A few people have asked about the spectrum so here we go! It`s very long so keep your scrolling hand going! Its also fairly comprehensive.

Electromagnetic spectrum...

Hz - KHz - MHz- GHz Lower than 1Hz? Slowly-changing DC more like. --0.000001--(1Hz, 1 per sec.)--- Natural "Earth waves" Hz Brainwaves... (Electrical activity in your thinking-gear) 0.1... Delta - Sleep 3... Theta - Sluggish, day-dreaming 7... Alpha - Relaxed and receptive 13... Beta - Very alert 30... High Beta - Paranormal powers! --0.00002---(20Hz)-------------- Audible if converted to soundwaves (like with, er, Loadspeakers) 0.000050 UK mains AC electricity (50Hz, 230V) - 6000 km wavelength 0.000067 CTCSS (PL or Tone squelch) Standard tones 67 69.3 71.9 74.4 77 79.7 82.5 85.4 88.5 91.5 94.8 97.4 100 103.5 107.2 110.9 114.8 118.8 123 127.3 131.8 136.5 141.3 146.2 151.4 156.7 162.2 167.9 173.8 179.9 186.2 192.8 203.5 206.5 210.7 218.1 225.7 229.1 233.6 241.8 250.3 254.1Hz (150 Hz is a military standard) ---music--- 0.000016,35 C-1 nice and bass-y (16Hz) 0.000261,63 C3 note "middle C" (see Piano Tuning ) 277.18 C# (these in Hz) 293.66 D 311.13 D# To double a frequency in 12 equal steps (semi-tones) to complete 329.63 E one octave, multiply a note by 2 to the power of 1/12th to obtain 349.23 F the next note. 440 (A) x 1.059463094 = 466.16 (A#) 369.99 F# 392.0 G 415.3 G# 440.0 A used for main reference 466.16 A# 493.88 B 0.000523,25 C4 the note C again. Only an octave higher. (x2, yeah?) 4186.00 C7 a really annoying 4kHz note C 7902.13 B7 0.012543,85 G8 highest midi note 0.002700.. above 2.7 kHz not neccessary for comms speech, phones etc, and so for phones it's filtered out. Hence too the 3kHz channel spacings on HF. 0.015... FM broadcast audio is filtered out above 15kHz 0.019 FM stereo "pilot tone" 0.020 approx. limit of human hearing. Bats, on the other hand... --0.003------(3kHz)------------- VLF,LF : Mobile, Fixed, Navigation , DGPS, Time Signals (20,25,50,60,66.6,75kHz) Enormous wavelengths are very useful for penetrating rock (cave to surface - molephones) and the oceans (for submarines) but the antennas need to be rather large, or magnetic loops. 0.0102 Omega hyperbolic fix Nav. (& 11.05 & 11.33 & 13.6 kHz) ** ceased sep97 ** 0.060 MSF British Time signal 0.070...Decca Nav. purple slaves, to 72kHz Llancarfan 0.073 Ham 4km band ( 71.6- 74.4 kHz) ** UK only, until 30.June.2000 ** 0.084...Decca Nav. masters, to 86kHz Bolberry Down 0.100 NELS Loran-C Navigation. pulsed. Loophead,Lessay,Sylt,Soustons 0.112...Decca Nav. red slaves, to 117.6kHz Jersey 0.126...Decca Nav. green slaves, to 129kHz St.Marys 0.13675 Ham 2km band (135.7-137.8 kHz) ** new Euro band, 1998 ** 0.1485------------------------ 0.153.. LW AM Broadcasting, to 0.279 - 9kHz channels (ITU Region1) + some Nav. (NDB) See the British DX Club's Lists. 153 Germany, Romania, Algeria 162 France, Turkey 171 Russia, Morocco, 177 Germany 183 Germany 189 Italy 198 UK BBC Radio 4 207 Germany, Morocco 216 France, Norway 225 Poland, spare UK allocation 234 Luxembourg, Russia 243 Denmark 252 EIRE Atlantic 252 , Algeria 261 Moscow 270 Czech 279 Belarus, Isle of Man (soon) --0.2835------------------------ Marine/Aero Navigation (NDB beacons) + Maritime Mobile (CW) 0.500 Calling, Distress (CW) 0.518 Navtex, (& 490 & 4209.5 kHz) 0.5265--MF-------------------- 0.531.. MW AM Broadcasting, to 1.602 - 9 kHz channels (10kHz to 1.700 in USA) See the British DX Club's Lists. 0.648 BBC World Service 0.693 BBC Radio 5 0.909 BBC Radio 5 1.053 INR3 - Talk Radio UK 1.089 INR3 - Talk Radio UK 1.197 INR2 - Virgin Radio 1.215 INR2 - Virgin Radio --1.6065------------------------- MF mobile, Maritime and Aero. (OR) 1.642...Cordless phones (base), to 1782 (8x 20kHz FM), handsets at 47.443-47.543 MHz (12.5kHz spacing, 6.25 offsets) to be eventually withdrawn Amateur Radio 160m "Top Band" (1.800-2.000) (CW and SSB used is mainly LSB) 2.182 Calling, International Distress --2.85----HF-------------------- the "real shortwave bands"! mobile, fixed, military, ISM, SRD, and... "numbers stations" . More . AM Broadcasting (around 2.4, 3.3, 3.975, 5, 6, 7.2, 9.7, 11.8, 13.7, 15.3, 17.8, 21.6, 25.8) Amateur Radio 80m ( 3.5 - 3.8) (SSB mainly LSB) 40m ( 7.0 - 7.1) (SSB mainly LSB) 30m (10.1 - 10.15) (SSB not recommended) (WARC) 20m (14.0 - 14.35) 16.5m (18.068-18.168) (WARC) 15m (21.0 - 21.45) 12m (24.89- 24.99) (WARC) Standard Frequency references, and Time signals (at 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 20.0, 25.0) Maritime (3kHz SSB channels) more more 2046+ 2049 intership (kHz) 2053+ 2056 intership 2241 British intership 2246 British intership 2301 British intership 4146+ 4149 intership 4357- 4435 shore chs 401- 427 ( -292kHz split: 4065- 4143) 4417/ 4125 calling 6224- 6230 intership 6501- 6522 shore chs 601- 608 ( -301kHz split: 6200- 6221) 6516/ 6215 calling 8291 ch 833 GMDSS 8294+ 8297 intership 8707- 8716 chs 834-837 8719- 8812 shore chs 801- 832 ( -524kHz split: 8195- 8288) 8779/ 8255 calling 12353-12365 intership 13077-13197 shore chs 1201-1241 ( -847kHz split: 12230-12350) 13137/12290 calling 16528-16546 intership 17242-17410 shore chs 1601-1656 ( -882kHz split: 16360-16525) 17302/16420 