Vol. 412, No. 20523, 8 October 1999
GENERAL NOTICE
Notice 2300 of 1999
INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING AUTHORITY
TELEVISION TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
The Independent Broadcasting Authority hereby publishes its Television Technical Regulations. These regulations were made in terms of section 78(1)(A) of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act (Act No. 153 of 1993), as amended. The regulations are as contained in the schedule.
SCHEDULE
TELEVISION TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
1. DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of these regulations the following terms shall have the meanings defined below. The meanings are consistent for the definitions as contained in the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1993 and the International Telecommunication Union Radio Regulations 1992.
| 1.1 | Act - the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1993 | ||
| 1.2 | Assigned Frequency - the centre of the frequency band assigned to a station | ||
| 1.3 | Authority - the Independent Broadcasting Authority | ||
| 1.4 | Broadcasting - any form of unidirectional telecommunication intended for direct reception by the public or sections of the public or subscribers to any broadcasting service having appropriate receiving facilities whether they carried out by means of radio or any other means of telecommunication or any combination of the above mentioned. | ||
| 1.5 | Broadcasting Service - a single defined service which consists in the broadcasting of television or sound material to the public or sections of the public or to the subscribers to such service. | ||
| 1.6 | Broadcasting Services Frequency Bands - that part of the electromagnetic radio frequency spectrum which is assigned for the use of broadcasting services by the International Telecommunication Union in so far such assignments have been agreed to/adopted by the Republic as well as any other additional part of the radio frequency spectrum determined nationally for the use of broadcasting services. | ||
| 1.7 | Coverage Area - the area within which the field strength of the wanted transmitter is equal to or greater than the usable field strength.(See table at end of Annexure) | ||
| 1.8 | Effective Radiated Power - the product of the power supplied to the antenna and its gain relative to a half wave dipole in a given direction. | ||
| 1.9 | Emission - radiation produced or the production of radiation by a radio transmitting station. | ||
| 1.10 | Frequency Tolerance - the maximum permissible departure by the centre frequency of the frequency band occupied by an emission from the assigned frequency. | ||
| 1.11 | Gain of an Antenna - the ratio expressed in decibels of the power required at the input of a loss free reference antenna to the power supplied to the input of the given antenna to produce in a given direction the same field strength. | ||
| 1.12 | Licensee - the holder of any licence granted and issued under the Act. | ||
| 1.13 | Necessary bandwidth - for a given class of emission the width of the frequency band which is just sufficient to ensure the transmission of information at the rate and with the quality required under specified conditions. | ||
| 1,14 | Out of band emission - emission on a frequency or frequencies immediately outside the necessary bandwidth which results from a modulation process but excluding spurious emissions. | ||
| 1.15 | Power - whenever the power of the radio transmitter is
referred to, it shall be expressed in one of the following forms according to the class of
emission using the symbols indicated:
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| 1.16 | Peak envelope power of a radio transmitter - the average power supplied to the antenna transmission line by a transmitter during one radio frequency cycle at the crest of the modulation envelope taken under normal operating conditions. | ||
| 1.17 | Mean power of a radio transmitter - the average power supplied to the antenna transmission line by a transmitter during an interval of time sufficiently long compared with the lowest frequency encountered in the modulation taken under normal operating conditions. | ||
| 1.18 | Carrier power of a radio transmitter - the average power supplied to the antenna transmission line by a transmitter during one radio frequency cycle taken under the condition of no modulation. | ||
| 1.19 | Radiation - the output flow of energy from any source in a form of radio waves. | ||
| 1.20 | Radio - an electromagnetic wave propagated in space without artificial guide and having, by convention, a frequency lower than 3 000 GHz. | ||
| 1.21 | Radiocommunication - telecommunication by means of radio waves. | ||
| 1.22 | Service Area - that part of the coverage area in which the licensee has the right to demand that agreed protection conditions be provided. | ||
| 1.23 | Signal Distribution - the whole or any part of the process whereby the output signal of the broadcasting service is taken from the point of origin being the point where such signal is made available in its final content format from where it is conveyed to any geographical broadcast target area whether it is transmitted by radio or other means of telecommunication for reception by subscribers or by the public or by sections of the public. | ||
| 1.24 | Spurious Emission - emission on a frequency or frequencies which are outside the necessary bandwidth and the level of which may be reduced without affecting the corresponding transmission of information. Spurious emissions include harmonic emission, parasitic emissions, intermodulation products and frequency conversion products but exclude out of band emissions. | ||
| 1.25 | Station - one or more transmitters or receivers or a combination of transmitters and receivers including the accessory equipment necessary at one location for carrying on a radio-communication service. | ||
| 1.26 | Telecommunication - any system or method of conveying signs, signals, sounds, communications or other information by means of electricity, magnetism, electromagnetic waves or any agency of a like nature whether with or without the aid of tangible conductors from one point to another. | ||
| 1.27 | Television Broadcasting Service - a broadcasting service consisting in the sending of visual images or other visible signals whether with or without accompanying sounds where the visual images are such that sequences of them are seen as moving pictures. | ||
| 1.28 | Usable Field Strength - the minimum value of field strength necessary to permit a desired reception quality under specified receiving conditions in the presence of natural and man made noise and interference. A usable field strength value of 70 dBuV/m shall be used for the coverage contour in urban and/or densely populated areas and a usable field strength value of 60 dBuV/m in rural and/or sparsely populated areas. |
2. TELEVISION BROADCASTING SERVICES FREQUENCY BANDS
The following spectrum is currently allocated to television broadcasting in South Africa.
