit of spectrum.

 

[FMEng]

I did more research and Tim is correct. Channel 37 is illegal to use in the United States. Please forgive my error. Things are rather confused due to the spectrum auction, and I misinterpreted a document. The FCC seems to be reserving two TV channels in each area for exclusive use by wireless mics, but I not positive on that.

Probably the best thing the OP can do is rent equipment at each stop on their tour. The alternative would be to use extremely high end equipment that tends to be more frequency agile, and then use coordination software at each stop.