New Zealand Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) has granted the first Digital Amateur TV Licence to NZART Branch 74, The Wellington VHF Group, for use at its main station located on Mount Belmont, in Wellington.
The main features of Licence 236831 are:
The licence is valid for an initial period of 6 months, from 1st January 2013 to 30th June 2013.
The licence permits DATV transmissions for the purpose of testing compatibility with services on the adjacent frequencies and requires the production of a comprehensive report to RSM.
The DTV25 channel is, in effect, the guard band between Communications services below 502 MHz and Digital TV Broadcasts above 510 MHz (DTV26 and above).
It is hoped that these tests will, once again, demonstrate the engineering capabilities of Radio Amateurs and lead the way to the granting of DATV licences throughout New Zealand.