Under Section 5(b) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 it is an offence to use radio equipment with intent to obtain information as to the contents, sender or addressee of any messages, whether or not the information is passed on, which the user has not been authorised to receive.
Eavesdropping is tempting because wide-area mobile comms are obviously designed to cover a large area and so it really is quite easy to receive at least base stations and repeaters. If you say they deserve to be heard if they don't encrypt their voice traffic in any way - I would say you need to consider the harsh economic reality of replacing huge numbers of radios, but it will happen. You may think that the USA has things right, as they may listen to their public services (but not cellphones) but you can't argue with our law unless you can get it changed, and unprocessed bacon might fly. There may well be a large number of cases of the US public assisting their law officers after having heard about incidents on their scanners, but I don't think that justifies the personal details of victims of crime being known. If anything, maybe there should be a clear channel in each area that the public MAY listen to, where the police actually ask the public for their assistance. Could be tricky from a legal liability angle though! Please don't tell me you think you have a right to listen to the movements of covert investigations...
This revision of this page is probably the last you'll be getting for a while.
Unless the RA changes any allocations this is just about the lot. I'll keep
things as accurate as I can, but I'm not adding any new links or checking
the existing ones.
I've researched all the topics that interest me and
I've done my best to share what I've found. If you want to know more, firstly
read the entire RA site, then learn to use the major search engines effectively,
and join some of the many expert mailing lists.
Many thanks to those who have had the patience to keep replacing the page each
time I updated it. Thanks everyone, I hope it's been worthwhile - "The Author"
I think it has been VERY worthwhile, I've learnt a lot from this. I'd like
to thank The Author for all their hard work. It has been a pleasure hosting the
page. Thank you!! - RF-man
So if you've ever wondered what's beyond the dial on your ordinary radio, this is the page for you. Just be aware that you shouldn't tune in to anything private - if someone is talking loudly in the street and you can easily overhear, you still don't morally have the right to listen do you? If the vast amount of broadcasts and ham radio conversations aren't enough to amuse you (and the rest of what life in general has to offer) then that's quite sad. If I ever have time to switch on my receiver (to see what the propagation's like) the only bands I need to go to are amateur ones. And good music is much more satisfying. If you can find it.
In a decade or so there may not be all that much else to listen to anyway on current scanners, with FM broadcasters moving to DAB, analogue TV making way to digital, PMR and emergency services changing to TETRA, and both Marine and Aero traffic increasingly using digital modes and satellites for routine traffic, cellphones all digital. Maybe the spectrum will one day consist of just one system for mobile access to THE NET which provides for all possible communication needs - a load of buzzing noises wherever you tune, except for the long-established amateur bands. Then you scanner owners can relax, you won't be able to do anything illegal with them if you try - unless you decide to throw them through someone's window!
So before long a scanner will be virtually useless except for listening to the hams. Those who are only into the naughty stuff will find another hobby and those who are geniunely interested in radio will have no choice but to go down the amateur route.
I would say that if you have an interest in these matters, devote your energies now to Amateur Radio PLEASE! We need more activity in the bands. Amateur radio covers bands from Low Frequencies (with 2km wavelengths) to ultra-high micro-wave bands (wavelengths in millimetres) with modes ranging from good old-fashioned morse code (CW) to AM/FM speech (communications bandwidths) to advanced narrowband speech (Single Side Band) to Television (slow scan like FAX through to full motion/definition FMW broadcast quality) to digital/data modes like RTTY and Packet. Transmissions can be direct, fixed and mobile (and Maritime Mobile), via satellite, bent through the troposphere, bounced off various layers of charged particles in the upper atmosphere, or even bounced off the moon (EME), or shooting stars (MS)! And all for just 15 quid per year - bargain. Go on, prove you know what you're talking about, get a callsign soon. Even if you don't ever use it... See the RA web-page info, or the Radio Society for Good Buddies site for more details, or the UK Ham Radio FAQ. And the G7KPF Quick Links. Join and support the RSGB too, it's a good idea as they do tend to negotiate new bands for us.
Here then, is my quick tour of the spectrum of 2003, with links to other sites where appropriate.
All information sourced from freely published books, magazines and web-sites (RA,ERO),
without the need for a scanner, as part of an ongoing quest to figure out what lies beyond
the broadcasting bands...
Amateur & CB - HF, 50, 70, 144, 430 MHz etc. Can be good, can be dull - you decide. You may listen. (The rules)
Aeronautical - "airband" - HF, 108-137 MHz. You may not listen, but it seems to be tolerated.
Maritime - HF, 156-163 MHz. Probably tolerated, but no listening unless licensed, and on-board.
...thou shalt NOT listen...
Low Power / Short Range Devices - Cordless telephones / headphones / microphones, remote control etc.
SAB/SAP - when TV/radio/film/programme makers use radio (managed by JFMG):
a) Radiomicrophones - carrying "programme audio" obviously,
b) Talkback - on-site comms (simplex or continous duplex) or wide-area comms back to base,
c) Links - mobile "programme audio" back to base, or Fixed links between sites.
Like the military and many low-power devices, they seem to crop up all over the spectrum! However, some of the
assignments in shared bands (mainly BBC) are to cease in 2000, leaving mostly primary bands.
As Bands I, III, IV and V are designated BROADCASTING it seems logical that broadcasters may also use these bands for
mics and comms either at UHF on locally unused "in-band" channels, or (also for links) in the VHF bands that are no longer used for broadcasting.
Around 174MHz is very popular for mics, as well as other parts of Band III
that coincide with French TV carriers and so are not used for PBR.
Note that JFMG also deal with Special Event short-term assignments for local comms, e.g. Ascot.
PMR - channels are allocated in all bands to different categories such as :
. National exclusive,
. Wide Area Shared "G3" - taxis "T1", despatch "H4" etc. - 30kms range,
. ...& Medical (ambulance service - high band)
. CBS (follow the link for Common Base channels),
. On-site shared - dual "C2" or single "O5" - 3km range max., why not use PMR446?!
. Short Term Hire (up to 1 year), demo (28 days), "parking" (3 months), Test&Dev,
. specific uses i.e. Road Construction
. UK General "U3" - mobile only, anywhere in UK, 5W ERP max, for not more than 12 months in one place -
i.e. temporary use in various locations. Shared channels : 5 in low-band, 2 in mid-band, 5 in high-band, 3 at UHF.
(in 2002 the UHF channels changed and various conditions too. No time limit now, so it's a good LICENSED replacement for
SRBR and 446, 20 quid a year)
Which explains why that "spare channel" can't be used for anything else in your area!
Given that the number of users of PMR channels runs into tens of thousands
( 2003 report,
2000 report, and
1997 report)
, it would be quite
futile to attempt to list them all - it amazes me that publications even try.
Even worse, once a frequency/user tie-up makes it into print, no-one ever seems to doubt its
validity and it's often printed way after it ceased to be used!
Fair enough to list national allocations, the general type of use for a channel - but to try
and find EVERY assigment, EVERY taxi firm.... ho hum.
Military - various web pages will show that there is a world market for equipment operating in the
bands such as HF, 30-87.5 (25kHz FM), 116-155 & 225-400 (25kHz AM), 470-512 etc. Note that whilst the odd Combat Net
here and there may be "in the clear" any serious tactical use would be very hard to find. Frequency hopping and
scrambling are used - after all, would you want your country defended by forces that could be easily monitored?
Operational use (like PMR) for base security, training, Mil. Police, MOULD etc. involves fixed frequencies, and
various books show that Low VHF, Low Band, Mid Band, 406.1-420 and UHF1 are heavily used for these purposes. There is
currently a general move from VHF to UHF, and the use of a TETRA system is being considered.
This type of radio traffic is still not to be listened to!
...thou shalt definitely NOT listen...
Public Telecomms - paging, mobile telephone/data - the reason why scanner manufacturers HAD to include coverage of the 900MHz band (! there's nowt else up there to listen to). Eavesdropping on analogue mobile calls is quite rightly frowned upon.
Home Office for the Emergency Services - previous versions of this document did not mention these allocations, but as the bands are shown on RA pages, and in various books, some are now included for the sake of clarity. Only the BANDS are shown, not actual frequencies in use. Do NOT listen in!
NOTE 2: Dots after a frequency signifies the start of a range, whereas a single spot frequency has no trailing dots - although this doesn't apply in the two-column section. Frequencies given relate to the center of the transmission (COFDM, FM, AM) (i.e. the unmodulated carrier with carrier-based systems such as FM/AM), or the absent carrier for SSB.
NOTE 3: Scanner folk often use the terms Simplex and Duplex wrongly to describe Single and Dual frequency systems.
The term Simplex means taking turns to transmit, whether on one or more frequencies. The proper terms to use are S.F.S.
(Single Frequency Simplex) and D.F.S (Dual..). Duplex only applies on telephone style systems where one party can
interupt the other. Even TT (Talk-Through; repeaters) is still simplex. I use the abbrev.s Single and Dual. Any time I
specify "Split" generally implies D.F.S., and details are given as base freq.s, with the change in frequency in +/- MHz
needed to hear the mobile.
Even "Duplex" doesn't neccessarily mean two frequencies, new digital systems can rapidly take turns on the same freq. by
time-compressing the audio data-stream!
ASSUMING you have permission to listen...
S.F.S. and TT (repeaters) are obviously very easy to monitor with just one memory (or in manual mode) and "scan delay"
isn't a problem - the longer the delay the better, as many radio users seem to need a few seconds to think of a
reply (TT "over" pips are generally a waste of time, most dimwits wait for the squelch crunch). This means conventional
scanners are fine for monitoring amateur, CB, airband, ship-shore-ship, some PMR etc.
Private D.F.S is more tricky, depending on whether the base transmits pips to let other mobiles know the channel is busy.
True D.F.S. with no "busy signal" just requires two scan memories and no scan-delay, which not all scanners allow. With
"busy-pips" you'll need to be just a little smarter to catch all the action, should you have permission. Dare
I suggest investing in a cheap-n-cheerful second receiver to take care of just the strong base freq.s while using
the better set/antenna for the mobile side...
These difficulties could be quite easily overcome if the manufacturers thought just a teensy bit harder about the operation
of their receivers. By the time they DO get such advances implemented, everything will be digital anyway!
NOTES: FM deviation and bandwidth :
Bandwidth = 2(PeakDeviation+HighestModulationFreq) ... this is Carson's Rule - a rule of thumb, but very close.