calling 18825-18843 intership 19755-19797 shore chs 1801-1815 ( -975kHz split: 18780-18822) 19770/18795 calling 22159-22177 intership 22696-22852 shore chs 2201-2253 ( -696kHz split: 22000-22156) 22756/22060 calling 25100-25118 intership 26145-26172 shore chs 2501-2510 (-1075kHz split: 25070-25097) 26172/25097 calling Aeronautical R or ER (En-Route on fixed airways; so mainly civil) (3kHz SSB channels) more 2851- 3019 kHz 3401- 3497 4651- 4696 5481- 5676 6526- 6682 8816- 8960 10006-10096 11276-11396 13261-13357 17901-17967 21925-21997 Aeronautical OR (Off-Route; so mainly military) (3kHz SSB channels) GHFS 3023- 3152 kHz 4700- 4995 5680- GMDSS SAR 5684- 5726 6685- 6763 8965- 9037 11175-11271 13200-13257 15010-15097 17970-18027 23200-23350 In the remaining parts of HF, you'd be forgiven for thinking anything goes! --26.175-------------------------- Fixed & Mobile (not aero) 26.243..Paging, to 26.8625 26.87 ..future SSB CB, to 26.96 (provisional plans) SRD, models, ISM 26.995 "Brown" (AM) 1mW 27.045 "Red" 27.095 "Orange" 27.120 Test/Dev., ISM 27.145 "Yellow" 27.195 "Green" 27.245 "Blue" 26.965..CB, to 27.405 (40 CEPT "EURO" FM channels : 10kHz spacings with gaps) (PR27) 27.41... Alarms 27.41... future Digital CB, to 27.51 (provisional plans) 27.5 ... Mobile, to 28 Weather balloons (sondes) 27.601..CB, to 27.991 (40 UK FM 10 kHz channels) (27/81) 27.731 UK calling: Channel 14 28... Amateur 10m band, to 29.7 CW,USB,Satellite,FM 29.6 FM calling 29.55...overseas FM repeaters, to 29.7 --29.7----VHF------------------- Mobile military (30.3-30.5 and 32.15-32.45 EU1 harmonised) + SRD Short Range Devices , R/C Models , Cordless Phones, Alarms, Hospital Paging On rare occasions ion layer conditions allow the reception of FM business/police signals here from the USA. 35.0... Model aircraft, to 35.25 (25x 10kHz) 100mW 39.9375.Cordless phones, to 40.1125 (split -8.9: 31.0375-31.2125) 40.500 Distress, Rescue (often wrongly listed as 40.050) 40.5 x 3 = 121.5 40.66...ISM, to 40.7 (40.68 +/- 20kHz) ** proposed new Euro amateur beacons band ** 40.665..Surface models, to 40.955 (33x 10kHz) 100mW cars and boats 41 ... Harmonised Military Band (EU1) --47--------------------------- Band I - TV Broadcasting (not in UK since 1984 - so, great for TV DXing!) UK: Mobile - SRD, Radio Mics, Alarms Euro TV 7MHz ch.: E2 47-54, E3 54-61, E4 61-68 Old UK 5MHz ch.: B1 41.25-46.25, B2 48-53, B3 53-58, B4 58-63, B5 63-68 (snd. @ +0.25, vis. @ +3.75) 47.3... Cordless phones & alarms, to 47.55 47.550..SAB, to 48.550 48.975..Paging, to 49.4875 49.82...SRD, to 49.98 baby alarms etc. 50... Amateur Radio 6m band , to 52 (varies in other countries). Primary. See GJ4ICD site . Beacons... 50.09...CW/SSB... 50.11 Inter-continental SSB DX 50.15 SSB centre-of-activity 50.72.. UK Repeaters, to 50.88 (split +0.5) 51... secondary... 51.21.. repeater inputs, to 51.39 (both UK and Euro systems) 51.41.. FM simplex, to 51.59 (20 kHz channels) 51.51 FM calling channel 51.81.. Euro. repeaters, to 51.99 (split -0.6) 52... 53.75.. SAB, to 55.75 55.75 ... PBR, see 62.75 57.5... CBS (plan ned), to 60.75 (split +7: 64.5 -67.75) 60.75.. SAB... 62.75.. PBR (planned), to 64.5 (split -7: 55.75-57.50) 64.5 ... CBS, see 57.5 67.7625... There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise 54-68: 61.0125 ... Base, to 67.9875 (split -7: 54.0125-60.9875) --68------Low Band------------- Mobile, military, emergency services (French splits -4.05, -5, -3) Military PTARMIGAN access links There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise this band: 77.8125 ... Base, to 87.4875 (split -9.8: 68.0125-77.6875) single: 77.7-77.8 and 74.8-75.2 & 84.6-85 Various countries overseas allow FM radio broadcasting from 65-74 and 76-87.5 (eg OIRT), this often reaches us. 68.0875.PBR, to 69.9875 single, dual: see 81.5875 70... Amateur 4m band , to 70.5 (since 1956; mainly UK only) Secondary Beacons... 70.03.. CW/SSB 70.15 Meteor Scatter calling 70.185 Cross-band centre-of-activity 70.2 SSB calling 70.25.. FM simplex, to 70.4875 (12.5 kHz channels) 70.26 old AM frequency still in use 70.3 RTTY/FAX 70.3125 Packet, to 70.3375 70.45 FM Calling channel 70.4875 Packet 70.5... Home Office - Fire Service mainscheme, to 71.5 (with 80-81.5) 71.5125.PBR, to 72.7875 single, dual: see 85.0125 72.8 ... MoD (73.3-74.1 EU1 harmonised) 75.0 CAA ILS runway marker beacons (Guard band 74.8-75.2) 200ft, 1 & 3.5 miles from touchdown 75.2 ... MoD 76.7125.PBR, to 77.4875 single, dual: see 86.7125 ... 77.5... PBR, to 77.9875 (used to be paired with 87.5 to 88), CT0 Cordless phones 78... MoD (79-79.7 EU1 harmonised) 80... H.O. 81.5125.PBR, to 81.575 81.5875.PBR, to 83.4875 (split -13.5: 68.0875-69.9875) new for the 1990s 83.5 ... H.O. 84 ... MoD PBR listed so that you can avoid tuning in by accident. (same info can be found on Radiocomms Agency site anyway) 12.5kHz channels. (Started in 1947 with 100 kHz channels, 25 kHz from 1960) 85.0125.PBR, to 86.2875 (split -13.5: 71.5125-72.7875) 86.3....PBR, to 86.7 86.7125.PBR, to 87.4875 (split -10: 76.7125-77.4875) 87.34.. Eurosignal paging, to 87.415 (4 x 25kHz channels A-D) heard in UK from Europe --87.5------------------------- Band II - FM Broadcasting (100 kHz channels) 87.6-107.9 RDS , more Independent Radio managed by the Radio Authority . See the British DX Club's Lists. Tuners . SBS . Latest news : Newstide . 