There are up to 72 FPV channels in the 5.8GHz analogue system. This article contains tables and charts to enable you to look up the specific frequency for each channel and band to ensure the best possible video signal from your rig.
Table of Content
- 5.8GHz FPV Channels Table
- Best Practice
- The Original Four Bands A, B, E, F
- Raceband
- Diatone Band
- Four New Bands
- Not All Channels are Legal!
5.8Ghz Channels and Frequency for FPV
Each band has a unique set of frequencies, individual frequencies can be repeated on other bands but the sets remain unique.
Channels in the same band are set apart by a constant frequency, it could be 20Mhz, 19Mhz, 37Mhz, 23Mhz, 18Mhz or 40Mhz.
Band | CH 1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 | CH 5 | CH 6 | CH 7 | CH 8 |
A | 5865 | 5845 | 5825 | 5805 | 5785 | 5765 | 5745 | 5725 |
B | 5733 | 5752 | 5771 | 5790 | 5809 | 5828 | 5847 | 5866 |
E | 5705 | 5685 | 5665 | 5645 | 5885 | 5905 | 5925 | 5945 |
F | 5740 | 5760 | 5780 | 5800 | 5820 | 5840 | 5860 | 5880 |
R (C) | 5658 | 5695 | 5732 | 5769 | 5806 | 5843 | 5880 | 5917 |
D | 5362 | 5399 | 5436 | 5473 | 5510 | 5547 | 5584 | 5621 |
U | 5325 | 5348 | 5366 | 5384 | 5402 | 5420 | 5438 | 5456 |
O | 5474 | 5492 | 5510 | 5528 | 5546 | 5564 | 5582 | 5600 |
L | 5333 | 5373 | 5413 | 5453 | 5493 | 5533 | 5573 | 5613 |
H | 5653 | 5693 | 5733 | 5773 | 5813 | 5853 | 5893 | 5933 |
There are as many as 72 possible channels over which a VTX can transmit video. Sadly however, this doesn’t mean that we can have 72 craft flying together, all streaming video over 5.8Ghz simultaneously, but that would be awesome, wouldn’t it?
Brands and the Battle of the Bands
In the “old days”, video transmitters only supported 8 channels. Different brands used different bands for their VTX’s. Nowadays, most VTX’s work with multiple bands, if not all of them.
- Band A: Team BlackSheep (TBS), RangeVideo, SpyHawk, FlyCamOne USA
- Band B: FlyCamOne Europe
- Band C (R): Raceband
- Band E: HobbyKing, Foxtech
- Band F (Airwave): ImmersionRC, Iftron
- Band D: Diatone
- Band L: Low band
- Band H: High band
Tips and Best Practice
You must ensure your 5.8GHz Video Transmitter (VTX) and the video receiver are operating on the same channel in order to establish a reliable video link. Some channels are very close to others on different bands, just because you are getting a picture, it doesn’t mean you are on the right channel.
Getting the best VTX is important, but remember that the type of antenna you use, and even where/how you place it on your craft, can be just as important when it comes to receiving a good quality video feed. Here is my guide on choosing the best FPV antenna.
It is good practice to test your FPV setup before installing it in your craft, not only to confirm everything is working – but also because it can be difficult to access the buttons on the VTX once it is in the stack. We strongly advise you however, to structure your build so you CAN change your VTX settings. (This may not be so crucial if you are using Smart Audio or TRAMP – find out more about Smart VTX Control here.)
Be aware that many VTX have a different operating voltage, a small VTX for a TinyWhoop will likely have a 3.3v – 4.2v max, where some have a wide operating voltage ranging from 7.4v – 24v, in some cases even offering a filtered and regulated 5v output.