For 3kHz maximum speech frequency comms :
BW= 2(5+3) = 16kHz (for 5kHz dev)
BW= 2(2.5+3) = 11kHz (for 2.5kHz dev)
"The -60 or -70dBc bandwidth is approximately twice the Carson bandwidth."
The modulation index is defined as the peak deviation divided by the highest modulating frequncy. "This would be 5/3 for NBFM and 2.5/3 for the really narrow stuff. Modulation indexes under 1 don't really work that well, 5/3 is almost 2, and broadcast FM uses 75/15 or 5. It depends on the type of Signal-to-Noise Ratio you need." Note also that true FM uses pre-emphasis per octave from 300 to 3000Hz - which matches the effect of Phase Modulation.
deviation v. bandwidth (not accounting for frequency accuracy)
kHz kHz max band mod
spacing dev mod width index
6.25 1 2 6 0.5 narrowband experimental
10 2 3 10 0.66 CB/10m/6m
12.5 2.5 3 11 0.833 PMR/2m
15 3 3 12 1 (USA)
20 4 3 14 1.33 (some amateur)
25 5 3 16 1.66 70cm/marine
WEFAX 9 4 26 2.25 137MHz etc
WFM 75 15 180 5 Band II
"Analog FM doesn't perform as well in narrowband channels as it does in 25kHz
channels. If narrowband analog is deployed, there is a 6dB degradation in
performance from reduced deviation coupled with a 3dB improvement in receiver
noise performance due to the narrower IF filter, resulting in a 3dB overall
degradation. High-signal performance is reduced and a high SINAD cannot be
achieved because some FM sideband information is lost passing through the
narrow IF filter. Also, narrowband analog becomes more susceptible to noise
pops, giving up the advantage that normal analog FM enjoys." - in other words
a wider bandwidth system enjoys a higher S/N ratio due to increased deviation,
overcoming the additional noise getting through the wider receive filter.
Abbrev.s are no longer explained as we go, there's a new glossary at the end.
0 Hz No cycles per second - let's call it DC!
The planet Earth itself hums accoustically (apparently) with around 50 persistent notes
between 2 and 7 milliHertz. We are talking of cycle lengths of several minutes here.
--0.000001--(1Hz, 1 per sec.)---
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, speakers)
ELF,ILF,VLF Atmo-"sferics", "chorus", "tweeks" (1.5-5kHz), "whistlers" - natural phenomena
mainly from lightening pulses trapped in "waveguides" between ion. layers
0.000050 UK mains AC electricity (50Hz, 240V) - 6000 km wavelength
0.000067... CTCSS (Tone squelch) tones, background
(non standard 33 35.4 36.6 37.9 39.6 44.4 47.5 49.2 51.2 53 54.9 56.8 58.8 63)
67 69.3/69.4 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
123 127.3 131.8 136.5 141.3 146.2 151.4 156.7 159.8 162.2 165.5 167.9 171.3 173.8 177.3
179.9 183.5 186.2 189.9 192.8 196.6 199.5 203.5 206.5 210.7 218.1 225.7 229.1 233.6 241.8
250.3 254.1 Hz (150 Hz is a military standard) (DCS uses 134.4 baud rate)
--sound--------- known as: Headphones
0 - 32 Hz Extreme bass
20 - 40 Hz Low bass, bottom octave
40 - 80 Hz Mid bass
80 - 160 Hz Upper bass
160 - 320 Hz Lower midrange
0.32 - 2.56 kHz Midrange
2.56 - 5.12 kKz Upper midrange
5.12 - 10.24 kHz Highs
10.24 - 20 kHz Extreme highs, top octave
---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 (location : Bats 30k-80k, Whales 50k-200k)
--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.
See LW enthusiasts site http://www.lwca.org
0.009 UK Thunderstorm detection system, airborne and ground based
0.0102 ex Omega hyperbolic fix Nav. (& 11.05 & 11.33 & 13.6 kHz) ** ceased sep.97 **
0.016 ex GBR, Rugby. A BT service, closed 31.mar.2003
0.060 MSF British Time signal
0.070...ex Decca Nav. purple slaves, to 72kHz (5f) Llancarfan
0.073 ex UK Ham 4km band ( 71.6= - 74.4= kHz) ** UK only, 1996 until 30.jun.2003 **
0.084=..ex Decca Nav. masters, to 86= kHz (6f) Bolberry Down (f=14.046666.)
0.100 NELS Loran-C Navigation. 4MW pulsed. Loophead,Lessay,Sylt,Soustons (90 - 110)
0.112...ex Decca Nav. red slaves, to 117.6kHz (8f) Jersey
0.126...ex Decca Nav. green slaves, to 129kHz (9f) St.Marys
0.13347 Mobile data service (& 146.705 kHz)
0.13675 Ham 2km band (135.7= - 137.8= kHz) ** new Euro band, 1998 **
Decca involved a non-radiated fundamental freq around 14kHz, and a "chain" used
freq.s that were 5,6,8 and 9 times that of the fundamental. Ended 31.mar.2000
--0.1485=-----------------------
0.153.. LW AM Broadcasting, to 0.279 - 9kHz channels (ITU Region1) + some Nav. (NDB)
See the British DX Club's Lists. Message Board
153 Germany, Romania, Algeria
162 France (FSK data), Turkey 165 to 190kHz is 1800m band in NZ (5W ERP max)
171 Russia, Morocco, possible future Dutch "Delta 171"
177 Germany
183 Germany
189 Italy
198 UK BBC Radio 4 (FSK data) Droitwich, Burghead & Westerglen
used to be 200kHz(1500m) until Feb 1st 1988... ex BBC R2 ex Light Programme ex National Prog.
207 Germany, Morocco
216 France, Norway - English language 1200kW Christian format
225 Poland, spare UK INR allocation
234 Luxembourg, Russia
243 Denmark
252 EIRE TeamTalk 252 (25/2/02) ex Atlantic 252), Algeria
261 Moscow
270 Czech
279 Belarus, and soon: MusicMann 279 (Isle of Man)
A conference in Prague in 1929 provided for the 9-khz channels (then called kilocycles) in the
Europeen Broadcasting Area for LW and MW ... "a few hadn't moved even by 1964 (MW)"
"LW .. built around 200 Khz being a frequency check by Droitwich, so went 200,209, 218,
..etc and 191, 182...etc the other way. A lot later when PLL and synthesised tuning came in,
the channels were changed to be multiples of 9, so the LW all moved down 2 Khz.
Before that, the MW had moved (November 1978) UP freq by just 1 khz for the same reason,
thus 908 (then the BBC Radio 4) became 909 (now 5 live)"
LW : " lower freqs (up to 177 kHz?) moved in late 1987, the middle section (180-225) in
February 1988 and the top end in Feb 1990. Atlantic 252 launched on 254 kHz in Sept 1989"
"Before November 1978 the arrangement on Medium Wave was like this:
Most channels were 9 kHz spaced, on a frequency which was a multiple of 9 kHz, minus 1 kHz.
For example, London Radio 4 was 908 kHz, Radio 3 was 647 kHz, and Radio 1 was 1214 kHz.
There was one 10 kHz spacing at the bottom end: 539 kHz (normal pattern), then 529 kHz.
At the top end there were 8 channel spacings of 8 kHz. I assume this must have been done to
get one extra channel when the top end of the band was extended from around 1550 kHz to 1606.5 kHz.
The frequencies were 1538 kHz (normal pattern), then 1546, 1554, 1562, 1570, 1578, 1586, 1594, 1602."
1967, 30th Sept : BBC Radio 1 launched, and BBC Light (29.jul.1945), Third (sept 1946) and Home (sept 1939)
are reorganised as Radios 2,3 & 4 (timeline)
Light Prog was Forces Prog (1940) renamed for peacetime.
Home Service was merger of old National Prog (1930, previously 2LO (May 1922)) and Regional Prog (1930)
BBC services moved on 23.nov.1978 :
R1 from 1214kHz/247m to 1089/275 and 1053/285
R2 from 200/1500 to 693 and 909 kHz
R3 from 647kHz to 1215/247 "3rd Programme was on 464m (647kHz) from 1951"
R4 from 908kHz (and others) to 200/1500
R5 took over R2's 693/909 on 27.aug.1990
INR1 : Classic FM (1992)
INR2 : Virgin took over R3's 1215, launched 30.apr.1993
INR3 : Talk Radio took over R1's 1053/1089 in Feb 1995
R6 Music : (digital) 11 March 2002
R1 Xtra : (digital) 16 Aug 2002
R7 : (digital) 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 (to 1.700 in USA, 10kHz ch)
See the British DX Club's Lists.
Channels internationally assigned to countries with maximum power levels specified.
Hence the terms "national clear channel" etc. A country's channel will thus be used
for either national networks or for lower powered local stations. If the international
plan (Geneva, 22.11.1975) exists anywhere on the web, do let us know!