87.6... RSLs (Restricted Service Licences) 88.0... BBC Radio 2 90.2... BBC Radio 3 92.4... BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales/Scotland 94.6... BBC Local Radio, Radio 4, ILR 96.1... Independent Local Radio 97.6... BBC Radio 1 99.8... Independent National Radio - INR1 - Classic FM (+RDS DCI DGPS - Focus FM ), ILR 102.0... Independent Local Radio 103.5... BBC Local Radio, Radio 4, ILR 105.0... Independent Local Radio, regional, RSLs 107.0... RSLs, Small-scale and other low power broadcasting, to 107.9 87.5 to 88 MHz was once used for base PMR (split -10: 77.5-77.9875). 97.6 to 102.1 MHz was used by the Home Office for Emergency Services AMRT base, until the late 1980s (split to 82.5-84). 105 to 108 MHz used from 1969 until the early 1990s for mobile JRC PBR (split to 138-141), and became available to Broadcasting in 1995. Long distance reception is more common via the troposphere here, rather than the ionosphere... i.e a "lift" rather than "sporadic-E". "Tropo" tends to improve the higher the frequency, and lower frequencies are not affected; whereas ionospheric "skip" builds up from HF, maybe reaching as high as 150 MHz rarely - but leaves higher bands unaffected. DSI2 recommends that by 2020 when DAB is established, the band may be reduced to 97.5-108 for local and community broadcasting only. -108--------------------------- Aero. Navigation 108.05.. ILS /VOR /ATIS, to 117.95 (50 kHz channels) ILS 108-112 -117.975----------------------- Aero. Mobile "Civil Air Band" - NATS National Air Traffic Services, Volmet See Javiation's list. RTCA . ICAO. 118.0... AM comms, to 136.975 (25 kHz channels) The use of 136 - 137 dates from 1990, and it's still shared with satellite services until 1/1/2002. Until the 1970s 50kHz channel spacing was used, and soon the channels will be three times closer with 8.33kHz spacings; in Europe in 1999, in the UK in 2000. So will the first channel be 117.983 or 118.0? Channel Names will be used, such as : 132.000, 132.005 (same but 8.33 bandwidth), 132.010 (132.0083), 132.015 (132.0166) However, don't panic about needing new equipment, 8.33 will only be used in a small segment of the band, and not for local traffic. You'll be able to enter frequencies using 5 or 10kHz steps and not be more than 1.66 kHz out, and likewise you'll still be able to search in 10kHz steps and that will be faster then 8.33! It's no more likely than now that two adjacent channels will be strongly in use at any one location. In any case, the great thing about airband as far as searching goes, is that the controllers TELL the pilots what frequency to go to next - so finding any new channels isn't really that hard! The USA NexCom solution, though, is for digital TDMA on existing 25kHz channels (& also retaining AM capability) using 8-phase shift keying, giving 4 time slots within 120ms frames, providing for a mix of voice and data. Coverage of 112-117.975 is included in the spec.s - and they haven't decided about the UHF band yet. 121.5 Distress, EPIRB s 121.6 airport Fire Services 121.9 common Ground frequency 122.475 Balloons and Hangliders 123.1 SAR Search and Rescue 129.7... many private airline channels, to 132 130.1 Gliders, +130.125 +130.4 131.725 ACARS Packet data (Europe & USA) Air Comms Addressing/Reporting System 132.0... 8.33 sub-band, to 134.8 - for over FL245 (FL195 France) 135.375 London VOLMET (main) -137------Mid Band------------- Mobile, military, Aero OR, emergency services (French splits +/-4.6) Military PTARMIGAN access links 137... Weather Satellites, to 138 137... LEO MSS Sat. downlinks, to 138 (up at 148-149.9) Orbcomm (4800 bps FSK) 137.975..Paging, to 138.2 Police: 4 air-ground-air ch.s around 138.1 & 138.3 138.2... future Euro. SRD band, to 138.45 138... MoD 139.5... JRC Joint Radio Co. PBR, to 140.5 (split +8.5: 148-149) Trunked. 139.51875-140.48125 J22-J99, main channels 12.5kHz spaced (no J01-J21) 139.525 -140.475 K22-K98, interleaved (J+6.25kHz) 140.375 JRC paging (simplex use of J90 below & J91 above) Electricity (mainly below 140) and Gas (mainly above 140) industries. From 1969 until the early 1990s AM was used in the band 138-141 (split -33: 105-108). 140.5... MoD 141... SAB Services Ancillary to Broadcasting, to 141.5 (previously 141.9) 6.25 kHz offsets 141.006..ILR, to 141.193 141.206..BBC radio, to 141.256 141.268 not available to BBC - & 141.281 141.293..BBC radio, to 141.318 (.318 BBC News) 141.375 BBC 75kHz wideband 141.418 BBC 141.4625 BBC 75kHz wideband 141.5 ... MoD 143.0 ... H.O., to 144 - see 152 143.625 Space - MIR station (also 121.75 & 130.165 FM) 144... Amateur 2m band , to 146 Primary - IARU Bandplan: EME (Moonbounce)... 