Electromagnetic Frequency Spectrum

Electromagnetic radiation is comprised of electric and magnetic fields that move at right angles to each other at the speed of light.
Below are some common examples; Click on the type/category (HF - High Frequency, VHF - Very High Frequency, etc. to the left to get a more complete list.:
Note: numbers in parenthesis are ITU bands.

The wavelength λ is the inverted frequency ν and can be calculated according to the following equation:

where c is the speed of electromagnetic radiation (cm/s).

Type Band Frequency ν Wave Length ₁ λ

RF - Radio Frequencies 3 HZ-100 GHz

ELF (1) - SLF (2) 1 Metal Detectors, Submarine communications 3 - 300 Hz

ULF/VF (3) Audio - Telephone 300 Hz-3 KHz

VLF (4) Navigation, Sonar, 3-30 KHz

LF (5) Radionavigation Beacons and Maritime 30-190 KHz 1-6 miles

MF (6) LW NAVTEX, Avalanche Beacon 400-500 KHz 660-750 m

MW BCB US AM radio 500 KHz - 1 MHz 600-175 m

SW
(4) Ham Radio₃ 1.8-2 MHz 160 m

Marine, Direction Finding 2-2.18 MHz

HF (7) Ham Radio 3.6, ... 30 MHz 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 m

BCB Intl. Short Wave 3.2, 4.7, 5.9, 7.1, 9.4, ... MHz 90,75,60, 49, 41, 31, 25, 22, 19, 16, 15, 13, 11 m

CB 27 MHz 11 m

VHF (8) Alarm Systems, Door Openers, Baby Monitors, Cordless phones 40-50 MHz 6-7 m

VHF TV, FM Radio 54-216 MHz 5-1 m

1¼, 2, 6 m Ham 50, 144, 222 MHz 6-1 m

Air Traffic Control 138 MHz

Police, Fire 154-156 MHz

UHF (9) P band Radar 300 MHz 1 m

SARSAT - Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking 406 MHz 74 cm

Remote Control (Thermometer, ..) 433 MHz

FRS, GMRS Walkie Talkie, Auto Racing 465 MHz 64 cm

UHF TV 470-806 MHz 60 - 40 cm

70, 33, 23, 13 cm Ham 420 MHz, ... 2.4 GHz 13-70 cm

Cellular Mobil Telephone, Police 800-890 MHz
Cordless Phones, GSM Phones Europe 900 MHz 33 cm

ARNS Navigation 960-1220 MHz

L-Band (Satellite Phone, GPS) 1-2 GHz 30-15 cm

PCS Mobil Telephone 1.8-2 GHz 15 cm

S-band 2-4 GHz

Wi-Fi, Cordless phones,
BlueTooth 2.4 GHz 10 cm (4 in.)

SHF (10) 5 GHz Dual Band Wi-Fi (N & ac) 5.2 & 5.8 GHz 5 cm

5.8 GHz Cordless phones 5.741-5.828 GHz 5 cm

C-band
Satellite 4-8 GHz

X-band
Navigation Radar 8-12 GHz

Police Radar 10, 24 GHz 2-3 cm

Ku-band
Satellite 12-18 GHz

K-band
18-27 GHz

9, 5, 3, 1.2 cm Ham 3.4, 5.7, ... 24 GHz 1-9 cm

Ka-band
LMDS 27-40 GHz
27-29 GHz 1 cm

EHF (11) Radio Astronomy 31, 36, 42, 49, 98, 140, 142-149 GHz

Vehicle Radar 46, 76

6, 4, 2.5, 2, 1 mm Ham 47, 75, ...250 GHz 1-6 mm

Beyond RF 100 GHz +

Infrared
Far Infrared (FIR)- Night vision, IR cooking Near Infrared (NIR) - Heat Lamps (.8 - 1 µm), Physical therapy (.6-.8 µm)- NIR can penetrate 1.5 inches IR cooking, Wireless remotes (.94 µm) Saunas
60 GHz - 500 THz
60 GHz - 150 GHz
3 mm - 1,000 nm
15-1000 µm 0.75-1.4 µm 750-1,400nm