--kHz-- UK band plan:
558 ILR Spectrum (London), ex Pirates e.g. Laser 558
585 BBC regional (Scotland)
603 local (BBC/ILR)
630 BBC local (2)
648 National BBC World Service
657 BBC local (2)
666 local (BBC/ILR)
693 National BBC R5
720 some BBC R4
729 BBC local (1)
738 BBC local (low power)
756 local (BBC mainly)
765 BBC local (1)
774 local (mainly BBC - some R4)
792 local (BBC/ILR) (2)
801 BBC local (1)
810 BBC regional (Scotland)
819 local (BBC/ILR)
828 local (BBC/ILR)
837 BBC local
855 local (BBC/ILR)
873 BBC local
882 BBC regional (Wales)
909 National BBC 5
936 ILR (2)
945 ILR (2), University inductive loops
954 ILR (2)
963 ILR (2), University inductive loops
990 local (BBC/ILR)
999 local (BBC/ILR) + University/Hospital Radio loops
1017 ILR
1026 local (BBC/ILR)
1035 local (BBC/ILR)
1053 INR3 Talk Radio UK
1089 INR3 Talk Radio UK
1107 ILR + INR3 Talk Radio
1116 local (BBC/ILR)
1125 BBC regional (Wales)
1143 CFA tests, 11/2000, Wooferton
1152 ILR
1161 local (BBC/ILR)
1170 ILR
1197 fill-in INR2 Virgin
1215 INR2 Virgin (once "Virgin 1215")
1233 fill-in INR2 Virgin
1242 local (ILR/INR2 Virgin)
1251 ILR (1)
1260 local (BBC/ILR/INR2 Virgin)
1269 RSL Brands Hatch
1278 ILR + RSL
1287 RSL
1296 National BBC World Service
1305 ILR
1323 local (BBC/ILR) + ex RSL
1332 local (BBC/ILR)
1341 BBC regional (Ulster)
1350 RSL (Hospital RSL)
1359 local (BBC/ILR)
1368 local (BBC/ILR)
1377 ILR (1)
1386 RSL
1404 RSL
1413 local (BBC/ILR/RSL)
1431 ILR
1440 ex The Great 208 - Radio Luxembourg (MW closed 30.dec.1991) started 1933, LW, moved 1439 2.jul.1951
1449 BBC local (some BBC R4)
1458 local BBC/ILR)
1476 ILR
1485 local (BBC/BBC R4/ILR)
1494 RSL Tooting
1503 local (BBC/RSL)
1521 local (BBC/ILR) 1520 was Radio Caroline (started 28 Mar 1964)
1530 local (BBC/ILR)
1548 local (BBC/ILR)
1557 local (BBC/ILR)
1566 RSL
1575 RSL
1584 local (BBC/ILR)
1602 RSL
1611 used elsewhere, but out-of-band
--1.6065=------------------------
MF "Fixed & Mobile" - Maritime / Land / Aero(OR)
1.642...Cordless phones (CT0 base), to 1782 (8x 20kHz FM),
handsets duplex at 47.456-47.543 MHz (12.5kHz spacing, 6.25 offsets)
Channel 7 (1762) may use 47.531 or 47.444
To be phased out. No new equipment after apr.2005
Handsets on 1690, 1710, 1730, 1750, 1770 may be unapproved USA gear (base 49.86-49.93)
Amateur Radio 160m "Top Band" (1.81-2.0) shared (SSB used is mainly LSB below 10MHz)
1.6 to 3.8MHz mostly known for maritime use (intership, trawler chat etc)
(3kHz SSB channels 1635-1797 and 2053-2153?)
UK "Fishphone" Coastal Radio Stations (BT) all closed by 30.jun.2000
used 25 paired channels :
Alpha 2751 2006 Shetland via Wick ex Norwick
Bravo 2841 2277 Shetland via Wick, ex Norwick
Charlie 2604 2013 Shetland via Wick, ex Norwick
Delta 1659 2084 Shetland via Wick, ex Norwick
Echo 2705 2524 Wick
Foxtrot 1797 2060 Wick
Golf 1755 2099 Wick
Hotel 2625 2108 Wick
India 1856 2555 Stonehaven
Juliet 1650 2075 Stonehaven
Kilo 1946 2566 Stonehaven
Lima 2607 1999 Stonehaven
Mike 3617 3249 Stonehaven
November 1731 2527 Cullercoats
Oscar 2828 1953 Cullercoats
Papa 3750 2123 Cullercoats
Quebec 1925 2105 Humber
Romeo 2684 2002 Humber
Sierra 2810 2562 Humber
Tango 2698 2016 Stonehaven
Uniform 2628 2009 Niton
Victor - Not Assigned
Whisky 2782 2111 Land's End
X-Ray 3610 2120 Land's End
Yankee 1710 2135 Portpatrick
Zulu 1866 2534 Hebrides via Stonehaven
Coastguards working channels & Maritime Safety Info Broadcasts - cruising.org.uk/RYA
1641, 1743, 1767, 1770, 1869, 1880, 1883, 1925, 2226, 2596, 2670, 2691, 2719
2.182 Calling, Distress (Coastguards)
"...UK, where anyone could hear the Met police on CW - the operator sat next to the driver with
a Morse key and he would send 'coded' messages to Scotland Yard, like 'X231 Marble Arch to Oxford
Circus' which didn't take a lot of imagination to decipher. These were the Wolsley saloons with
the bell on the front. Frequency again was around 2 megs and it is the 1930s.
"The ground transmitter was GWW (?) at West Wickham, SE of London, which later became the Interpol
link with France (FSB) and other continental countries, still using Morse and equally obvious
'X-codes' well into the 1980's."
--2.85=---HF-------------------- the "real shortwave bands"!
mobile, fixed, military, ISM, SRD, and... "numbers stations"/more Guide/Newer SGC Guide PDF
o AM Broadcasting
Tropical bands around 2.4 MHz (120 metres), 3.3 MHz (90 metres) and 5 MHz (60 metres)
kHz Bands (as used by the BBC) :
3950= - 4000= 75 metres
5900= - 6200= 49 metres +5875
7100= - 7350= 41 metres (7200-7450 from 29.mar.2009)
9400= - 9900= 31 metres +9915
11600= - 12050= 25 metres +12095
13570= - 13870= 22 metres
15100= - 15800= 19 metres +15070
17480= - 17900= 16 metres
( 18900= - 19020 15 metres SSB broadcasting after 2007 )
21450= - 21850= 13 metres
25600= - 26100= 11 metres
Band boundaries are often ignored by broadcasters trying to get a clear channel
Pirates, typically abused areas :
3880 - 4000 76 metres
5700 - 5900 52 metres
6200 - 6400..48 metres (very popular)
6940 - 6955 43 metres (USA main - SSB)
7395 - 7555 42 metres
9180 - 9400 32 metres (experimental)
11400 - 11600 25 metres
15025 - 15835 19 metres
o Amateur Radio
160m ( 1.81- 2.0) shared (SSB mainly LSB)
80m ( 3.5 - 3.8) shared (SSB mainly LSB)
40m ( 7.0 - 7.1) primary (SSB mainly LSB) (to 7200 from 29.mar.2009 - WRC-03)
30m (10.1 - 10.15) shared (SSB not recommended) (WARC)
20m (14.0 - 14.35) primary
16.5m (18.068-18.168) primary (WARC)
15m (21.0 - 21.45) primary
12m (24.89- 24.99) primary (WARC)
10m (28.0 - 29.7) primary
Note: the original bands were harmonically related 1.8, 3.6, 7, 14, 21, 28 (ex 56 band!) etc
56m ( 5.25- 5.4) Proposed new USA band
UK 'Fivemegs' NoV experiments (Aug 2002, for 4 years) 3kHz channels centered:
5260 1st Working Ch FA speech USB: 5258.5
5280 2nd Working Ch FB cw / narrow data
5290 3rd Working Ch FC wide data / speech
5400 Primary Calling Channel FE nets/calling
5405 Secondary Calling Channel FM calling only
USA: 5332, 5348, 5368, 5373, 5405 (centers) 3.jul.2003
o Standard Frequency references, and Time signals
at 2.5, 5.0 (Rugby), 10.0 (Rugby), 15.0, 20.0, 25.0 etc.
o Maritime more
Bands :
4063= - 4438= kHz
6200= - 6525=
8195= - 8815=
12230= - 13200=
16360= - 17410=
18780= - 18900=
19680= - 19800=
22000= - 22855=
25070= - 25210=
26100= - 26175=
Note the "even MHz" 2,4,6,8,12,16,18 etc (& 0.5 is a quarter of 2!)
whereas Aero has the "odd MHz" 3,5,9,11,13,15 etc.
SSB (3kHz SSB channels) :
kHz
2182 Calling, Distress
2046+ 2049 intership
2053+ 2056 intership
2241 British intership
2246 British intership
2301 British intership
4000- 4060 shared with Fixed Service chs 1-21
4146+ 4149 intership 4B & 4C (4125=4A)
4357- 4435 shore chs 401- 427 ( -292kHz split: 4065- 4143) 4417/ 4125 calling
6224- 6230 intership 6A,6B,6C
6501- 6522 shore chs 601- 608 ( -301kHz split: 6200- 6221) 6516/ 6215 calling
8101- 8191 shared with Fixed Service chs 1-31
8291 ch 833 GMDSS
8294+ 8297 intership 8A & 8B
8364 SAR
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
17242-17407 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
12359 Herb VAX498 (nr Toronto) 20:00 - 22:00 UTC
o Aeronautical R or ER (En-Route on fixed airways; so mainly civil) (3kHz SSB channels) more
kHz
2851- 3019 NATS: 2872, 2899, 2971, 3016 (Ireland)
3401- 3497 NATS: 3413 (VolMet), 3476 BT: 3482
4651- 4696 NATS: 4675
5481- 5676 NATS: 5505 (VolMet), 5598, 5616, 5649 BT: 5610, 5670 (Rugby) Speedwing: 5535 (Cove)
6526- 6682 NATS: 6622 BT: 6634 +EC!
8816- 8960 NATS: 8831, 8864, 8879, 8891, 8906, 8957 (VolMet) BT: 8960
10006-10096
11276-11396 NATS: 11279, 11336 BT: 11306
13261-13357 NATS: 13264 (VolMet), 13291, 13306
17901-17967 NATS: 17946
21925-21997
o Aeronautical OR (Off-Route; so mainly military) (3kHz SSB channels) GHFS
Watch for "Airfield colour states" every hour at the same minutes past the hour.
Volmet weather info broadcasts are easy to find...
kHz
3023 - 3152 3023 SAR (night) and up to 3230= ?
3800 - 3950
4700= -4995= +CCF
5450= -5480= 5450 RAF VolMet
5680 GMDSS SAR (day)
5684 - 5726 5711
6685 - 6763 6739
8965 - 9037 9031 "On-the-hour" and H+30 "Architect"
11175 -11271 11175 is the "triple 1" calling channel 11253 RAF VolMet
13200 -13257
15010 -15097
17970 -18027
21870=-21924= Fixed
23200=-23350=
o Sounding - investigating the ionospheric conditions by sweeping 2 to 30MHz every
5 minutes (100kHz per second). A chirp hits 7MHz at about 2:28 into each 5 minute segment
o In the remaining parts of HF, you'd be forgiven for thinking anything goes :o)
I presume "fixed" on its own means mobile so long as one station is fixed!
kHz
3155= -3400= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile
4000= -4063= Fixed + Sea Mobile (4000-4060 USB, ch1-21)
4438= -4650= Fixed + all Mobile +CCF
5005= -5450= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile +CCF
5730= -5950= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile
6765= -7000= Fixed + Land Mobile
7300= -8100= Fixed + Land Mobile
8100= -8195= Fixed + Maritime Mobile (8101-8191 USB, ch1-31)
9040= -9500= Fixed
9900= -9995= Fixed
10150=-11175= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile
11400=-11700= Fixed
12050=-12230= Fixed
13360=-13600= Fixed + all Mobile
13800=-14000= Fixed + all Mobile + EC!