144.035..CW 144.150..SSB - calling 144.3 144.4... Beacons, to 144.49 144.5... All modes 144.725 in the south - you'll appear on F5ZBF when there's a lift... 144.8... Digital, to 144.99 145.0... Repeater inputs, to 145.1875 145.2... FM Simplex, to 145.5875 (12.5 kHz channels) older 25kHz channels listed: 145.2 S8, V16 Raynet priority, MIR (with 145.8) 145.225 S9, V18 Raynet priority 145.25 S10, V20 Slow Morse 145.275 S11, V22 145.3 S12, V24 145.325 S13, V26 + French R8b/RV26 F5ZBF repeater Caen (split normal -0.6) 145.35 S14, V28 + French R9b/RV28 145.375 S15, V30 + French R10b/RV30 145.4 S16, V32 + French R11b/RV32 145.425 S17, V34 + French R12b/RV34 145.45 S18, V36 145.475 S19, V38 145.5 S20, V40 FM calling channel 145.525 S21, V42 GB2RS news, Sundays 145.55 S22, V44 145.575 S23, V46 145.5875 V47 (Repeaters 145.6 - 145.7875, split -0.6) 145.600 R0, RV48 FZ3VHF St.Brieuc 145.6125 R0x, RV49 F5ZBL Evreux 145.625 R1, RV50 FZ3VHD Quimper 145.6375 R1x, RV51 F5ZDE Chateauroux 145.650 R2, RV52 145.6625 R2x, RV53 F5ZCR Vernon 145.675 R3, RV54 F1ZBX Rennes 145.6875 R3x, RV55 FZ2VHF Lille 145.700 R4, RV56 F6ZCE Alencon 145.7125 R4x, RV57 145.725 R5, RV58 FZ2VHC Le Havre 145.7375 R5x, RV59 145.750 R6, RV60 145.7625 R6x, RV61 145.775 R7, RV62 FZ3VHB Les Herbiers 145.7875 R7x, RV63 145.8... Satellite Service, to 146 146... H.O., see 154 148... JRC,LEO, see 139.5 and 137 149... MoD 149.9... Satellite Navigation, to 150.05 150.05.. Radio Astronomy , to 152 + Oil-slick markers 152... Home Office - Emergency Services, to 153 (with 143-144) 153.025..Paging , to 153.475 (25kHz channels) POCSAG (bursts) 153.025 FLEX paging (continuous) 153.5... MoD 154... Home Office - Emergency Services, to 155.975 (with 146-148) There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise 146-156: (boundaries) 151.4 ... Base, to 156 (split -7: 146.8-151.4) single: 146-146.8 and 149.9-150.05 & 154.5-154.65 -156--------------------------- Mobile, Marine VHF (SAR, MBR/CSR) PMR/PBR + CBS + STH, Ambulances, Paging (ERMES ), SRD, Packnet, Civil Defence 156... Marine, to 163 - International and private 25kHz channels, single and dual (split -4.6). was 50 kHz spacing until SOLAS 1972, new channels were fitted in between old... Some sets may be set from "international" to "USA" mode, and then some of the dual frequency channels can be used as single (ship channel) frequencies; which could be handy for a "private" channel, no-one else would hear you! (apart from coast stations that use that channel. So you'd want to pick a clear one - and bear in mind that if you don't you won't be able to hear them telling you to move!) Maybe it's best not to, then. Interesting thought though, isn't it? There are Euro plans to use the paired freq.s for channels 87 and 88 separately, to accommodate VTS at 162 MHz, and allow simplex at 157 MHz. Also plans to allow use of channels 75 and 76 for voice. Earlier plans had included simplex use of channels 18 and 82-86. 156.0-158.4 lines up with 160.6-163.0 at 4.6MHz higher, the lower section being the ship/mobile side of dual-freq. channels, the higher side being for shore/base. 156.375-156.875 and 160.975-161.475 are not joined, and have single-freq usage with international channels at 156 and private at 161. The international channels finish at 157.425/162.025 and the rest are private channels, which may be dual or single. Between 158.4 and 160.6 the mobile channels of a PBR band can be found. As this 163.0375-165.0375 band utilises a 4.5 MHz split, the mobile side covers 158.5365-160.5375 - the gap at the bottom is used for a few more single-freq. private marine channels, and at the top there are three local authority alarm channels. Let's track this in two columns 4.6 MHz apart... ** First, two single freq.s... --------------------------- ------- 160.600 99 Coastguards 156.000 0 Coastguards (99 was 00 but they couldn't dial that!) ** Now dual freq. pairs, ** Port Ops & Public Correspondence (phone - link calls) Shore/Base Ship/mobile 4.6 MHz lower -------------------------------------- 160.625---156.025 60 160.650---156.050 1 160.675---156.075 61 160.700---156.100 2 160.725---156.125 62 160.750---156.150 3 160.775---156.175 63 160.800---156.200 4 160.825---156.225 64 160.850---156.250 5 160.875---156.275 65 160.900 ?reserved? 156.300 6 SAR/intership1 160.925---156.325 66 160.950---156.350 7 ** Now single freq.s ---------------------------- ------- 160.975 - 161.475 156.375 67 Safety/SAR/intership9 MBR, CSR, Paging returns 156.400 8 intership2 156.425 68 ports 156.450 9 intership5/ports/Pilots 156.475 69 intership8/ports/Customs 156.500 10 intership3/ports/SAR/pollution 156.525 70 DSC Digital SelCall ONLY, GMDSS 156.550 11 ports/SAR 156.575 71 ports 156.600 12 ports 156.625 72 intership6 156.650 13 intership4/ports 161.275 Marine 10mW Alarms 156.675 73 intership7/ports/SAR 161.300 On-board handhelds 156.700 14 Ports 156.725 74 Ports 161.350 On-board handhelds 156.750 15 intership11/ports/on-board --16 only-- 156.775 75 not yet used (guardband) 161.400 Radio Nav. 156.800 16 Calling, Distress 161.425 M2 (marinas) 156.825 76 not yet used (guardband) ----------- 156.850 17 intership12/ports 161.475 CSR 156.875 77 intership10 ** Now dual freq. pairs again ** Port ops up to 161.725 and Pub.Corresp. from 161.750 (both: 78,81,84) (Marinas: 80) -------------------------------------- 161.500---156.900 18 161.525---156.925 78 to (19-27, 79-89) 162.000---157.400 28 162.025---157.425 88 No more "Radio Lighthouses" ** Private channels, single or dual Marine Business Radio ** and some land-based PMR, same split -4.6 ---------------------------- ------- 162.050 MBR single... 