visable light waves 500 THz - 900 THz 700 - 400 nm

Ultraviolet 750 THz - 30 PHz 10-400nm

X-rays 30 PHz - 30 EHz 10 nm - 10 pm

Gamma and Cosmic > 1 EHz

1. See Elecrormagnetic Radiation Principles for more information.

2. The boundaries between far infrared light, microwaves, and ultra-high-frequency radio waves are fairly arbitrary and are used variously between different fields of study.

3. Ham Radio - Amateur Radio

4. Shortwave - Many international stations (e.g. BBC) brodcast in English on these frequencies.
LW - Long Wave ..150-515 kHz
MW - Medium Wave..525-1,711 kHz (AM broadcast radio)
SW - Short Wave .1.711-29.9 MHz

Frequency to Wavelength Conversion Chart and Calculator
Equation: f * λ = c
Where:
f = frequency in Hertz (Hz = cycles/sec)
λ = wavelength in meters (m)
c = the speed of light and is approximately equal to 2.998*10⁸ m/sec

(Note: Sound waves are a form of wave energy but they are NOT electromagnetic; They are the result of mechanical vibrations creating compression/pressure waves which require a medium such as air or water to be transmitted. Electromagnetic energy can move through a vacume like space.)

_
Source: www.tvtower.com

Radio Frequency (RF) 30 Hz - 300 GHz
ELF 3-30 Hz (Extremely Low Frequency)
   Metal Detectors
SLF 30 Hz-300 Hz (Super Low Frequency)
   Submarine communications
ULF or VF 300 Hz-3000 Hz (Ultra Low Frequency/Voice Frequency)
   Audio - Telephone
VLF 3-30 KHz (Very Low Frequency)
   Navigation, Sonar
LF 30-300 KHz (Low Frequency)
   9-190 KHz Radionavigation and Maritime
   190-405 KHz Aeronautical and Radio Beacons
MF 300 KHz - 3 MHz (Medium Frequency)
   AM Radio  535 - 1705 KHz
   Police, Fire
   2000-2187 Maritime radio, Direction finding
   457 KHz Avalanche Beacon
   1800-2000 KHz 160 m amateur radio
   2300-2500 120 m Shortwave BCB International Radio
HF 3MHz-30MHz (High Frequency) ITU Band 7
   3.023 MHz Marine Search and Rescue
   4-22 MHz  Shortwave Radio
   3.2 - 3.4 90 m Shortwave BCB
   3.5-4.0 MHz 75/80 m Amateur Radio
   4-4.4 MHz Maritime

