Regions & Frequency Bands

Azimuth nodes automatically scan region-appropriate LTE, 5G, DTV, and FM bands. The region you select determines which frequencies the daemon monitors during each observation cycle, optimizing for your local spectrum allocations.

Hardware Tuning Range: 500 kHz – 1.766 GHz

Tier 1 nodes use the RTL-SDR Blog V4 software-defined radio, which can tune anywhere from 500 kHz to 1.766 GHz. This covers:

  • FM radio (87.5–108 MHz) — full broadcast band (76–95 MHz in Japan)
  • DTV (470–608 MHz for ATSC; up to 790–862 MHz for DVB-T2/DTMB) — fully in range
  • LTE low-band (600–900 MHz) — Bands 12, 13, 14, 20, 32, 71 fully tunable
  • LTE mid-band (1.4–1.8 GHz) — Partial coverage up to 1.766 GHz ceiling

Important: LTE Mid-Band and High-Band Cutoff

LTE Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz) and all higher-frequency bands physically exceed the V4 tuner's 1.766 GHz maximum. While your region configuration lists these bands for completeness (following 3GPP standards), the daemon automatically skips them at runtime with a log entry like:

Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz) exceeds tuner range (1.766 GHz) — skipped

This is normal behavior. Your node still scans all in-range bands for your region; the out-of-range bands are informational only.

Note on "3.2 GHz" confusion: Users sometimes reference "3.2 GHz" as the V4 range. This is incorrect. The "3.2" figure refers to the dongle's instantaneous bandwidth (how wide a slice of spectrum it can capture at once), not its tuning range. The actual tuning range is 500 kHz–1.766 GHz.

Setting Your Region

Desktop App (Tauri)

Navigate to Settings → Scanning Region. Choose a region from the dropdown, review the active bands (marked in green if tunable, gray if out of range), and save. Restart the daemon to apply the new configuration.

Docker Daemon

Set the AZIMUTH_REGION environment variable in your docker-compose.yml:

environment:
  AZIMUTH_REGION: "US"  # or "EU", "JP", "AUTO", etc.

On first startup, the daemon generates its config with the region's default frequency lists. Later restarts reuse the saved config; to change region, update the variable and regenerate the config with docker compose down -v && docker compose up -d.

Manual Frequency Override

Both the desktop app and daemon support manual frequency lists (in Hz) that merge with the region's defaults. Edit the daemon's config.toml [scanning.lte.frequencies] and [scanning.fm.frequencies] sections to add custom frequencies. Manual frequencies are appended to the region scan schedule.

Region & Band Coverage

RegionLTE BandsFM RangeDTV Standard
AUTOBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
AEBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
ARBand 2 (1930–1990 MHz), Band 4 (2110–2155 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz)87.5–108 MHzISDB-T
AUBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
BRBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzISDB-T
CABand 2 (1930–1990 MHz), Band 4 (2110–2155 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 12 (729–746 MHz), Band 13 (746–756 MHz), Band 17 (734–746 MHz), Band 29 (717–728 MHz), Band 66 (2110–2200 MHz), Band 71 (617–652 MHz)87.5–108 MHzATSC
CLBand 2 (1930–1990 MHz), Band 4 (2110–2155 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzISDB-T
CNBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 34 (2010–2025 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 39 (1880–1920 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDTMB
DEBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 32 (1452–1496 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
ESBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
FRBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 32 (1452–1496 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
GBBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 32 (1452–1496 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
IDBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
INBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
ITBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 32 (1452–1496 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
JPBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 11 (1475.9–1495.9 MHz), Band 18 (860–875 MHz), Band 19 (875–890 MHz), Band 21 (1495.9–1510.9 MHz), Band 26 (859–894 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)76–95 MHzISDB-T
KEBand 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
KRBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 26 (859–894 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzATSC
MXBand 2 (1930–1990 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 4 (2110–2155 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 66 (2110–2200 MHz)87.5–108 MHzATSC
MYBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
NGBand 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
NLBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
NOBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
NZBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
PHBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzISDB-T
PLBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
RUBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)65.9–108 MHzDVB-T2
SABand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
SEBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
SGBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
THBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
TRBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
TWBand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2
UABand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 20 (791–821 MHz)65.9–108 MHzDVB-T2
USBand 2 (1930–1990 MHz), Band 4 (2110–2155 MHz), Band 5 (869–894 MHz), Band 12 (729–746 MHz), Band 13 (746–756 MHz), Band 14 (758–768 MHz), Band 17 (734–746 MHz), Band 25 (1930–1995 MHz), Band 26 (859–894 MHz), Band 29 (717–728 MHz), Band 41 (2496–2690 MHz), Band 66 (2110–2200 MHz), Band 71 (617–652 MHz)87.5–108 MHzATSC
ZABand 1 (2110–2170 MHz), Band 3 (1805–1880 MHz), Band 7 (2620–2690 MHz), Band 8 (925–960 MHz), Band 28 (758–803 MHz), Band 38 (2570–2620 MHz), Band 40 (2300–2400 MHz)87.5–108 MHzDVB-T2

AUTO mode (or _DEFAULT): Scans a conservative worldwide set of bands, useful if you're between regions or traveling. Region-specific modes prioritize the bands deployed in your country for faster signal acquisition.

Antenna Guidance

For best results in your region, consider the following:

  • 1.4–1.7 GHz (LTE Bands 3, 7, 8): Require a wideband antenna or a dedicated band-specific design. Many budget SDR antennas optimized for 400–900 MHz lose significant gain above 1.4 GHz. If you want to receive these bands, invest in a discone or a multi-band stacked array.

  • 600–900 MHz (LTE low-band + DTV): A half-wave dipole centered at ~750 MHz covers this range well with modest gain. Horizontal orientation works for FM and DTV; vertical for cellular.

  • 88–108 MHz (FM broadcast): A quarter-wave monopole (68 cm) or half-wave dipole (136 cm) tuned to 98 MHz (band center) provides good omnidirectional coverage. Indoor ferrite rod antennas work for casual listening but not for precise positioning.

  • Multi-band approach: Mount separate antennas for each band on a masthead combiner or isolation filter stack to avoid intermodulation and maximize per-signal SNR. Professional positioning networks use dedicated arrays for each signal type.

  • Placement: Mount the antenna as high and as clear of obstructions as possible. Even a few meters of elevation and clear line-of-sight to the horizon significantly improve range and reliability.

References

  • 3GPP TS 36.104: LTE band specifications (https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/latest/Rel-18/36_series/)
  • 3GPP TS 38.104: 5G NR band specifications (https://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/latest/Rel-18/38_series/)
  • RTL-SDR Official: RTL2832U and RTL-SDR Blog V4 specs (https://www.rtl-sdr.com/)
  • Antenna Theory: Learn antenna design fundamentals (http://antenna-theory.com)