| 2.1 | Very high frequency television broadcasting
(VHF) Band III: 174 MHz to 238 MHz 248 MHz to 254 MHz |
| 2.2 | Ultra high frequency television broadcasting
(UHF) Band IV/V: 470 MHz to 854 MHz |
3. TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND TRANSMISSION CHARACTERISTICS FOR TELEVISION BROADCASTING
The television system to be used in South Africa and CCIR System I with
PAL Colour.
A uniform channel spacing of 8MHz shall be used.
In each channel the nominal vision carrier frequency is situated at 1.25MHz above the
lower limit of the channel and the associated sound carrier frequency is higher than the
vision carrier frequency.
3.1 CHANNEL NUMBERING IN BAND III (174 - 238MHz AND 246 - 254MHz)
Channel
No.Channel Limits
(MHz)Vision Carrier Freq
(MHz)4 174- 182 175.25 5 182- 190 183.25 6 190- 198 191.25 7 198 - 206 199.25 8 206 - 214 207.25 9 214 - 222 215.25 10 222 - 230 223.25 11 230 - 238 231.25 13 246 - 254 247.43
The non standard vision carrier frequency for channel 13 has been chosen so that the vestigial side-band colour sub-carrier notch filter will give maximum protection to the international distress frequency of 243MHz.
3.2 CHANNEL NUMBERING IN BAND IV/V (470 - 854MHz)
CHANNEL
NUMBERINGCHANNEL LIMITS
(MHz)NOMINAL VISION CARRIER FREQUENCY (MHz
21 470 - 478 471.25 22 478 - 486 479.25 23 486 - 494 487.25 24 494 - 502 495.25 25 502 - 510 503.25 26 510 - 518 511.12 27 518 - 526 519.25 28 526- 534 527.25 29 534 - 542 535.25 30 542 - 550 543.25 31 550- 558 551.25
32 558 - 566 559.25 33 566 - 574 567.25 34 574 - 582 575.25 35 582- 590 583.25 36 590 - 598 591.25 37 598 - 606 599.25 38 606 - 614 607.25 39 616 - 622 615.25 40 622 - 630 623.25 41 630 - 638 631.25 42 638 - 646 639.25
43 646 - 654 647.25 44 654 - 662 655.25 45 662 - 670 663.25 46 670 - 678 671.25
47 678 - 686 679.25 48 686 - 694 687.25 49 694 - 702 695.25 50 702- 710 703.25 51 710 - 718 711.25 52 718 - 726 719.25 53 726 - 734 727.25 54 734 - 742 735.25 55 742 - 750 743.25 56 750- 758 751.25 57 758 - 766 759.25 58 766- 774 767.25 59 774 - 782 775.25 60 782 - 790 783.25 61 790- 798 791.25 62 798 - 806 799.25 63 806 - 814 807.25 64 814 - 822 815.25 65 822 - 830 823.25 66 830- 838 831.25 67 838 - 846 839.25 68 846 - 854 847.25
4. TABLE OF TRANSMITTER FREQUENCY TOLERANCES
FREQUENCY BAND TOLERANCE 174 MHz to 254 MHz 500 Hz 470 MHz to 854 MHz 500 Hz(1)
(1) for stations of 1W (vision peak envelope power) or less this tolerance may be relaxed to 10kHz in rural areas at the sole discretion of the Authority.