14350=-14990= Fixed + all Mobile
15600=-16360= Fixed
17410=-17550= Fixed
18030=-18068= Fixed
18168=-18780= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile
18900=-19680= Fixed (18.9 to 19.02 broadcasting after 2007)
19800=-19990= Fixed
20010=-21000= Fixed + all Mobile
21750=-21870= Fixed
22855=-23000= Fixed
23000=-23200= Fixed + all Mobile
23350=-24890= Fixed + Land Mobile
25010=-25070= Fixed + Land Mobile
25210=-25550= Fixed + Land & Sea Mobile
25550=-25600= Radio Astronomy
o Cadets - CCF etc.
CCF (Combined Cadet Force)
Equipment they use tends to read 2kHz higher - 5330 etc.
2273
2413
2768
3848
4029 ?
4363 ?middle of a Maritime SSB channels section
4443
4453 - 4498 4478 4953
4918 - 4995 4973 calling, 4918 4921 4953
5300 - 5346 5328 5343 calling
6913
7708
7751 data
Sea Cadets (Sunday mornings)
6992 RL25 and RL22 6806
RAF Cadets (Sunday 10-13 hrs, Tues & Fri 1930)
3236 B3
3615 A7,B7 3678 A6 3715 B6 3752 C6
4610 A1 4782 B2 4925 B1
5245 C1 5770 A2,C2 5792 C4
7450 A5 7740 A4,B4
o Unlicensed pirate pseudo-hams.
"Echo Charlie" band at 6.6MHz (please let me know what EC means!) has been around for decades.
They argue that little real harm is done on the unused civil aero channels, but a lot of
channels ARE used, especially between 6600 and 6635. Of the hundreds of stations active,
some do venture down as far as 6530 but "most don't really go below 6635" has been heard.
International flight control may be affected. There may be a dozen or more QSOs at any time!
kHz (approx)
3430 - 3500 86 or 85m, LSB/USB calling 3475 LSB much aero use... SAR on 3488 etc.
6530 - 6700 45 metres, LSB/USB calling 6670 LSB Italy 6660 Sweden 6685 military above 6682!
12105 -12256 22 metres, USB 12.105 12.13 12.16
13630 -14000 21 metres, USB/LSB calling 13970 USB 13995? much data use, but not all the time
18010 -18050 16 metres, USB/LSB calling 18030 USB stay above 18030, it's military aero below!
20900 -20980 14 metres, USB/LSB calling 20930 USB I'd stay below 20960, if I were you.
I hesitate to include the following because the whole approach is subtly different...
26185 -28000 11 metres, USB/LSB calling 27555 USB CB "Freeband"
Stereotypes:
CB : fairly brainless, nice but dim etc
ham : knowledgeable nerds, very dull
PMR446 : the outdoor type, and hubby-to-wife links
freebanders : CBers playing at DX
Echo Charlie : The true spirit of radio friendship, enjoying beating the system
--26.175=-------------------------
Fixed & Mobile (not aero)
The use of HF spectrum as we know it changes near 26.1MHz, where usage becomes more
like VHF/6 metres - services intended to be local, rather than long-distance.
26 (25?!!) to 28 MHz littered with freeband unofficial CB channels. (+Callsigns) more
Very nicely operated SSB DX, putting Amateur radio to shame!
26.185..CB freeband Lo-Lo channels 11-40, to 26.505 (mid band - 2 x 450kHz) 26285 calling
26.3125.unapproved French cordless phones 15 x 25kHz, to 26.4875 (handsets +15: 41.3125-41.4875)
26.330..New Zealand CB 1-40, to 26.770 (mid band -635kHz) calling 26.5 (ch 15)
26.225=.Paging, to 26.9325= 25kHz STH Paging 26.835 & 26.92
26.25 JFMG talkback (simp) 12.5kHz 20W, and 26.35, 26.45
26.515..CB freeband Lo channels 1-40, to 26.955 (mid band - 1 x 450kHz)
Allowed in Hungary AM/FM 4W mobile, 1W base - and SSB 12 or 3W
26.565..German CB ch.s 41-80, to 26.955 (straight 10kHz sequence)
26.87 ..future SSB CB, to 26.96 (provisional plans)
"The UK indicted their willingness to participate in this work, although they indicated
that they would be opposed to introducing AM/SSB CB operation."
26.965..CB, to 27.405 (PR27) 40 FM CEPT "EURO" channels 10kHz spacings with gaps (+/-2kHz FM deviation)
Allowed in the UK since 1988, this is now a Euro band as agreed by an ERC decision
in 1996. These CEPT channels are the original USA freqs, known as the "mid" channels.
Shared with ISM, and up to 27.28= with SRD (models - AM on colour coded channels) (USA models)
26.965 01
26.975 02 +"Black" (Models code)
26.985 03
26.995 "Brown" / 3A
27.005 04
27.015 05 +27.020 "Brown/Red" (5a)
27.025 06
27.035 07
27.045 "Red" +Test/Dev / 7A
27.055 08
27.065 09 +27.070 "Red/Orange" (9a)
27.075 10
27.085 11
27.095 "Orange" +Railway SRDs / 11A
27.105 12
27.115 13 +27.120 "Orange/Yellow" (13a), +ISM, ex Paging (Test/Dev.), & 27.162
27.125 14
27.135 15
27.145 "Yellow" / 15A
27.155 16
27.165 17 +27.170 "Yellow/Green" (17a)
27.175 18
27.185 19
27.195 "Green" / 19A
27.205 20 from 20 to 40 channel num = first two decimals except 23 to 25...
27.215 21 +27.220 "Green/Blue" (21a)
27.225 22
27.235 24 ! ex 22A
27.245 25 ! +"Blue (UK)" ex 22B before 1977
27.255 23 ! +"Blue (US)" ex top channel until 1977
27.265 26 +27.270 "Blue/Grey" or sometimes "White" (26a)
to
27.405 40 27.315 31 Calling?
Packet (AX25) allowed 20.dec.2002 on channels 24,25 & 32
pre-1958 : USA Ham band at 26.96-27.23 very underused, and there was little business/military
use up to 28MHz. Model control on 27.255 was inadequate and shared with all sorts of paging.
11.sep.1958 : CB starts, on 22 new 10kHz channels in the old ham band, fitted around 5 new model
channels later known as 3A, 7A, 11A, 15A and 19A. The old model channel was allocated to CB as channel
23 as well as remaining as the sixth model channel. The two-channel gap between 22 and 23 gave rise
to pirate channels 22A and 22B in the Business Band that couldn't yet be used for CB.
1.jan.1977 : more CB channels added - there had been plans for 99 channels up to 27.995 but it was
decided not to allow a span of more than 440kHz - to prevent intermod breakthrough to any 455kHz
receiver Intermediate Frequency stages. The business band lost 27.23 to 27.41 to CB, the new channels
(24 onwards) filled in the reclaimed gap between 22 and 23, and then continued up to 27.405 to make 40
channels in all. The five newer model freqs (50kHz apart) are now part of an allocation up to 27.28= in the
UK with channel 25 now being "Blue" (27.245) and channel 02 now "Black", amongst other interleaved channels.
The mid channels are transposed up and down the spectrum by multiples of 450kHz to create
extra sets of 40 channels such as "hi" and "lo", including the gaps and sequence jumps!
26.957 to 27.283 is still an 11m Amateur band in New Zealand!
CB should be license-free! Wakey wakey, UK!
Very commendable, I'm sure, but licensing is really needed as a mechanism to stop idiots using
it - licenses can be revoked. Interesting issue. Maybe a license should be for life... (unless forfeited).
(UPDATE: Dereg. is being considered, for effect circa 2005)
27.415..CB freeband Hi channels 1-40, to 27.855 (mid band + 1 x 450kHz)
27.41=... Alarms (27.45 12.5kHz 0.5mW)
27.41=... future Digital CB, to 27.51 (provisional plans)
CB in Roumanie, to 27.66
27.5= ... Mobile, to 28 Weather balloons (sondes)
27.555 International "Freeband" calling, USB, hi channel 12
Callers announce the freq they'll move to, usually between 27.41 and 28MHz in 5kHz chs. Very civilised!
27.601..CB, to 27.99125 (27/81) UK ONLY - 40 FM 10kHz channels allocated 2.nov.1981
27.601 ch 1 MHz = (channel x 0.01) + 27.59125 Ch = first two decimals -60 +1
to
27.991 ch 40 09=emergency 14=calling 19=mobile
27.865..CB freeband Hi-hi channels 1-11a, to 27.995 (mid band + 2 x 450kHz)
CB can be fairly useful (when you want to speak to normal people, not just radio
nutters), but what a pity we're stuck with an HF allocation clogged up with
foreign SSB rather too often... We need a system that allows silent monitoring,
like CTCSS, or (even better) a 460 MHz system as they do in the USA, Australia etc.
NOTE: (oct98) it looks like PMR 446 will do nicely, apart from the low power.
28=... Amateur 10m band, to 29.7= primary CW,USB,Satellite,FM
28.3... Voice... (and other modes)
29.3=.. Satellite, to 29.5=
29.51.. FM, to 29.69 10kHz simplex or Repeaters (split: -0.1) 10 or 20kHz
Various parts of these channels used for repeaters in different regions
with the remaining channels used for simplex.
29.51.. repeater inputs or simplex, to 29.59
29.6 simplex calling
Region 1 Region 2 Region 3
EU/Africa/CIS Americas Australia/East
29.61 simplex 1
29.62 simplex 2 1 (20kHz)
29.63 simplex 3
29.64 simplex * 4 2 (20kHz) * GB3CJ (20kHz)
29.65 simplex 5
29.66 RH1 6 3 (20kHz)
29.67 RH2 7
29.68 RH3 8 4 (20kHz)
29.69 RH4 9
For the unlicensed, or simply licensed, there are three main types of radio use:
1) Low-power handheld - now well served by PMR 446
2) Base/mobile use that is well served by CB SOME OF THE TIME
3) DX-ing - wasn't well served at all, leading to the 27MHz SSB and 6.6MHz problems,
although getting onto HF legally is now far more reasonable as Morse no longer applies.