It is uncommon, but you may occasionally experience atmospheric interference, to combat this try using Band E Channel 4, followed by Band E Channel 8, or another combination that offers a wide gap between frequencies. Some interference might be power related, see here for a more detailed article on fixing FPV video issues
You may also need to change your channel when flying with other pilots, in order to avoid interference from one another. Remember to be considerate to other pilots, find out what VTX channels are being used before you power on your craft. It can be hard to make friends at a flying field when the best pilot there has lost his best racing drone, because you jumped on his video channel! This article explains which are the best channels to use for FPV
Conflicts with WiFi
5.8GHz WiFi signal uses frequency between 5170MHz – 5835MHz, this could interfere with our FPV signal. You might experience noisy or loss of signal when flying near populated residential and business areas, where there is commonly WiFi signals around.
It’s best to use a channel as far away from this band as possible, for example Raceband 8 (5917MHz) is a good option.
In fact, your WiFi can be affected by VTX too, if your home WiFi drops out while you are working on your quad, it’s likely to be caused by the VTX. If this happens, simply move your channel to a higher frequency :)
The Beginning – 4 Bands 32 Channels
Way back when this article was first created, life was simple. There were only 4 bands, and some VTX and VRX could only support one single band offering 8 channels, making it vital that the VTX and VRX are compatible (used the same band).
Jan 2016 – Raceband Added
Raceband Frequencies: 5658, 5695, 5732, 5769, 5806, 5843, 5880, 5917 (in MHz).
Raceband was set up with racing events in mind. The channels are equally spaced out in frequency (38MHz apart) and in the ideal conditions, it should theoretically allow all 8 channels to be used simultaneously.
Part of the RaceBand idea was to be in compliance with regulations. The allowable range for ITU region 2 (US) is 5.650-5.925 GHz which is why RaceBand starts at 5.658GHz and ends at 5.917GHz. If you add, or subtract the 8MHz video bandwidth you’ll arrive at the legal limits for the band.
Feb 2017 – New 6th Band
A new band was used by Diatone, starting with 5362Mhz, ending with 5621MHz.
Diatone | 5362MHz | 5399MHz | 5436MHz | 5473MHz | 5510MHz | 5547MHz | 5584MHz | 5621MHz |
Apr 2017 – 4 New Bands Added
Here we have 4 new bands introduced by the VTX03 from Eachine. This takes us to a total of 9 bands, 72 channels available in the 5.8Ghz frequency for FPV. These new channels are frequencies that we didn’t previously use for FPV.
- L – Low Band
- H – High Band
U | 5325 | 5348 | 5366 | 5384 | 5402 | 5420 | 5438 | 5456 |
O | 5474 | 5492 | 5510 | 5528 | 5546 | 5564 | 5582 | 5600 |
L | 5333 | 5373 | 5413 | 5453 | 5493 | 5533 | 5573 | 5613 |
H | 5653 | 5693 | 5733 | 5773 | 5813 | 5853 | 5893 | 5933 |
Not All the 5.8Ghz Channels are Legal!
Although there are many frequency options and power outputs available from VTX these days, you should find out your local restrictions before going flying. Many places restrict 5.8GHz output power to 25mW unless the user has a license.
Note – some VTX require you to follow a procedure that will unlock the higher output power options.
Bands of “L”, “U” and “O” fall entirely outside the legal frequency allocation, making them illegal to use in the US (and possibly many other countries), that’s why you won’t see VTX with these channels when you buy from legit RC shops.
Not to mention these bands are much lower than 5.8Ghz and your antennas are probably not tuned for that low frequency.
My advice is to stay away from VTX’s that offer these illegal frequencies. A VTX that has 48 channels is more than enough.
Edit History
- Jan 2015 – Article created
- Dec 2019 – Updated, added “best practice”
Hi Oscar
Merry Christmas ans i wish you a Happy New Year :-)
Unless a piece of equipment is FCC certified it is illegal to broadcast using it without a Ham licence.
Fatshark made an FCC certified system, once
Get your HAM license
In the USA, any frequency used from 5650 through 5925 requires a Ham license regardless of power.
I just came across this table for 5.8GHz, thanks! Do you have, or do you know of, similar tables for the other control frequency ranges (800MHz, 900MHz, 2.4GHz, 3.3/3.4GHz, 5.8GHz, others)?
Thanks!!