5. TABLE OF MAXIMUM PERMITTED SPURIOUS EMISSION POWER LEVEL
The following table indicates the maximum permitted levels of spurious emissions, in terms of the mean power level of any spurious component supplied by a transmitter to the antenna transmission line.
Spurious emission from any part of the installation other than the antenna and its transmission line shall not have an effect greater than would occur if this antenna system were supplied with the maximum permitted power at that spurious emission frequency.
For any spurious component the attenuation (mean power within the necessary bandwidth relative to the mean power of the spurious component concerned) shall be at least that specified below.
The absolute mean power level given shall not be exceeded
FREQUENCY BAND SPURIOUS EMISSION LEVEL 174 MHz to 254 MHz
Tx o/p > 25W
Tx o/p < 25W
60dB/1mW
40db/25uW
470 MHz to 854 MHz
Tx o/p > 25W
Tx o/p < 25W
60dB/1mW
40dB/25uW
6. DESIGNATION OF EMISSION
Emissions are designated according to their necessary bandwidth and their classification. The necessary bandwidth is expressed by three numerals and one letter. The letter occupies the position of the decimal point and represents the unit of bandwidth.
Emissions are classified according to a set of basic characteristics and are designated by standard symbols.
First symbol - type of modulation of the main carrier.
| Amplitude modulated double sideband | A |
| Vestigial sideband | C |
| Frequency modulation | F |
Second symbol - nature of signal(s) modulating the main carrier
| Single channel containing analogue information | 3 |
| Two or more channels containing analogue information | 8 |
Third symbol - type of information to be transmitted
| Sound broadcasting | E |
| Television | F |
Fourth symbol - details of signal(s)
| Monophonic sound broadcasting | G |
| Stereophonic sound broadcasting | H |
| Colour television broadcasting | N |
Fifth symbol - nature of multiplexing
| None | N |
| Frequency division multiplex | F |
For the full designation of an emission, the necessary bandwidth, indicated in four characters shall be added just before the classification symbols.
7. MAXIMUM EFFECTIVE RADIATED POWER (erp)
In principle, except in the frequency band 3 900 - 4 000kHz, broadcasting stations using frequencies below 5 060kHz or above 41MHz shall not employ power exceeding that necessary to maintain economically an effective national service of good quality within the frontiers of the country concerned. (ITU RR2666)
| VHF Television Band III | 200kW |
| UHF Television Band IV/V | 500kW |
8. MODULATION STANDARDS, EMISSION BANDWIDTH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RADIATED SIGNALS
Characteristics |
||
FREQUENCY |
Nominal radio-frequency channel bandwidth (MHz) | 8 |
| Sound carrier relative to vision carrier (Mhz) | +5.9996 ±0.0005 |
|
| Nearest edge of channel relative to vision carrier (Mhz) | -1.25 | |
| Nominal width of main sideband (MHz) | 5.5 | |
| Nominal width of vestigial sideband (MHz) | 1.25 | |
| Minimum attenuation of vestigial sideband (dB and MHz) | 20 (-3.0) 30 (-4.43) |
|
| Type and polarity of vision modulations | C3F neg. | |
LEVELS IN THE |
Synchronizing level | 100 |
| Blanking level | 76 ± 2 | |
| Difference between black level and blanking level | O (nominal) | |
| Peak white-level | 20 ± 2 | |
| Type of sound modulation | F3E | |
| Frequency deviation (kHz) | ± 50 | |
| Pre-emphasis for modulation (us) l | 50 | |
| Ratio of effective radiated powers of vision/sound | 10/1 | |
| Line frequency fH and tolerance when operated non-synchronously (Hz) | 15 625 ± 0.0001 % |
|
9. THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS CONTAINED IN THE NATIONAL STANDARD FOR TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION TRANSMISSIONS (SABS 1584) SHALL BE INCORPORATED HEREIN AND SHALL BE APPLICABLE TO ALL VHF/UHF TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION BROADCASTING SERVICES.
FIELDS STRENGTH VALUES FOR COVERAGE AREA PLANNING
FREQUENCY |
MINIMUM
MEDIA FIELD STRENGTH BAND (dBuV/m) |
||
| URBAN | SUBURBAN | RURAL | |
| Band III | 75 | 65 | 50 |
| Band IV | 80 | 72 | 62 |
| Band V | 80 | 76 | 67 |