27MHz and 6.6MHz SSB should eventually ease off, and to make matters bearable for FM
users of 27MHz I would say CTCSS is needed.
There is a need for the kind of local service that allows a low-powered
service with roof-mounted antennas to acheive local CB-like ranges WITHOUT any
possibility of SSB interference (i.e. above 30MHz) preferably using CTCSS/DCS as
with PMR 446. With CTCSS, and given the current demand, I would imagine 20 channels
or less would meet the demand. A 200kHz section of spectrum allocated throughout
Europe somewhere between 30 and 217 is hardly asking too much is it? The same
bandwidth as ONE radio mic channel? Or extend PMR 446 with 8 more channels,
all available to handhelds with captive antennas, but the new channels available
to base/mobile sets with external antennas and a couple of Watts of power.
--29.7=---VHF-------------------
Mobile
military (30.3-30.5 and 32.15-32.45 EU1 harmonised) Combat Net Radio, etc
+ SRD, mics, R/C Models, Cordless Phones, Alarms, Hospital Paging
USA :
30-40 MHz allocated for private land mobile use in 1947
25-30 MHz and 44-50 MHz bands allocated for private land mobile use in 1949
20kHz channels were introduced in the 25-50 MHz band in 1957
Parts of 25-50 MHz allocated to Highway Maintenance, Police and Special Emergency Radio Services in 1960
On rare occasions ion layer conditions allow the reception of these signals over the Atlantic into Europe.
31.0375.Cordless phone base, to 31.2125 (duplex, split +8.9: 39.9375-40.1125) 8 x 25kHz channels MPT1384
new in 1997 10mW (4 more channels in Europe(Netherlands), up to 40.2125)
Some countries (i.e. Spain) use 31.025-31.325, 12 x 25kHz channels (+8.9)
Australia has 30.075-30.3, 10 x 25kHz channels (+9.7: 39.775-40.0)
31.725..Hospital Paging, to 31.775
Speech in emergency only. Returns at 161/164
34.25... unapproved New Zealand cordless phones 25kHz ch11-20, to 34.475 (handsets +6: 40.25-40.475)
35.0... Model aircraft, to 35.25 (26x 10kHz) 100mW channels 60 to 85
35.3375.Marine databuoys, to 35.4625 - 25kHz, 250mW
36.5.. Prefered band for use by visiting foreigners for temporary mics use, to 38.5 (espec. 36.7, 37.1, 37.9)
36.7 Cordless domestic audio devices, & 37.1 (18kHz bandwidth each)
commonly stereo left/right, deregulated, 10 micro-Watts max
39.0= MBC Meteor Burst Comms, to 39.2= (8x 25kHz : 39.0125 to 39.1875) 500-1600km range
now changed their minds to (7x 25kHz : 39.025 to 39.175)
Proposed wideband systems at 37MHz
39.9375...phone handsets, to 40.1125 - see 31.0375
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) DEC(01)03 SRD ** proposed new Euro amateur beacons band **
40.665..Surface models, to 40.995 (34x 10kHz) 100mW cars and boats channels 665 to 995
41= ... Harmonised Military Band (EU1)
46·5=.. meteor burst communications, to 47= UK 46.4, 46.95, 46.975
--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)
DAB, if implemented here: 2A 47.936 to 2D 53.072, 3A 54.928 to 3D 60.064, 4A 61.936 to 4D 67.072
There was a pre-war 56MHz ham band in the UK, and the 5m band (58.5-60) for three years post-war.
Many imported (UK unapproved) cordless telephones... base channels :
43.72...US(25ch) & Dutch, to 46.97 (handsets 48.76-49.99) more
45.25...Chinese 10 x 25kHz, to 45.475 (handsets +3: 48.25-48.475)
46.51...Korean 15ch, to 46.97 (handsets 49.67-49.99)
47.64...Dutch to 49.99 (handsets 67.55-71.805)
48.99..."Supaphones" to 49.82 (handsets 67.55-71.745)
47.0 ... Future Euro-harmonised Paging band, to 47.25
47.3=...Alarms & Cordless phones, to 47.55=
47.310 Security alarms, & 47.319, 47.331, 47.356
47.4 Vehicle alarms
47.419 CT0 base, & 47.431 - duplex, see 77.5125 to be phased out. None new after April 2005
47.443...CT0 mobile, to 47.544 - duplex, see 1642-1782 kHz to be phased out
47.550=.JFMG, to 48.880= - talkback (base - split to 52MHz) + links
48.3 links - 200kHz stereo, 2/30/365 days
48.4=... also used for low power conference/touring, to 48.55=
48.425 links - 50kHz mono, + 48.475, 48.525 ( 2/30/365 days, directional TX antenna, 10W max ERP)
48.880=.Paging - 12.5kHz - 48.975 to 49.4875 one-way only
48.975 STH
48.9875 STH
49.2625 SRBR
49.2875 SRBR
49.425...Hospitals, to 49.475 (speech only in emergencies) returns at 161/164
49.5= ...
49.82...SRD, to 49.98 baby alarms etc. 10mW max
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
50.185 Crossband centre-of-activity
50.2 MS centre-of-activity
50.5=.. ALL MODES...
50.5=.. data/digital, to 50.7= (railway track to train video over 'leaky feeders' on 50.5)
50.51 SSTV (AFSK) (50·5-51·0 Ocean Surface Current Radars. Short-term, NIB)
50.55 FAX
50.6 RTTY (FSK)
50.72.. UK Repeaters, to 50.88 (split: +0.5) R50-1 to R50-17 - 10kHz spaced
51=... secondary...
51.21.. repeater inputs, to 51.39 (both UK and Euro systems)
51.41.. FM simplex, to 51.59 (20kHz channels)
51.51 FM calling channel
51.81.. Euro. repeaters, to 51.99 (split: -0.6) RF81 to RF99 - 20kHz spaced
52.0=.. JFMG, to 52.95= - talkback (mobile - split to 48Hz) + links
52.75 links - 200kHz stereo - TX antenna directional
52.85=.also used for low power conference/touring, to 52.95=
52.875 links - 50kHz mono + short term OB, + 52.925
52.95=...
53.75=..JFMG, to 55.75= - links (5W)
53.8 low power (10mW) 50kHz conference/touring, and 54.1 54.3 54.7 55.4 55.5
Band I 55.75000 - 68.00000 MHz ... channels will be made available to CBS & PBR services...
... No assignments at present... 380 dual channels
Here is an early plan, more recently 62.75-67.75 is one block with -7 split
55.75=... PBR, see 62.75
57.5=...CBS (planned), to 60.75= (split +7: 64.5 -67.75)
60.75=..JFMG links (5W)
62.75=..PBR (planned), to 64.5= (split -7: 55.75-57.50)
64.5=... CBS, see 57.5=
67.7625..Land Mobile, single, to 68=
some JFMG (BBC) :
67.76875 (split +6.94375 : 74.7125
67.79375 (split +7.4875 : 75.28125)
67.80625
67.83125 (split +7.4625 : 75.29375)
Euro Recommendation T/R 75-03 (Nice 1985) set 67.5-68 as a prefered band for UK use by visiting foreigners for
temporary PMR use by "ITINERANT ENTERPRISES AND SPORTING EVENTS", but 75-03 has not been implemented by the UK
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 (TR 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 broadcasting from 65-74 and 76-87.5 (eg OIRT), this often reaches us.
68.08125= start of VHF Low for PBR, boundary
68.0875.PBR, to 69.9875 single, dual: see 81.5875
68.55 RA plan says this is single (unpaired)
68.625 demo/parking
(68.816=.. JFMG, to 69.904= - Talkback base (12.5kHz - split to 75MHz) to cease in 2000)
-70=--...Amateur 4m band, to 70.5= (since 1956; when 70.2-70.4)
Secondary (Full/Intermediate Classes only).
started as UK (G/M/2) only, with British Gibraltar (ZB) and Cyprus (5B), and Eire (EI)
now with South Africa (ZS/ZR), and Slovenia (S5)
Denmark now allows (July 2003) 70.025, 70.05 and 70.1 (max 25W, 10 kHz)
70.0... Beacons...
70.03.. CW/SSB
70.15 Meteor Scatter calling
70.185 Cross-band centre-of-activity
70.2 SSB calling
-70.25= -all modes---
70.26 old calling frequency still in use - AM/FM
70.275
70.2875
-70.3= --FM simplex--- (12.5 kHz channels) ---
70.3 RTTY/FAX
70.3125 data/digital - Packet
70.325 data/digital - Packet
70.3375 data/digital - Packet
70.350 (Emergency priority)
70.3625 data/digital
70.375 (Emergency priority)
70.3875 data/digital
70.4 (Emergency priority)
70.4125 data/digital
70.4250 (some use by GB2RS)
70.4375 data/digital
70.45 FM Calling channel
70.4625 data/digital
70.4750 data/digital
70.4875 data/digital - Packet
-70.5=---
70.5125.H.O. - Fire Service mainscheme, to 71.5= (with 80-81.5) 12.5kHz AM/FM
71.5125.PBR, to 72.7875 single, dual: see 85.0125
72.375 STH/demo/parking
72.8... Land Mobile: MoD, to 76.7 (73.3-74.1 EU1 harmonised) Helicopters allowed 72.8-74.8
(74.6875... JFMG, to 74.7125 - Talkback)
75.0 CAA ILS runway marker beacons (Guard band 74.8-75.2) 200ft, 1 & 3.5 miles from touchdown
(75.2625=.. JFMG, to 75.3= - Talkback mobile (split to 69MHz) (+airborne) to cease in 2000)
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)
77.5 standard telemetry channel
77.5125 CT0 extended Cordless phones, & 77.55 (mobile; base at 47.431 & 47.419) to be phased out
77.625 once mobile paired with 82.8 base
77.6875 UK General
Four channels between 77.75 and 77.9875 were once mobile paired with base at +8.7125/8.7
in the 86MHz single section, between 86.4625 and 86.6875
A new plan now shows 86.4625 - 86.7 split -8.7125 : 77.75 - 77.9875
78=... Land Mobile: MoD (79-79.7 EU1 harmonised) Helicopters allowed 78-80
(Thailand yellow CB at 78.0 - 78.9875)
(78.183=..JFMG, to 78.259= - wide area or location talkback - 12.5kHz)
80... H.O. (Fire) mobile, to 81.5= - see 70.5
Some vehicle-vehicle use (Eng & Wales - not Herts)
(81.5 Radio Astronomy - Interplanetary Scintillation - Cambridge +/- 1MHz?)
