Good to know Jason, thanks. :)

Interesting to read what frequency these operate on. I'm guessing the umpire mics are actually re-broadcast into 70 mhz band exclusively for use with sports ears users? When I goto an afl game at etihad stadium I use my icom ic-r10 to listen to the umpires on 710.500 Mhz(repeater output) wideband. The repeater inputs are lower down around 700Mhz which are ALWAYS on even in the rooms wink wink...

Hi Alan,

A quick one for you re alternative receivers. There is a VHF/UHF handheld not on eBay for around $55. Seems to be a lot of the for sale and it would seem to tick the boxes for the frequencies discussed here.

It's called the bfuv-5r..... Do you think it would do the trick?

Matt,

It needs to cover 70.2 MHz, with wide-band FM demodulation. Some equipment will only do narrow-band FM at that frequency.

Regards,

Alan

Hi Alan,

Great article. I just want to check, if I buy a radio capable of receiving 70MHz, will I be able to pick up the umpires feed? Don't want to spend the money if its not that simple!

Love what you've done and agree that the original product is way over priced.

Cheers.

Thanks for the informative article Alan. I was sure that the sportsears system broadcast on the same frequency for all covered sports as my NRL unit works for AFL and Rugby. May I suggest that the most simple solution for all would be one of the cheap $20- World band radios that can be sourced on eBay. They cover the old Eastern European / Soviet FM freqs from 64 up to 108 I assume tripping over some TV. Thanks again I am at AAMI for the next Rebels home game and will give my world band rig a run and see if we hit paydirt.

Hi Alan. An interesting article. I,m not a footy fan, so can't comment on subject too much. Haven't seen the receivers my self. As an alternative, I have a Digitor (DSE) Cat # D2838 RX I could use. It tunes 27MHz CB AM, 55 - 108MHz and 108 - 175MHz in two bands, FM mode. I have been using it for VHF airband monitoring of late. Will have to try 70.2MHz with it, next time I pass AAMI Stadium one day when a AFL game is on. 73s Darryl VK5JDS

Peter,

That's most interesting, I did not know that frequency was a LIPD allocation. Well that makes me feel better about using the SportsEars TX I built around the house.

Regards,

Alan

Alan,

I think the reason for 70.2 MHz not being in the ACMA database is that the AFL transmitter is under a class licence (as a low interference potential device).

This offers no protection against interference and carries a 100mW power limit. Details here: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2009C00545/Download

Mike,

Thanks for that NZ frequency info.

Regards,

Alan

Hi Alan

We have two frequencies in use for Sports Ears here in New Zealand.

They are:

72.1mhz

72.5mhz

I found these on the RSM/MED website and the same two frequencies seem to be the same at all stadiums around New Zealand. I can pick them up on my Uniden ubc92xlt scanner and Digitech AR1745.

A reader who wishes to remain anonymous emailed me with this message:

Hi Alan

Good article on sports ears, as I enjoy both the union and league I Purchased a basic uniden scanner (UBC93XLT) as I was unsure if the freq's would be code specific.

After using the unit for a season I can report the below:

70.2 MHz is referee call NRL

TV commentary freq and quality can vary widely

Parramatta Stadium NRL channel 9 broadcast clear with few interferences Parramatta Stadium NRL Foxtel broadcast clear yet very low signal, even with volume full with normal headphone (not earbud types)

Blue Tongue Stadium clear and strong signal (central coast)

ANZ stadium NRL channel 9 broadcast clear with few interferences ANZ stadium Union Foxtel clear and strong signal (the union commentary is great as they have the referee's feed mixed in)

SFS stadium Union Foxtel clear and strong signal (same qualities as ANZ Union)

Freq table below:

Channel Freq Band Licensee Location 101 70.20000 suggested sport ears 102 162.47500 ? nrl 103 469.69375 ? 104 469.70000 RTA ? 105 484.80000 channel 7 Sydney ? 106 506.20000 Global Television PTY LTD nrl 107 509.57500 coach Toyota cup ? 111 417.15000 Global Television PTY LTD 112 476.35000 Global Television PTY LTD 113 505.18750 Global Television PTY LTD 114 505.76250 Global Television PTY LTD 115 506.75000 Global Television PTY LTD 116 495.10000 away team coach filthy language 121 453.57500 foxtel 122 453.70000 foxtel 123 453.80000 foxtel 124 453.85000 foxtel 125 453.97500 foxtel 126 454.00000 foxtel 127 454.50000 foxtel 128 454.92500 foxtel 129 456.02500 foxtel 130 457.15000 foxtel 131 463.07500 foxtel 132 463.20000 foxtel 133 463.30000 foxtel 134 463.35000 foxtel 135 463.47500 foxtel 136 463.50000 foxtel 137 466.65000 foxtel 138 464.00000 foxtel 139 464.42500 foxtel 140 465.52500 foxtel

I have spotted a few other people around the grounds with the scanner approach, I feel $85 is far to expensive for the sports ears unit, if someone could produce a radio for the 70.2mhz and 400-512mhz band for a reasonable cost. I am sure they would sell cartons full on eBay.

Another thought is that sporting events are expensive for example Cat 1 seating season tickets for a family at Waratahs home games is $960, surely a unit like sports ears could be included at that price.

Yeah, my website is an abused animal that needs some feeding and TLC.

Just been so busy trying to launch a new version of AusPC that's be sucking the life out of me!

I do have some interesting CNC try stuff all photographed etc, just haven't written much up.

You finished with your day job yet? I need some HELP! :)

Arv,

I doubt we'll ever get 4 metres for HAM radio in Australia.

70 MHz is just above VHF-L Channel 2 here in AU. Channel 0 is part of 6 metres. The Australian VHF TV allocation is a bit of a mess for historic reasons. The UHF allocations make more sense.

Regards,

Alan

G'day Alan,

No idea about the licensing...

Your website has been rather static of late too!

Regards,

Alan

It will be interesting to see if these radios make it to other countries where this frequency is already allocated to other services. The UK comes to mind where the 4M ham band is 70.0 to 70.4 MHz.

http://www.70mhz.org/

In the US, this frequency is near the edge of VHF television channel-4.

Hey Al, good to see you back on the inter-tubes!

From my dim dark memory when I worked on events like that with MT&A, by virtue of the TV coverage they are operating under an extension to their existing TV license. It's under the same rules that allow their link vans to stick a mast in the air in the outer suburbs for microwave point-to-point links if I recall. But then again, my memory could be faulty and I'm completely wrong! :)