157.450 29 MBR single OR 162.050---157.450 29 MBR dual to 162.450 Diff. GPS 157.850 35/M marinas to 162.825 104A Telex 158.225 104B Fax. to 163.000 MBR single 158.400 48 MBR single OR 163.000---158.400 48 MBR dual ** Now private single freq.s ---------------------------- ------- 163.025 Diff. GPS 158.425 108 MBR 158.450 49 MBR 0.1 MHz gap where 158.475 109 MBR "4.6 split" and 158.500 50 MBR "4.5 split" systems meet ** We'll change now to a 4.5 MHz difference for the land mobile band, and 12.5 kHz spacings --------------------------------------- 163.0375---158.5375 PBR/CBS (split -4.5) to... The first 70 per cent used to be used for the old BT RadioTelephones : 163.0375... BT System 4, to 164.425 (split -4.5: 158.5375-159.925) channels U001-U111 and before that : 163.050 ... BT System 3, to 164.400 (split -4.5, 25kHz channels 55-1 in reverse!) ch17 was control (until the 1980's saw the arrival of TACS at 935-950 MHz) 164.4375... the top section, to 165.0375, was mainly Private Message Handling - operators speaking to mobile doctors etc, and is now seeing more Common Base Stations (PBR via a dealer who supplies equipment and airtime) including some multi-channel trunked CBS. (PAMR Public Access Mobile Radio is mainly confined to Band III, and as with other trunked systems the control channels are continuous). 163.900... now PMR dual and single, to 164.2 (159.4-159.7) with many S.T.Hire channels. 164.225... now used by the Paknet system, to 164.3875 (base continuous) The lowest portions are filling up with CBS and PBR. Despite this section only being allocated to LAND MOBILE, (12.5 kHz PMR) in some books and magazines you may find extra marine channels given (channel number greater than 50), either single or -4.6 dual, in the first 150kHz or so. Seems a bit odd, that. Marine channels are 25kHz bandwidth too, so that ruins half of the 12.5kHz channel above and below. How wasteful. And was 160.9 just forgotten about? How sad that it would make my day to find out. Another mystery is the continued appearance in lists of the top channels 165 to 165.0375 being paired with 4.8 higher, rather than 4.5 lower. An RA document clearly shows 165.050 as channel 1 in the high band. And 169.8375 is a simplex channel, etc. Makes you wonder... to 165.0375---160.5375 --------------------------------------- 165.050 start of high band 160.550 - 160.575 Alarms (3x 12.5kHz) ** the end of this 2nd column now joins the start of the 1st. now we've covered 4.6MHz ** ** We'll change now to a new 4.8 MHz difference UPWARDS --------------------------------------- 165.0375 end of mid band 169.8375 end of single freq simplex section 165.0500---169.8500 ch 001 PBR High Band to... Private Mobile Radio channels are allocated in all bands to different categories such as : National exclusive (53 dual, 12 single here in high band), CBS (8 dual here), On-site shared (5 dual, 31 single here - 3km range), Wide Area Shared (189 dual - 30kms, taxis etc), Short Term Hire (4 - 169.0125, 169.1375, 169.1625, 169.1875), STH/demo/"parking"/Test&Dev (1 - 167.2000---172.000), Road Construction (1 - 165.075---169.875), UK General (5 single - mobile only, anywhere in UK, 5W ERP max, for not more than 12 months in one place). Which explains why that "spare channel" can't be used for anything else in your area! to... 168.2375---173.0375 ch 256 PBR ** single freq.s ---------------------------- -------- 168.2500 PBR 173.050 PBR to to 168.2875 Alarms 173.0875 PBR 168.3000 PBR 173.100... H.O. + low power / short range devices (LPD/SRD) -168.3125--boundary---------- 168.325 Home Office to 168.825 -168.8375-------------------- 168.8500 PBR to 168.9375 Alarms to 169.0500 JRC to 169.3875 PBR -169.39375------------------- 169.4250 ERMES Paging (25kHz, continuous) - PBR being cleared? to 169.8000 -169.81875------------------- 169.825 PBR 169.8375 PBR which is where we started the second column this time 156.0... Marine, to 158.525 single OR dual: see 160.625 158.5375.PBR, to 160.5375 single OR dual: see 163.0375 ... alarms 160.6... Marine, to 163.025 single OR dual (split -4.6: 156.025-158.4) 163.0375.PBR, to 165.0375 (split -4.5: 158.5375-160.5375) Mid Band 165.05...PBR, to 168.2375 (split +4.8: 169.850 -173.0375) High Band (French splits -4.6) 168.25...PBR, to 168.3 single 168.3125... H.O. 168.85...PBR, to 169.8375 single - with ERMES paging 169.425 to 169.8 (25kHz channels) 169.85...PBR, to 173.0375 single OR dual: see 165.05 173.05...PBR, to 173.0875 single 12.5kHz channels. Talkthrough... 173.1... SRD, to 177.2 Mics, SAB, Theatres, Telemetry, Alarms, Telecommand, Deaf-aids Band 173.800- 177.00MHz 2mW Deregulated. There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise 157.45-174: (boundaries - last pair likely: 173.9875-169.3875) 162.05 ... Base, to 165.2 (split -4.6: 157.45 -160.6) (... this one could well be the full range though) 169.825 ... Base, to 174 (split -4.6: 165.225-169.4) and some single around 165.2125 -174--------------------------- Band III - TV Broadcasting (Not UK since 1984 ), DAB Digital Audio UK: Mobile - PAMR/PBR/SAB/SAP/PMSE (mics) + AMR French TV: 8MHz ch. F5-F10 vision at 176, 184, 192, 200, 208, 216 sound at +6.5 Euro TV (7MHz) E5 174-181, E6 181-188, ... E11 216-223, E12 223-230 Old UK (5MHz) B6 176-181, B7 181-186, ... B13 211-216 174.0 ... mics 177.2125.PAMR/PBR, to 183.4875 (split +8: 185.2-191.5) except 181.7-181.8 183.5 ... AMR Auto. Meter Reading - plan: 183.5125.. 