Medium Frequencies (MF) designated for marine communication range

between 1605 kHz to 3800 kHz and are called "t" band.

BAND DSC FREQUENCY RT FREQUENCY

HF 2 MHz 2187,5 kHz 2182,0 kHz
Medium Frequencies designated for distress and safety purposes
High Frequencies (HF) designated for marine communication range between
4000 kHz to 27500 kHz and are called "u" band. This is divided into the
following sub-bands: 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18/19, 22, 25/26 MHz. Only the first five are
used for distress and safety communication.

BAND DSC FREQUENCY RT FREQUENCY

HF 4 MHz 4207,5 kHz 4125,0 kHz
HF 6 MHz 6312,0 kHz 6215,0 kHz
HF 8 MHz 8414,5 kHz 8291,0 kHz
HF 12 MHz 12577,0 kHz 12290,0 kHz
HF 16 MHz 16804,5 kHz 16420,0 kHz
High Frequencies designated for distress and safety purposes
The Radio Spectrum: VLF, LF, MF, HF, VHF, UHF . .
An overview of the different areas of the radio spectrum the types of radio transmissions or broadcasts
that they contain

Electromagnetic Waves Tutorial Includes:

Electromagnetic waves     Radio spectrum     Polarisation    

Radio waves are one form of electromagnetic radiation. They have the lowest frequency, and
hence the longest wavelengths. Above the radio spectrum, other forms of radiation can be found.
These include infra red radiation, light, ultraviolet and a number of other forms of radiation.
Although they have different names, and they are often thought of as different entities, they are all
forms of electromagnetic wave. The only fundamental difference is the wavelength / frequency. As
a result of this difference they act in slightly different ways, and they may be used for different
purposes. For example infra-red radiation may be used for heating, while light is used for
illuminating areas and visibly seeing things. Nevertheless they are all fundamentally the same.
The different types of electromagnetic wave and their relative frequencies and wavelengths may be
displayed on what is often termed the electromagnetic spectrum. This covers radio waves at the
lower end with the lowest frequencies and longest wavelengths to infra-red, light and ultraviolet
radiation and extending further up in frequency to radiation such as gamma and x-rays.
 Electro-magnetic wave spectrum
While the whole of the electromagnetic wave spectrum covers a huge range of frequencies, radio
waves themselves extend over a very large range as well. Again it is useful to be able to easily
refer to different sections of the spectrum. To achieve this different designations are given to
different areas. The frequencies that are covered are split into sections that vary by a factor of ten,
e.g. from 3 MHz to 30 MHz. Each section is allocated a name such as high frequency and these
areas are abbreviated to give terms like HF, VHF and so forth that are often used. Often talk is
heard of VHF FM, or UHF television. The VHF and UHF refer to the areas of the radio spectrum
where these transmissions take place
 The radio spectrum
It can be seen from the diagram that transmissions in the long wave broadcast band which extends
from 140.5 to 283.5 kHz available in some parts of the world falls into the low frequency or LF
portion of the spectrum. There are also a number of other types of transmission which are made
here. For example there are a number of navigational beacons which transmit on frequencies
around 100 kHz or less.
Moving up in frequency, the medium wave broadcast band falls into the medium frequency or MF
portion of the spectrum. Above this broadcast band is often where the lowest frequency short wave
bands start. Here there is an amateur radio band together with allocations for maritime
communications.
Between 3 and 30 MHz is the high frequency or HF portion. Within this frequency range lie the real
short wave bands. Signals from all over the world can be heard. Broadcasters, radio amateurs and
a host of others use them.
Moving up further the very high frequency or VHF part of the spectrum is encountered. This
contains a large number of mobile users. "Radio Taxis" and the like have allocations here, as do
the familiar VHF FM broadcasts.
In the ultra high frequency or UHF part of the spectrum most of the terrestrial television stations are
located. In addition to these there are more mobile users including the increasingly popular cellular
telephones.
Above this in the super high frequency or SHF and extremely high frequency or EHF portions of
the spectrum there are many uses for the radio spectrum. They are being used increasingly for
commercial satellite and point to point communications.
 ITU Frequency
and name Abbreviation band and Example Uses
number Wavelength

3–30 Hz
Extremely low frequency ELF 1 100,000– Communication with submarines
10,000 km

30–300 Hz
Super low frequency SLF 2 10,000–1,000  Communication with submarines
km

300–3,000 Hz
Ultra low frequency ULF 3 Submarine communication, communication within mines
1,000–100 km

3–30 kHz Navigation, time signals, submarine communication, wireless heart rate

Very low frequency VLF 4
100–10 km monitors, geophysics

30–300 kHz Navigation, time signals, AM longwave broadcasting (Europe and parts of

Low frequency LF 5
10–1 km Asia), RFID, amateur radio

300–3,000 kH
Medium frequency MF 6 z AM (medium-wave) broadcasts, amateur radio, avalanche beacons
1,000–100 m

Shortwave broadcasts, citizens band radio, amateur radio and over-the-

3–30 MHz horizon aviation communications, RFID, over-the-horizon radar, automatic
High frequency HF 7
100–10 m link establishment (ALE) / near-vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) radio
communications, marine and mobile radio telephony
 FM, television broadcasts, line-of-sight ground-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-
30–300 MHz
Very high frequency VHF 8 aircraft communications, land mobile and maritime mobile communications,
10–1 m
amateur radio, weather radio

Television broadcasts, microwave
300–3,000 M oven, microwave devices/communications, radio astronomy, mobile
Ultra high frequency UHF 9 Hz phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS and two-way radios such as
1–0.1 m land mobile, FRS and GMRS radios, amateur radio, satellite radio, Remote
control Systems, ADSB

Radio astronomy, microwave devices/communications, wireless

3–30 GHz
Super high frequency SHF 10 LAN, DSRC, most modern radars, communications satellites, cable and
100–10 mm
satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur radio, satellite radio

Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave radio relay, microwave remote

30–300 GHz
Extremely high frequency EHF 11 sensing, amateur radio, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner,
10–1 mm
wireless LAN (802.11ad)

300–3,000 G Experimental medical imaging to replace X-rays, ultrafast molecular

Terahertz or Tremendously
THz or THF 12 Hz dynamics, condensed-matter physics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy,
high frequency
1–0.1 mm terahertz computing/communications, remote sensing