–Al
Radio Control signals are digital, so they don’t use “channel” like analogue signals.
hi!, why is that teh aomway commander freq chart has nothing to do with anyother? for instance A1 is 5705 ???
Aomway is just reinventing the wheel, putting bands in different order and calling them different names :)
Still the same frequency and channels.
I wanted to be able to better visualise how all these channels sat within the spectrum, so I wrote a small thing, here: j-w.co/hardware/Australian-FPV-Channels/
Seeing all the channels graphed out really helped me, and it might help others. Thanks for the frequency info!
thanks James, that’s a great idea!
James, I’m now trying to reproduce your FPV frequency graph for FPV pilots in Latvia. Run into difficulties to display continuous allowed frequency range bar. Charts in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Docs doesn’t support that. How you did that?
Hi Oscar,
Thank you for your article concerning the use of normal E-Band and F-Band Channels to get 40MHz distance for 8 simultaneous FPV pilots – really great work !
You could probably add the channel numbers to your article (E4, E2, F1, F3, F5, F7, E6, E8)
Finally I just wanted to note a small typo in the section “Update (Jan 2016) – New Raceband Added” the second frequency should read 5695 (instead of 5696). In the tables it is correct anyways.
Ruediger
thank you Ruediger for the suggestion and correction, very well spotted :)
Perhaps time to include some other new bands now too. I’m seeing 72 ch video transmitters out there with Bands, A, B, E, F, R, U, O, L and H. No idea what these new bands are for. I know L is meant to be another set of Raceband style channels going below the current range (to have 16 pilots all at once with sufficient spacing for the same polarization)… but these other ones… no idea.
yes it’s crazy!
Hi Oscar, I’m Bob… I’m new to fpv.. Went to the local rc park and there is a board with black and white squares.. Some rows have “6 meter” at the head.. Most have 2.4 ghz.. The squares Dow the row have numbers and a clip on it.. What the #%*€# is this for? Sorry if this is a stupid ? … Just don’t want to look stupid when I don’t know how to use it.. I suppose it’s for claiming a frequency… I have a futaba 10j.. Flying a mr25 with fpv..
Thanks, Bob
i believe what you described is a “Dip Switch chart” for certain brand model VTX :)
almost all VTX has different dip switch chart, if you move one of the swtiches you get different frequency/channel..
a lot of VTX these days don’t use dip switches anymore but a push button and LED’s to indicate the channel they are on…
These are for the old FM transmitters that some pilots who haven’t moved to 2.4GHz spread-spectrum yet. They are fixed channels, and they mark their frequency with their park-permit or AMA card so other pilots know they won’t “shoot down” somebody else’s aircraft. It has nothing to do with VTX, but all about RC control transmitter/receivers.
Hello oscar,
I’m using the Fatshark vtx 250mw and an RC832 from boscam but my video sign is horrible. Could you help me on the best frequency for using this equipment and which antennas i should use?
Thanks,
Hi Oscar, thanks for this very helpful blog post.
If I get the Diversity FR632 video receiver, will it work for all these frequency bands?
hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__66191__FR632_Diversity_5_8GHz_32Ch_Auto_Scan_LCD_A_V_Receiver.html
I’m planning to use it with the Quanum V2 Goggles.
Thanks!
yes! when you see 32 channels in the product name, you know it’s for all ABEF bands.
Hi Oscar,
Ive been trying to find the differences of these five bands, apart from particular companies that use specific ones. On the TBS receiver for FatShark goggles, they say that the use of BOSCAM frequencies is recommended and the quality of Airwave frequencies will be undesirable. Ive seen pilots running TBS DomV2 receivers with ImmersionRC 600mW vTx with great results. Ive also been running the ImmersionRC 600mW with Nextwave Rx just fine.
I was just wondering if you know the reason why band F frequencies may yield worse results?
Many thanks, Zac
Hi Zac
some device perform better at certain frequencies, also the antenna might cause this issue as they are tuned to certain frequency as well.
Nothing wrong with the bands, just hardware differences.