25kHz channels (8), to 183.6875 184.0 wideband channel 184.5 ... SAB 185.2 ... PBR, see -8 191.5 ... SAB 193.2 ... PBR, see +8 199.5 ... SAB, SRD 200.5 ... mics 201.2125.PAMR/PBR, to 207.4875 (split -8: 193.2-199.5) 207.5 ... SAB, mics 209.206 - 215.269 PAMR/PBR Frequency plan developed using 6.25 and 12.5kHz channels. No use as yet. 209.26... PBR, see +3.3 210.26... SRD 210.97... PBR,SAB, see +3.3 212.2 ... SRD 212.5625.PAMR/PBR, to 213.55 (split -3.3: 209.26-210.25) 213.56... ?SRD? 214.275..PAMR/PBR, to 215.2625 (split -3.3: 210.97-211.96) Narrowband modes 215.275..SAB, to 215.4875 (split -3.3: 211.97-212.18) 215.5 ... SRD 217.5... DAB , to 230 (1.536 MHz bandwidth) Vertical Pol. (more , more ) Eureka 147 - COFDM - Umpteen hundred narrowband carriers all sharing the bits... 218.640 (E11-B) LOCAL n/a 220.352 (E11-C) LOCAL/INR Isle of Man + Channel Islands 222.064 (E11-D) LOCAL/INR England + Wales 223.936 (E12-A) LOCAL/INR Scotland 225.648 (E12-B) BBC UK + Gibraltar (224.88-226.416) 227.360 (E12-C) LOCAL n/a 229.072 (E12-D) LOCAL/INR Northern Ireland A whopping 6 programmes carried on each transmission. That's 12 in any one location then. And that's supposed to be more efficient than the current FM system? But I can get two or three times that many stations already, check the FM band in London or Paris for example. Progress. Ah, they'll say, but we can also use BandII when the analogue signals are phased out, and there's L-band too (1.5 GHz). 224.0125.SAB, PMSE, to 224.4875 -230--------------------------- NATO military band (Equipment ). ARFA/DRFB/FMSC/NJFA/CEAC Air-Ground-Air, Air-Air AM comms (25kHz channels) Radio Relay, Satellite , PTARMIGAN multi-channel trunk links 243.0 Distress, EPIRB s 121.5 x 2 = 243 259.7 Space shuttle 326.5... Astronomy, to 328.5 - deuterium spectral line 328.6... Aero. Nav., to 335.4 - ILS, glideslopes 390.0125.PSRCP H.O. TETRA , to 392.9875 (digital 12.5 -25 kHz channels) (split -10: 380-383) Base continuous. may eventually extend to 395 & 385. -399.9----UHF------------------ Mobile (French splits +/-10) 400.15.. Met. so ndes , Satellite, EPIRBS, to 406.1 406.1 ... MoD (replacements for old VHF local net allocations being cleared) 418 ... UK SRDs (Short Range Devices.) UHF1: 420 to 450 - military (shares with PBR), SRD, SAB RadioLocation is primary at 420-430 and 440-450 There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise 410-430: (boundaries) 420 ... Base, to 430 (split -10: 410-420) 410-430... NEW TETRA Digital Cellular System - Dolphin Telecom , & PBR: civil to 425 (split -10: 410-415) 425... PBR, see 440 429... MoD 430... Amateur 70cm band , to 440 Secondary 430.025. RU1 French/Neth. repeaters, to 430.375 (RU15) (split +1.6: 431.625-431.975) 432.0... Narrow band CW/SSB 433.0... RB0 UK repeaters, to 433.375 (RB15) (split +1.6: 434.6-434.975) 433.05... ISM, to 434.79 (centre 433.92) remote control 433.475 SU19 433.5 SU20 FM calling channel 433.525 SU21 433.92 center of problematic SRD band 434.6... Euro. repeaters, to 434.975 (split -1.6: reverse of UK) 438.2... Euro. repeaters, to 439.475 (split -7.6: 430.6-431.875) Germany/Swiss/Austria UHF1 PBR limited mainly to large cities - London, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinb., Manchester Coventry, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Newport. 12.5kHz channels. 440.0125.PBR, to 442.2625 (split -14.5: 425.5125-427.7625) 442.275 ... SAB 442.525..PBR, to 443.4875 (split -14.5: 428.025 -428.9875) 13 JRC ch. 443.5 ... MoD 445.5125.PBR, to 445.9875 (split -20.5: 425.0125-425.4875) 446.0... PBR, to 446.4 on-site 446.006..PMR 446 (Euro SRBR), to 446.093 (8x 12.5kHz - within 446-446.1, 6.25kHz offsets) licence exempt 446.425 ... SAB 447.525..PBR, to 449.4875 448... PBR, to 449 (split -17: shared with amateur 431-432) London. 6.25kHz offsets 449.106 Traffic info 449.5... Prefered band for use by visiting foreigners for temporary PMR use, typically SAB, to 450 (12.5kHz channels) 449.5 ... MoD 449.75... Space ops/research, to 450.25 Earth-to-Space UHF2: 450 to 470 - emergency services, PBR, Paging, Telemetry, SRD, SAB PBR mobile segments may contain single frequency simplex use. 12.5kHz channels. There is a Euro plan (25-08) to re-organise 450-470: (boundaries) 460 ... Base, to 470 (split -10: 450-460) 450... Home Office - Emergency Services, to 453 (with 464-467.25) 453.0125 PBR 453.025..PBR, to 453.9875 (split +6.5: 459.525-460.4875) 454.025 ... Paging 454.85...PBR, to 454.975 (some Railways split -6.5) 454.993 ... SAB, to 455.456 (with 468.018-468.506) 455.475..PBR, to 455.85 (split +5.3: 460.775-461.25) airports only ... H.O. 456.0... PBR, to 456.9875 (split +5.5: 461.500-462.4875) 456.0625... 21 JRC ch. , to 456.3125 457.0 ... H.O. (+5.5?) 