81.5=...PBR / CBS - new for the late 1980s
Lxxx = (freq - 78.2) / 0.0125 freq = (Lnumber x 0.0125) + 78.2
81.5125.PBR, to 81.575
81.5125 L265
81.575 L270 MSA, Rallies (from June 2003. Was 86.4375 AM from 1976)
81.5875.PBR, to 83.5 (split -13.5: 68.0875-70.0)
81.6625.Data only (IR2008), to 81.8875 (ch 358-360?!)
81.8 L288 CBS predominantly (
82.05 RA plan says this is single (unpaired)
82.125 L314 Demo/"parking" (temporary use) (:68.625)
82.25 L324 Data Dominant, to 82.275 L326
82.2875 L327 Data only (IR2008)
82.3 L328 CBS predominantly, to 82.3375 L331
82.35 L332 Data only (IR2008)
82.3625 L333 Data only (IR2008)
Somewhere around 82.5 the RA's channel numbering seems to miss 0.2MHz :
Now Lxxx = (freq - 78.0) / 0.0125 freq = (Lnumber x 0.0125) + 78.0
82.5125 L361 Data only (IR2008)
82.5875.L367 Data only (IR2008), to 82.6125 L369
82.625 L370 Data Dominant
82.6375 DGPS - from autumn 2000
82.65 L372 Data Dominant
82.825 L386 Data Dominant
82.8375 L387 Data Dominant
82.8625 L389 Data Dominant
82.875 L390 CBS
to CBS "predominantly" in 25kHz steps - and 83.0125 too
83.050 L404 CBS
83.5... H.O.
84 ... MoD, to 85= - RAF, Mil.Police, mountain rescue (ISM at 84.0 +/- 4kHz)
85= ... Private Business Radio, to 87.5=
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 ch, 25kHz from 1960, 12.5kHz in 1969)
Water co.s, councils, AA/RAC, forestry, customs, taxis etc.
Lxxx = (freq - 85) / 0.0125 freq = (Lnumber x 0.0125) + 85
85.0125.PBR, to 86.2875 (split -13.5: 71.5125-72.7875)
85.0125 ch L001
85.875 STH (:72.375) or either, singly Also used for demos and parking
86.2875 ch L103
86.3....PBR single, to 86.7
86.3125 Land SAR
86.325 Land SAR, secondary, some areas
86.3375 UK General, to 86.375 (4 ch)
86.675 JFMG, Talkback (12.5kHz) Wales and west.
86.4625 PBR, to 86.7 (split -8.7125: 77.75 - 77.9875) new plan
86.7125.PBR, to 87.4875 (split -10: 76.7125-77.4875) no longer extends to 87.9875 (or starts from 86.9625)
86.8125.JFMG, to 86.8375 - wide area duplex Talkback (12.5kHz) (+airborne)
The 86.7= to 86.95= section used to be used for 10 x 25kHz links, same -10 split.
87.34.. Eurosignal paging, to 87.415 (4 x 25kHz channels A-D) heard in UK from Europe. info.
Used to be a constant AM tone with pips and doodle-doo noises, as featured in the song
Professionnels by Air (Premiers Symptomes), and could be heard on tuners at 87.5
Changed in March 1998 to bursts of FM data. French channel is 87.39 (C)
87.4875 L199 (highest freq. Low-Band channel)
87.49375= boundary (above 87.4875 by 6.25 kHz - half a 12.5 kHz channel)
--87.5=------------------------
Band II - FM Broadcasting (100 kHz channels) 87.6-107.9 RDS Field Strength
Independent Radio managed by the Radio Authority.
See the British DX Club's Lists. Tuners. SBS. FM DX.
Latest news : Newstide.
1955 : 88-94.6 3 BBC Programmes start, from Wrotham, Kent (Home Service, Light & 3rd Prog.)
1961 : Stockholm conference plans 87.5-100. Proposals for Bands I to V by Research Department
1962 : Aug 28 : Zenith-GE stereophonic system tests on the Wrotham transmitter (3rd Prog.)
1967 : 94.6-97.6 sub band opened (was mobile services). BBC services renamed R2,R3,R4
1969 : 105-108 JRC start to use (mobile services) - and other PMR (split: 138-141)
1970 : BBC local radio introduced in London in 1970, in the new sub band
1973 : Independent radio follows, Capital and LBC (later News Direct) same sub band
1979 : 100-108 allocated (WARC) but not all cleared for some time
1984 : 104-108 Broadcasting is now the primary user
1986?: 87? use of some (relatively unusual) 50kHz steps ends (i.e. 95.85)
1980s: 87.5-88 (end of) : end of use for base PMR (split -10: 77.5-77.9875)
1989 : 97-102 (end of) : permit ends for use by 999 Services AM RT base, 25kHz ch (split: 80-85)
1990s: 105-108 (early) : JRC mobile services complete move to 139/148MHz
1995 : 104-108 permit ends to use the sub band for PMR
"BBC sub-bands employ a "standard (2.2/5.2 MHz) spacing."
87.6... RSLs (87.7 primary) more
88.0=
88.1... BBC Radio 2 - used to share with R1 after 10pm, Saturday afternoons and Sunday evenings from 5pm
90.2... BBC Radio 3
92.4... BBC Radio 4, BBC Wales/Scotland
94.6... BBC Local, Radio 4, ILR (lower local sub-band, to 97.6)
96.1... ILR, some BBC
97.7... BBC Radio 1 (sub band used from 1988)
99.8... INR1 - Classic FM (+RDS DCI DGPS - Focus FM), ILR. Classic launched 7.sep.1992
102.0... ILR (upper local sub-band, to 108=)
103.5... BBC Local, Radio 4, ILR
105.0... ILR, regional, RSLs
107.0... RSLs, Small-scale and other low power broadcasting, to 107.9
The FM modulation has its own spectrum -
0-15kHz : Mono audio (L+R)
19kHz : "Pilot tone" to indicate if stereo present
23-53kHz : Stereo "difference" signal (L-R) consisting of lower and upper
sidebands resulting from balanced AM modulation of a 38kHz carrier
(phase locked to the 19kHz tone at half the freq.)
57kHz : (3 times 19kHz) RDS data carrier (data rate of 1187.5 bps)
60-99kHz : Subcarriers used in the USA for SCA Subsidiary Communications Authorization (Aus: ACS)
typically FM on 67kHz and 92kHz (14kHz bandwidth) (sometimes 41,76,78.67 kHz)
Some history above was based on Overview of UK VHF radio planning. Would-be pirates should read this!
...although : "the current standards work well in practice, but they do not appear to reflect the way in
which the majority of listening is done, and may be unnecessarily conservative." :o)
Also, receiver standards are based upon current equipment, which may be very poor. I say to heck with that,
assume decent equipment and let the cheapskates upgrade!
Wenvoe R1/2 was 89.95, R3 92.125 . R4SW Oxford was 95.85;
"All 50kHz offsets in Europe were removed by a Geneva Conference 7.12.1984 which reorganised the FM bands
throughout Europe. The new frequencies were implemented about 2 or three years later. That was when BBC
and ILR locals moved into their separate FM sub-bands and many UK transmitters were changed from horizontal
to mixed polarisation. Note that almost all of the high power FM transmissions in the UK are actually on
200 kHz spacings (odd integers). Lower power ones use the 100 kHz offsets."
Near 107.8 was used for Local Authority Alarms until the end of 1995, now on 160.55-160.575
and 168.2875 & 168.9375. Some old lists show freqs as 107.79375, 107.80625, 107.81875
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.
Polish DAB uses 105.008MHz
-108=--------------------------
Aero. Navigation
108.05.. ILS/VOR/ATIS, to 117.95 (50 kHz channels)
ILS within 108-112
There was a ham band at 112MHz (USA Amateur history), 2.5 metres, from 1938 to 1945
mil comms are sometimes reported here, usually 117-118
-117.975=----------------------
Aero. Mobile "Civil Air Band" - NATS National Air Traffic Services, Volmet
See Javiation's list. RTCA. ICAO. Reporting Points
Used by the military too, of course.
118.0... AM comms, to 136.975 (760 x 25 kHz channels) (USA Plan 2001-2010)
Upper limit was 132 until extended to 136 in 1959 (most private ch WERE at the top of the band, 129.7-132)
The use of 136 - 137 dates from 1990, shared with satellite services until 1.1.2002
25kHz channels: offsets of several kHz may be used when two or more transmitters use the same ch. at once.
In 1999 three channels were squeezed into each 25kHz with a new 8.33kHz spacing (more/N)
(2000 in the UK). Given that the first 25kHz channel is 118.0 and the band boundary is therefore
117.975, if the scheme is ever extended to the full band will the first channel be 117.983 or 118.0?
100kHz spacing (original) - 1 decimal place 118.0, 118.1 etc. on air : 1 decimal
50kHz spacing (1954) - 2 decimals, new 118.05, 118.15 etc. on air : 2 decimals
25kHz spacing (1974) - 3 decimals, new 118.025, 118.075 etc. on air : 2 decimals
8.33 spacing (1999/2000) - infinite recurring decimals! new 118.00833. etc on air : 3 decimal NAME
The newer 25kHz spaced channels are rounded to only 2 decimal places when referred to, i.e. 118.02 or
118.07 because the second decimal is only ever 2 or 7 and so there is no ambiguity.
