Radio Spectrum

Radio spectrum is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponding to the radio frequencies – frequencies lower than around 300 GHz.

The whole radio spectrum is divided into radio bands, and every band has name and purpose for use. There are 12 radio bands:


>> ITU radio band number 1: ELF - Extremely low frequency [3-30 Hz]; wavelength: 100,000 - 10,000 km;
>> ITU radio band number 2: SLF - Super Low Frequency [30-300 Hz]; wavelength: 10,000 - 1000 km;
>> ITU radio band number 3: ULF - Ultra Low Frequency [300-3000 Hz]; wavelength: 1000 - 100 km;
>> ITU radio band number 4: VLF - Very Low Frequency [3-30 kHz]; wavelength: 100 - 10 km;
>> ITU radio band number 5: LF - Low Frequency [30-300 kHz]; wavelength: 10 - 1 km;
>> ITU radio band number 6: MF - Medium Frequency [300-3000 kHz]; wavelength: 1000 - 100 m;
>> ITU radio band number 7: HF - High Frequency [3-30 MHz]; wavelength: 100 - 10 m;
>> ITU radio band number 8: VHF - Very High Frequency [30-300 MHz]; wavelength: 10 - 1 m;
>> ITU radio band number 9: UHF - Ultra High Frequency [300-3000 MHz]; wavelength: 1 m - 100 mm;
>> ITU radio band number 10: SHF - Super High Frequency [3-30 GHz]; wavelength: 100 - 10 mm;
>> ITU radio band number 11: EHF - Extremely High Frequency [30-300 GHz]; wavelength: 10 - 1 mm;
>> ITU radio band number 12: THF - Tremendously High Frequency [300-3000 GHz]; wavelength: 1 mm - 100 um;


According to the ITU Radio Regulations the radio spectrum shall be subdivided into nine frequency bands, those bands are from 4 to 12, or from VLF to THF. This spectrum is shown on the Picture 1.

Picture 1: The radio spectrum (ITU Radio Regulations)