457.256 ... SAB JFMG short term / OB, to 457.468 (with 467.293-467.531) 6.25 kHz offsets 457.475 ... H.O. 457.5... Scanning Telemetry, to 458.5 (split +5.5: 463-464) 457.525..Marine on-board comms , to 457.575 (may be split +10) 458.5... Telemetry, SRD, to 459.1 458.85.. On-site paging / local comms, to 459.475 ... H.O. 459.525 ... PBR, see 453.025 460.500 ... SAB, H.O. 460.775 ... PBR, see 455.475, 461.2375... SAB, & 461.25 (split +7.2875: 468.525 & 468.5375) 461.2625.PBR and SRBR , to 461.4875 (SRBR until 2003-12-31) 461.500 ... PBR, see 456 462.500 ... H.O. 462.756 ... SAB JFMG fixed sites (split +6.7375/+6.875: 469.493-469.868) 6.25kHz offsets 463.000 ... ST, see 457.5 464.000 ... H.O.,see 450 467.275 ... SAB, see 457.25 467.525..Marine on-board, to 467.575 single, or dual: see -10 (future use of the 2 12.5kHz channels) 467.600 ... SAB 468.018 ... SAB , to 468.5375, see 455 and 461.237 469.493 ... SAB fixed sites, see 462.756 469.875 ... H.O. -470--------------------------- Band IV - TV Broadcasting in 8MHz channels (21 to 35) + land mobile (secondary - SAB) UK System I (PAL) : Offsets of +/- 25 kHz may be used to alleviate co-channel interference AM Vision carrier at +1.25 (Lower Sideband vestigial) FMW Sound carrier at +7.25 (sound 6 higher than video) Nicam digital sound at +7.802 French System L (Secam) : Offsets of +/- 37.5 kHz may be used. AM Vision carrier at +1.25 (inverted video) AM Sound carrier at +7.75 (sound 6.5 higher than video) Nicam digital sound at +7.55 Euro TV Channels Numbers shown in YELLOW 470-478 21 477.25 sound carrier 478-486 22 485.25 486-494 23 493.25 494-502 24 501.25 502-510 25 509.25 510-518 26 517.25 518-526 27 525.25 526-534 28 533.25 534-542 29 541.25 542-550 30 549.25 550-558 31 557.25 558-566 32 565.25 566-574 33 573.25 574-582 34 581.25 582-590 35 589.25 -590--------------------------- UK Aero. Navigation 594 Radar 50cm 590-598 (36) VCRs / Computers etc - Digital TV Converters use UK TV Ch 68. -598--------------------------- Band V - TV Broadcasting in 8MHz channels (37 to 68) + land mobile (secondary - SAB/SAP) 598-606 37 605.25 sound carrier 606-614 38 613.25 610 Radio Astronomy 614-622 39 621.25 622-630 40 629.25 630-638 41 637.25 638-646 42 645.25 646-654 43 653.25 654-662 44 661.25 662-670 45 669.25 670-678 46 677.25 678-686 47 685.25 686-694 48 693.25 694-702 49 701.25 702-710 50 709.25 710-718 51 717.25 718-726 52 725.25 726-734 53 733.25 734-742 54 741.25 742-750 55 749.25 750-758 56 757.25 758-766 57 765.25 766-774 58 773.25 774-782 59 781.25 782-790 60 789.25 -790--------------------------- TV, Land Mobile (secondary) Military Radio Relay 790-798 61 797.25 sound carrier 798-806 62 805.25 806-814 63 813.25 814-822 64 821.25 822-830 65 829.25 830-838 66 837.25 838-846 67 845.25 846-854 68 853.25 854.250 - 862.000MHz UK CH 69 SAB/SAP 14x spot frequencies available for "UK General " usage. For licensing contact : JFMG CH69 is Not used for analogue or digital terrestrial TV transmissions in the UK but is shared with some narrowband government services and fixed site wideband fixed links. -854--------------------------- Mobile, military 854... SAB, radiomics, SRD, CT2 cordless phones, to 870 856... MoD, to 859.75 Tactical training 863... SRD, to 865 (Pan European) Cordless headphones, In Ear Montitor systems, etc. 864.1 .. CT2, to 868.1 to be reviewed 2002 915... Base section, to 960 (split -45: 870-915) Cellphones - GSM Global System for Mobility 917.0125.ETACS/TACS, to 949.9875 (25 kHz channels, 12.5kHz offsets) to be phased out by 2005 917 - 925 Vodafone 925 - 933 Cellnet 919.5 ... future Amateur, to 920 - recommended by DSI2 for 2008 921... UIC , to 925 (by 2005) Euro. Railways GSM system 925.2... EGSM - Extended GSM, to 935 935.2... GSM , to 959.8 (124x TDMA 200kHz channels) Digital. Scrambled. Base continuous. 933 - 939.6 Vodafone 939.8 - 947 Cellnet 947 - 955 Vodafone 955 - 960 Cellnet 933... DSRR, to 935 (Digital Short Range Radio), will NOT happen, Euro plans withdrawn 934.0125.UK CB, to 934.9625 (934/81) (20 channels, 50kHz spacing) ended 31/12/98 -960--------------------------- Aero. Navigation (DME /IFF ), military JTIDS 966 Astronomy +/-4 MHz 978.... DME Ground reply X channels, to 1087 (paired with 1xx.x0 MHz) (to +63) 1025... DME Air mobile channels, to 1150 (1-126 x 1 MHz channels; 1-16 and 60-69 not used) Selected in aircraft by tuning to a paired channel between 108 and 118 MHz Pulses transmitted by the aircraft, returned by the ground station & time difference measured. 1104... DME Ground reply Y channels, to 1213 (paired with 1xx.x5 MHz) (to -63) 1030 SSR/IFF (Squalk) Ground (secondary radar - rotating), air reply on 1090 -1,215----microwaves----------- Mobile, military, radar 1246... Russian GPS GLONASS (GLObal NAv. Sat. Sys.) L2, 0-12: 1246+n(0.4375) see 1602 1240... Amateur 23cm band, to 1325 CW,SSB/FM/TV 1296... narrowband modes, beacons, to 1297 1297... FM repeaters RM0 to RM19 (split -6: 1291..) 1297.0 RM0 1297.05 RM2 1297.075 RM3 1297.125 RM5 1297.15 RM6 1297.225 RM9 1297.375 RM15 1297.475 RM19 (not in use) 1297.5.. FM simplex, to 1298 1297.50 FM calling 1298.275.German repeaters, to 1298.65 (split -28: 1270..) -1,325----(1.325 GHz)----------- Mobile, Satellite, Fixed, Navigation etc...