When saying an 8.33 channel on air, the word "channel" followed by a rounded 3 decimal place Channel Name
SHOULD BE used (although sometimes it is just treated as a normal frequency, with trailing zeros ommitted,
such as One Three Two Decimal Two Four) :
--NAME-- -step- -MHz--- --rounded--
(1xx.x) 25 1xx.x00 \
"1xx.x05" 8.33 1xx.x00 / up 5
"1xx.x10" 8.33 1xx.x08333 NEW up
"1xx.x15" 8.33 1xx.x16667 NEW down
"1xx.x2" 25 1xx.x25 \ down 5
"1xx.x30" 8.33 1xx.x25 / up 5
"1xx.x35" 8.33 1xx.x33333 NEW up
"1xx.x40" 8.33 1xx.x41667 NEW down
(1xx.x5) 25 1xx.x50 \
"1xx.x55" 8.33 1xx.x50 / up 5
"1xx.x60" 8.33 1xx.x58333 NEW up
"1xx.x65" 8.33 1xx.x66667 NEW down
"1xx.x7" 25 1xx.x75 \ down 5
"1xx.x80" 8.33 1xx.x75 / up 5
"1xx.x85" 8.33 1xx.x83333 NEW up
"1xx.x90" 8.33 1xx.x91667 NEW down
Any 8.33 NAME just 5kHz higher than a normal 25kHz channel is the same freq.,
otherwise tune to the NAMED freq. in 5kHz steps and you'll only be 1.666kHz off...
... then :
If a NEW channel name is 10kHz ABOVE an old 25kHz channel, tune DOWN 1.666
If a NEW channel name is 10kHz BELOW an old 25kHz channel, tune UP 1.666
"..introduction of Mandatory Carriage of 8.33 kHz .. capable radio equipment was 7th October 1999"
- AUSTRIA BELGIUM FRANCE GERMANY LUXEMBOURG NETHERLANDS SWITZERLAND
"22 States (incl. UK) will start implementating 8.33 kHz .. from the 31 October 2002"
However, don't panic about needing new equipment, 8.33 is only 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 ITU's VDL-3, "VHF Data Link - Mode 3", solution is for digital TDMA on existing 25kHz channels.
The USA FCC adopted this as NexCom (not yet in use). VDL-3 retains AM capability, but also uses 8-phase
shift keying, giving 4 time slots within 120ms frames, providing for a mix of digital voice and data.
Coverage of 112-117.975 is included in the spec.s - and they haven't decided about the UHF band yet.
National (or wide area) channels :
118.675 Paragliding (below 5000ft)
119.7 'Civ / Mil Guard' (on Jeppesen charts)
121.5 Guard, Distress, EPIRBs (100mW) (?120.875 Distress, discrete?)
121.6 airfield Fire Services
121.7... common Ground frequencies, to 121.95
122.1 'Mil TWR'
122.475 Balloons primary, and Hangliders (1984)
122.95 Helicopter Common 'blind calls when landing/departing uncontrolled sites'
123.1 SAR
123.5 'Air / Air (aerodromes without ATS/AFIS)'
129.825 Microlights
129.9 Gliders/Balloons - ground-ground and recovery only, Parachute aircraft-to-DZ
129.975 Gliders - local airfield air-ground only (within 10nm and below 3000 ft). (BGA, 1986)
130.0 'Air / Air (aerodromes without ATS/AFIS) - mountain airfields'
130.1 Gliders - "Primary: Competition start/finish lines;local flying Secondary: Training"
130.125 Gliders - "Primary: Training;cross-country locations Secondary: Local flying;competition lines"
130.4 Gliders - "cloud flying and relaying cross-country location messages only"
130.525 Parachute-DZ comms
131.725 ACARS Packet data (Europe & USA) & 131.525 [Hear it here!]
132.0... 8.33 sub-band, to 134.8 - for over FL245 (24,500ft/7.5km) - FL195 (6km) France (waived at present)
Maastricht 132.635, 136.465 Brest 132.765, 133.635, 132.415, 132.510
France has some 8.33 channels outside of this range (noted in 2002 at least)
135.375 London VOLMET (main)
136.9... data only, to 136.975
Private channels (mostly shared) for Airline "company ops", Servisair and other organisations
such as coastguards, air ambulances etc :
122.3-122.375, 122.05, 122.95, 123.65, 129.025,
129.7-130.675 (not all ch), 130.75, 131.075,
131.375-131.975, 132.65 (HMCG-SAR), 134.5, 136.65, 136.675
136.8-136.875
Air-air chat (unofficial) is sometimes heard on the first channel 118.0 and the "old" last 135.975
and "new" last 136.975 - more popular perhaps is 123.45 even though that's assigned for other
purposes. 125.125 is also sometimes used... it has to be a "neat" number!
CAA short-term : (displays, events etc.)
121.175, 130.500 Air/Gnd
130.675, 132.900 App/Twr
121.925 Gnd
Due to Earth curvature, an aircraft :
at 1,000ft is level with you when it is 62.3km away (38.7 miles)
at 3,000ft / 914m when it is 107.9km away (67.0 miles)
at 10,000ft / FL100 / 3048m when it is 197.0km away (122.4 miles)
at 20,000ft / FL200 / 6096m when it is 278.5km away (173.0 miles)
at 35,500ft / FL355 / 10.82km when it is 370.9km away (230.5 miles)
at 50,000ft / FL500 / 15.24km when it is 440 km away (273.4 miles)
an e.g. shuttle orb. 240km when it is 1721 km away *
* i.e. 'directly overhead a point on the ground that is X km away'
"According to ICAO Annex 10, all enroute & approach VHF Tx's are limited to 50 watts output power;
in the aerodrome no figure is stated but TX's must be able to be received at 4,000 ft above
aerodrome elev at 25nm from the AD ARP (Aerodrome Reference Point)" - "designated operational
coverage (DOC) for an approach service 25nm 10,000ft."
-137=-----Mid Band-------------
Mobile, military, Aero OR, emergency services (French splits +/-4.6)
Military PTARMIGAN access links
137=... Aero (OR) to 144=
137=... Satellite, to 138=
Weather Satellites, 137.3, 137.4, 137.5, 137.62, 137.85 etc. Tracking.
FM picture data not only too wide for most scanners (50kHz best) but mind the Doppler shift too!
More. Good AmSat Keplers tutorial.
LEO MSS Sat. downlinks, to 138= (up at 148-149.9) Orbcomm (4800 bps FSK)
137.000= - 137.025= Primary
137.025= - 137.175= Secondary
137.175= - 137.825= Primary
137.825= - 138.000= Secondary
Orbcomm 25kHz 12dBW RHCP channels, 1 per sat.
137.200 S1
137.225 S2
137.250 S3
137.2875 S11
137.3125 S12
137.435 S4
137.460 S5
137.560 Gateway (50kHz)
137.6625 S6
137.678 S7
137.7125 S8
137.7375 S9
137.800 S10
138=... MoD, to 143 ( Euro harmonised military band to 144= )
Some FM at 142, split +7.1
137.975..Paging, to 138.2 (25kHz channels) except 138.05 and 138.1
Police: 4 air-ground-air ch.s at +/- 6.25kHz around 138.1 & 138.3
(two 12.5kHz chs in one 25kHz ch) i.e. 138.09375, 138.10625
138.2=...future Euro. SRD band, to 138.45=
138.7 SAR secondary
139.5125=.JRC PBR, to 140.4875= (split +8.5: 148.01875-148.98125) Trunked.
Elec. (up to J57 139.95625) and Gas (J59 139.98125 upwards) industries. MPT1327 spec. Phased in, 1989-95
139.51875-140.48125 J22-J99, 76 main ch 12.5kHz spaced (no J01-J21) 6.25kHz offsets (RA's M802-M879)
139.525 -140.475 K22-K98, interleaved (J+6.25kHz) (RA's M902-M978)
JRC paging in channel K90/M884/M887 140.375/148.875 (single at J90/M883/M886 below & J91/M885/M888 above)
9 sets of 8 channels for cellular plan :
---Elec---- ----Gas---- plan (final page) (14MB file!)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
A 22 31 40 49 64 74 84 94
B 23 32 41 50 65 75 85 95
C 24 33 42 51 66 76 86 96
D 25 34 43 52 67 77 87 97
E 26 35 44 53 59 69 79 89
F 27 36 45 54 60 70 80 98
G 28 37 46 55 61 71 81 99
H 29 38 47 56 62 72 82 92
K 30 39 48 57 63 73 83 93
58 68 78 88 -- Coal
1969 to early 90s (by 1995) : 138-141 MHz and the top of Band II was used for PMR; JRC (84 ch), rail
138.01875.. Middle Band, to 140.94375 (split -33: 105.01875-107.94375) AM, 12.5kHz channels (6.25kHz offsets)
(channel 122 at 139.51875 became J22 by replacing the 1 with a J)
Channel 1 at 138.00625 was never used
(old 140.96875 STH channel no longer used)
Some JFMG in the Channel Islands at 139.55 & 139.575 (base), and simplex at 139.65
141=... JFMG, wide area Talkback (75kHz max), to 141.5= (previously 141.9=) 6.25 kHz offsets
Simplex and duplex (split: mobiles at 212MHz). +airborne. Not in Channel Islands.
(140.993 London only)
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
"142·5-143·0 MHz is for Mobile services and not restricted to Land Mobile"
143.0=... H.O., to 144= - see 152 (143.975 Air-ground-air alloc., not known if used)
143.625 Space - ISS station (143.6-143.65) - also 121.75 & 130.165 FM (ex MIR)
143.75.. unauthorised use by Hang gliders and para gliders, to 143.95 (calling 143.95)
144=... Amateur 2m band, to 146= Primary - IARU Bandplan: range
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 - +/-2.5kHz maximum FM deviation, 11kHz b/w)
List of mostly the old S channels (from 1970s, 25kHz spaced, +/-5kHz deviation, 16kHz bandwidth) :
145.2 S8, V16 Raynet priority, MIR (with 145.8)
145.2125 V17
145.225 S9, V18 Raynet priority
145.25 S10, V20 Slow Morse
145.275 S11, V22
145.2875 V23 internet voice links, and 145.3375 (ex 145.2625)
145.3 S12, V24
145.325 S13, V26 + French R8b F5ZBF repeater Caen (split: normal -0.6) French Repeaters map/info
145.35 S14, V28 + French R9b
145.375 S15, V30 + French R10b
145.4 S16, V32 + French R11b
145.425 S17, V34 + French R12b
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) - UK repeaters started in 1972
145.600 R0, RV48
145.6125 R0x, RV49
145.625 R1, RV50
145.6375 R1x, RV51
145.650 R2, RV52
145.6625 R2x, RV53
145.675 R3, RV54
145.6875 R3x, RV55
145.700 R4, RV56
145.7125 R4x, RV57
145.725 R5, RV58
145.7375 R5x, RV59
145.750 R6, RV60
145.7625 R6x, RV61
145.775 R7, RV62
145.7875 R7x, RV63 ?? or...
145.790 proposed 16kHz data links
145.8=...Satellite Service, to 146= Sat. News
145.825 SunSat FM (parrot) - & rep. uplink: 436.291 launched 23feb99
Typical doppler shifts : 300-2000km Low Earth Orbit +/-3.5kHz at 2m, +/-10kHz at 70cm
( Radius of the Earth = 6370km, 'Great Circle' circumference of the Earth = 40,000km )
"the main reason for establishing a Repeater is for the purpose of providing improved communications for
those operating mobile stations and fixed stations in difficult terrain." - RA Guide To Repeater Licensing
Are V channel numbers supposed to make life easier?!