Rather specialist, wavelengths of less than 30cm really do allow for high gain antennas, with very narrow beamwidths. Cable losses become very noticeable and/or untenable. Mobile "flutter" quite severe, mobile systems need many more base stations to cover a given area. Most useful uses are direct fixed links, point to point, satellite (line of sight), low range etc. So - mostly un-interceptable and/or digital. 1,400... Transmission Prohibited, to 1427 Astronomy, Space Research, SETI, Hydrogen Line. Certain frequencies around here propagate very well through the universe, so the boffins listen here for extra- terrestial transmissions. But surely the little grey men are doing the same thing?

1,452... L-Band DAB, to 1492 1,525... Satellite comms downlinks, to 1559 Inmarsat GMDSS etc (uplinks 1626.5-1660.5) (+101.5?) 1,575.42 Navstar GPS Nav L1 C/A (military accuracy with 1227.6 L2) (L3 1381.05 used) 1,602... Russian GLONASS L1, 0-12: 1602+n(0.5625) spread spectrum 1,610... LEO MSS , to 1626.5 (up&down) CDMA i.e. Globalstar, Iridium (TDMA, 780km up) 1,800.30.TFTS in-flight digital phones (air-ground), to 1804.969 (164 x 30.303 kHz channels : ground at -130) 1,690... Weather Satellite HRPT (Hi-res pics), to 1710 NOAA, GOES, MeteoSat 1,805... PCN mobile phones, to 1876.5 (split -95: 1710..) 1805 - 1816.5 soon to be shared by Cellnet & Vodaphone 1816.5 - 1846.5 One 2 One 1846.5 - 1876.5 Orange 1,880... DECT Digital Euro. Cordless Telephones, to 1900 1,900... future UMTS , to 2025 (with 2110-2200) IMT-2000, FPLMTS 3rd generation mobile (-190?) 2,310... Ham 13cm band, to 2,450 2,402... Bluetooth digital SRD, to 2.480 (79 x 1MHz channels) 1600 hops per sec over 32 channels 2,450 ISM Industrial/Scientific/Medical, your microwave oven. Really. 3,000 Radar 10cm 3,400... Ham 9cm band, to 3,475 3,675... C-Band satellite TV, to 4,200 5,650... Ham 6cm band, to 5,850 9,400 Radar 3cm 10,000... Ham 3cm band, to 10,150 - and 10,300 to 10,500 -10,700---(10.7 GHz)----------- Satellite TV, Ku band - Astra,Eutelsat,Intelsat etc. (35,800km up) 10,700...FSS 11,700...BSS DBS (Band VI) 12,500...Telecom -12,750------------------------

These are really small radio wavelengths... 24,000...Ham 12mm band, to 24,250 40,500...future ITC 7mm MVDS Multipoint Video Distribution, to 42.5 GHz 47,000...Ham 6mm band, to 47,200 75,500...Ham 4mm band, to 76,000 142,000..Ham 2mm band, to 144,000 248,000 Ham 1.2mm band, to 250,000 - 248 GHz, hmmmm. Radio or Far Infra-Red?

There's a bit of overlap near 1mm wavelengths... -275,000------(275 GHz)-------- Far Infra-Red, to 25,000 GHz (over 1mm to 12µm) -25,000,000---(25 THz)--------- Infra-red -441 THz----------------------- Visible wavelengths. Otherwise known as "Light". Red to Violet (680-420nm) Some of my favourite frequencies. Green is rather nice. -714 THz----------------------- Near Ultraviolet. 300nm-180nm -1,666 THz--------------------- Far Ultraviolet 180nm-91nm -3,289 THz--------------------- Extreme Ultraviolet 91nm-10nm 912-100 Angstroms -30,000,000,000---(30 PHz)----- X-rays 10nm-10pm 100-0.1 Angstroms -30,000,000,000,000--(30 EHz)-- Gamma rays 10pm-100fm and beyond That's enough. Obsessive? Frequency multiplied by wavelength gives 300,000,000 m/s - the speed of light... or 299,792,458 to be more exact. 300 mHz > 3000 mHz 1Gm > 100Mm easier to count s/cycle than c/s ! 3 Hz > 30 Hz 100Mm > 10Mm VERY long waves! Natural 'Earth' waves 30 Hz > 300 Hz ELF 10Mm > 1Mm Bass! 300 Hz > 3000 Hz ILF 1000km > 100km Voice frequencies (sound) 3 kHz > 30 kHz VLF 100km > 10km 30 kHz > 300 kHz LF 10km > 1km 300 kHz > 3000 kHz MF 1km > 100m 3 MHz > 30 MHz HF 100m > 10m 30 MHz > 300 MHz VHF 10m > 1m 300 MHz > 3000 MHz UHF 1m > 10cm 3 GHz > 30 GHz SHF 10cm > 1cm 30 GHz > 300 GHz EHF 1cm > 1mm mainly experimental 300 GHz > 30 THz THF 1mm > 10um limits of radio / far infra-red 30 THz > 300 THz 10um > 1um infra-red light 300 THz > 3000 THz 1um > 100nm infra red > visible > ultra violet (near & far) 3 PHz > 30 PHz 100nm > 10nm extreme ultra violet 30 PHz > 30 EHz 10nm > 10pm x-rays 30 EHz > 10pm >

Gamma rays 1 micron = 1 micrometer = 1um = 1000nm = one thousandth of a mm 10 Angstrom = 1 nanometer i.e. 5000A=500nm 1A=0.1nm=100pm X unit (Xu) = approx. 0.001002 angstrom, or 100.2 femtometers, defined by M. Siegbahn in 1925. Formerly used for measuring the wavelength of X rays and gamma rays now measured in picometers (pm) or femtometers (fm). 1 Fermi = 1fm = about the size of an atom's nucleus

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