(These originated from the Tel Aviv conference in 1996)
Oh yes, 145.7375, let's see... 7.375 times 8... 59 of course.
We can all do that in our heads, can't we?
If it's not simple and intuitive (for telling a contact to QSY)
then what IS the point? Saying "decimal 73" will do the job better.
146=...H.O., see 154
148=...JRC,LEO, see 139.5 and 137
(Some JFMG in the Channel Islands at 148.575 & 148.725 - mobile)
148.875 H.O
149... MoD, to 154
149.61 US GES uplink
149.9=...Satellite Navigation & MSS uplinks, to 150.05=
149.91 149.94 149.97 150.00 150.03 149.985 NIMS
150.05=..Radio Astronomy, to 152= PRIMARY exclusive
+ Oil-slick markers (150.5= - 150.55=)
151.625 unlicensed USA red "DOT" radios (more) +151.955 purple, 154.57 blue/MURS & 154.6 green/MURS
also at 462 GMRS, 464 & 467... +new MURS with 151.82, 151.88 & 151.94
152... H.O. - Emergency Services, to 153.0125= (with 143-144) mostly police FM. 12.5kHz
153.025..Paging, to 153.475 (25kHz channels) except 153.05 (HO)
FSK POCSAG (bursts) more [Hear it here!] Used by Trafficmaster, COACS
153.025 FLEX paging (continuous) +153.325 [Hear it here!]
153·5=...Land mobile service: MoD, to 154.0=
154=... H.O. - Emergency Services, to 155.975 (with 146-148) mostly police, AM/FM. 12.5kHz
"The (TR/RX) offset for Police/Fire varies to stop interaction between channels
when talkthrough is on - this is historic as it was believed that common
offsets could not be used on the same site; today it is done everywhere." - thanks Andrew W.
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
155... Possible private marine VHF channels (for companies or general use), of European origin. 25kHz FM.
Nordic Leisure boating L1 155.500, L2 155.525, L3 155.650 (info)
Fishing F1 155.625, F2 155.775, F3 155.825
Denmark P1 155.375, P2 155.575, P3 155.450, P4 155.800
-156=--------------------------
Mobile, Marine VHF (SAR, MBR/CSR)
PMR/PBR + CBS + STH, Ambulances, Paging (ERMES), SRD, mobile data, Civil Defence
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)
Marine, to 163 - International and private 25kHz channels, single and dual (split -4.6).
Was 50 kHz spacing until SOLAS 1972, then new channels were fitted in, in between...
Band structure: two main sections linked by a 4.6MHz frequency shift
Dual channels : international and private
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. The international channels
finish at 157.425/162.025 and the rest are private channels, which may be dual or single.
Single channels:
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.
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 158.5375-160.5375 - the gap at 158.425 to
158.5 is used for a few more single-freq. private marine channels, and at 160.55 to 160.575 there
are three local authority alarm channels.
For single/mobile freqs.. MHz = (ch number x 0.05) + 156 (add 4.6 for the shore freq)
or more simply divide the ch by 2 and that's the decimal places : 156.(ch/2) i.e. 16 = 156.*8*
Because channels 60 and above are interleaved, you need to EITHER:
Subtract 2.975 MHz AFTERWARDS ** OR ** subtract 59.5 from the channel number BEFORE
... or more simply (!) take 60 from the ch and then add .025 to the frequency : 74.. 14.. 156.725
There are Euro plans to use the paired freq.s for channels 87 and 88 separately, to accommodate VTS
(now called AIS - Automatic Identification and Surveillance) at 162 MHz, and allow simplex at 157 MHz.
Also plans to allow use of channels 75 and 76 for voice, which were unused guardbands for channel 16.
(Earlier plans had included simplex use of channels 18 and 82-86)
The latest RA info sheet shows the breakup of channels 87 and 88, and the introduction of 75 and 76.
Channel 88 used to be used for Radio Lighthouses, a null was swept around the compass... i.e.
you'd count the "pips" and when the signal briefly disappeared that would give you a bearing
Channel 99 (160.6) started life as channel 00, but apparently 00 is what the coastguards dial into
their consoles to clear them! Do not confuse with what would be the real ch99 on 157.975 / 162.575
- a private channel which (just to confuse matters) is actually used as a land-based CBS channel!
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;
(e.g. 157.125 = 82a for USA single freq use - can't be heard on an "international" set)
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?
160.9 used to be used for ITV talkback, I'm told.
Also used for talkback was 161.3875 (12.5 kHz),
and within the channels 161.325 and 161.45
The RA's own channel numbering is as follows:
Channel numbers 1440 (156) to 2000 (163.0) can be traced back (in
12.5kHz steps) to the start of a sequence where channel 1 is 138.0125
- this applies up to the last Mid-band channel M2163 (165.0375) and
down in the JRC bands i.e. M802 being the high side of the 148.01875
& 139.51875 pair, give or take a half channel offset (-6.25kHz) (as
happens positively at 448 / 431 ).
160.6 is RA channel 1808, 156 is channel 1440 - the difference of 368
being 4.6 MHz worth of 12.5 kHz channels. Marine dual pairs take the
channel number of the higher (shore) frequency. For single use of the
private section 157.45-163 the channels numbers are shifted along in
sequence by 1000.
Let's track this in two columns 4.6 MHz apart...
** First, two single freq.s...
--------------------------- -------
160.600 99 Coastguards 156.000 0 Coastguards
** 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 ??? 156.300 6 intership1 and SAR
160.925---156.325 66
160.950---156.350 7
** Now single freq.s Base/Mobile
---------------------------- -------
160.975 CSR-1838 156.375 67 (intership9 away from coasts) + SAR/Safety/Coastguard
161 to 161.2 Paging returns 156.400 8 intership2
(31/49/459) 156.425 68 ports
(+local comms) 156.450 9 intership5/ports/Pilots
156.475 69 intership8/ports/Customs
156.500 10 (intership3 away from coasts)/ports/pollution/SAR + UK Safety Info
156.525 70 DSC Digital SelCall ONLY, GMDSS NO VOICE
161.15 CSR-1852 156.550 11 ports/SAR
161.175 CSR-1854 156.575 71 ports
161.2 CSR-1856 156.600 12 ports
161.225 CSR-1858 156.625 72 intership6
161.25 CSR-1860 156.650 13 intership4/ports + International Nav Safety Comms
161.275 Marine 10mW Alarms 156.675 73 (intership7 away from coasts)/ports/SAR + Safety Info
161.300 CSR-1864 (OBH) 156.700 14 Ports
156.725 74 Ports/locks/swingbridges
161.350 On-board handhelds 156.750 15 intership11/ports/ 1W on-board
161.375 CSR-1870 156.775 75 Ports, Navigation comms only, 1W
161.400 CSR-1872 / Nav.? 156.800 16 Calling, Distress
161.425 M2 (marinas) 156.825 76 Ports, Navigation comms only, 1W
156.850 17 intership12/ports/ 1W on-board
161.475 CSR-1878 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)
Shore Ship
--------------------------------------
161.500---156.900 18
161.525---156.925 78
161.550---156.950 19
161.575---156.975 79
161.600---157.000 20
161.625---157.025 80 Marinas primary CSR-1890
161.650---157.050 21
161.675---157.075 81
161.700---157.100 22
161.725---157.125 82
161.750---157.150 23
161.775---157.175 83
161.800---157.200 24
161.825---157.225 84
161.850---157.250 25
161.875---157.275 85
161.900---157.300 26
161.925---157.325 86
161.950---157.350 27
161.975---157.375 87 old, paired use
161.975 AIS1 157.375 87 Port ops
162.000---157.400 28
162.025---157.425 88 old, paired use - No more "Radio Lighthouses"
162.025 AIS2 157.425 88 Port Ops
** Private channels, single OR dual CSR/MBR
** and some land PMR and CBS, same split -4.6
** In this part, the pairings are only shown
** for the first and last pair, to save space
Single OR Base Mobile (or Single)
---------------------------- -------
162.050 CSR-2924 single... 157.450 29 CSR-2556 single
OR 162.050---157.450 29 CSR-1924 dual
--CSR---Land Use--
162.050 CSR / CBS(Birm.)
162.0625 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.075 CSR / CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.0875 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.100 - CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.1125 -none-
162.125 CSR -none-
162.1375-- -none- (162.14375)
162.150 RNLI -none- (25kHz) 157.550 31 RNLI (two 12.5kHz channels at +/-6.25kHz)
162.1625-- -none- (162.15625)
162.175 CBS
162.1875 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.200 CSR / CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.2125 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.225 - CBS +PMR(Lond. - couriers)
162.2375 -none-
162.250 CSR -none-
162.2626 -none-
162.275 - CBS +PMR(Lond. - couriers)
162.2875 -none-
162.300 CSR -none-
162.3125 -none-
162.325 - CBS
162.3375 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.350 CSR / CBS(Birm.)
162.3625 CBS(Lond./Birm.)
162.375 - CBS
162.3875 -none-
162.400 CSR -none-
162.4125 -none-
162.425 - CBS +PMR(Lond. - couriers)
162.4375 -none-
162.450 DGPS -none- 157.850 37/M marinas secondary RA-1588
162.4625 -none-
162.475 - CBS
162.4874 -none-
162.500 CSR -none-
162.5125 -none-
162.525 - CBS(Birm.)
162.5375 -none-
162.550 CSR -none-
162.5625 -none-
162.575 - CBS
162.5875 -none-
162.600 CSR only - no CBS at all
to (25kHz)
162.850 CSR
(162.825 104A Telex 158.225 104B Fax. no longer used)
162.875 - CBS
162.8875 -none-
162.900 CSR -none-
162.9125 -none-
162.925 - CBS
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