   4.6 Air

   4.75-4.95 60 m Shortwave BCB
   5.3-5.4 MHz 60 m Amateur Radio USB Max 50 Watts only
   5.5 Air
   5.9-6.2 49 m Shortwave BCB Band 6
   7.0-7.3 MHz 40 m Amateur Radio Shortwave Band 7
   9.5-9.9 MHz 31 m Shortwave BCB Band 9
   10.1-10.15 MHz 30 m Amateur Radio
   10 MHz Long Range Navigation (LORAN-C)
   11.60-12.10 MHz 25 m Shortwave BCB Band 11
   13.57 - 13.87 22 m Shortwave BCB Band 13
   14.02-14.3 MHz 20 m Amateur Radio
   15.10 - 15.80 19 m Shortwave BCB Band 15
   17.48 - 17.90 16 m Shortwave BCB Band 17
   18 MHz 17 m Amateur Radio
   18.90 - 19.02 15 m Shortwave BCB
   21 MHz 15 m Amateur Radio
   21.45 - 21.85 13 m Shortwave BCB Band 21
   24.9 MHz 12 m Amateur Radio
   25.60 - 26.10 11 m Shortwave BCB Band 25
   27 Citizens Band (CB) Radio (40 channels)
   28-29.7 10 m Amateur Radio
VHF  30MHz-300MHz (Very High Freq.) ITU Band 8
   30.86-32 MHz Public Service
   32 - 33 Government
   33.4-34 Public Service
   35.42-35.46 IMTS Mobile Phone - Base To Car
   37-37.4 Public Service
   37.9-38 Public Service
   39-40   Public Service
   40 MHz  Garage door openers, alarm systems, etc.
   42-42.9  Public Service
   43.42-43.46 IMTS Mobile Phone - Car To Base
   43-49 MHz  Alarm Systems, Door Openers, Baby Monitors, Cordless phones,
              Motorcycle Intercom
   49 MHz Baby Monitors
   50-54 MHz 6 Meter Amateur Radio
   54-88 MHZ TV Ch. 2 to 6
   72 MHz  Radio controlled airplanes
   75 MHz  Radio controlled cars
   88-108 MHz FM Radio
   108-117 Aircraft - Aeronautical radionavigation service (ARNS)
           VHF Omnidirectional Range navigation system (VOR)
   137-144 Government, Little LEOs (Low Earth Orbiting Satellites), Public Saftey
   121.5 MHz Old Locator Beacons (being replaced with 406 MHz)
   144-148 2 Meter Amateur Radio
   145 MHz MIR space station
   146.6 
   150-156 MURS (Multi-Use Radio Service)
        low power, short range VHF Citizens Band service. 
   152 MHz Pagers
   152-156 Non-Military LMR (Land Mobil Radio). Various Federal agencies
        use this band for mutual aid response with local communities 
        (fire fighting, forest fire fighting,  medical etc.)
   154-156 Police, Fire
   155.475 Nationwide Law frequency 
   156 Goverment Maritime Mobile
   158.115- 161.575 Non-Military LMR. 
   160-161 American Association of Railroads (AAR) - Rail operations
   162.025 - 174.000 WX - Band (mostly various US Government)
   162.40-162.55 MHz NOAA Weather Radio
   173.075 LoJack
   174-216 MHZ TV Ch. 7 - 13
   215-220 MHz Wildlife tracking collars
   219-220  Amateur Radio Pt-to-pt fixed digital message forwarding systems,
   222-225 1¼ Meter Amateur Radio
   225-400 MHz Military aero, Little LEOs, CMRS
   
UHF 300MHz-3GHz (Ultra High Freq.) ITU Band 9
   328-335 Aeronautical Radionavigation
   400-419 MHz Government
   406 MHz signal via the COSPAS-SARSAT Satellite Notification system -
        PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons  -  Wilderness travelers),
        ELTs (Emergency Locator Beacon - Aircraft) 
        EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon - Marine) 

   400-401 MSS (mobile satellite service)
   420-450  70-cm/440 Amateur Radio, Boimedical Telemetry, WLL
   433 MHz RF (Remote Thermometer,) Control (Remote Thermometer,)
   434 MHz (ATV band)
   450-470  UHF Standard
   451-454 Public Service (Police, ..)
   452 Taxi
   460-462 Public Service (Police, ..)
   443-473 MHz  Pager
   462-467 Citizens Band (2-Way Personal Radio/Walkie-Talkie)
    14 channels FRS, 8 channel GMRS
   461-469 Auto Racing (pit crew to car)
   470-698 TV Ch. 14 -51
   470-480  Expanded (Large Metro) Public Safety & Comm.
   585-610 Radionavigation
   See Promoting Interoperability in the 700 MHz Band | FCC.gov
   
   698-746 Reallocated from TV channel 52-59 to commercial services
   704-716, 734-746 Band Class 12 (Lower B and C BLocks) 
        3G data services - Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
        3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards for Long-Term Evolution (LTE)
   747-806 Reallocated from TV channel 60-69 to mobil phone and other wireless
   746-757, 776-787 Upper C BLock
   806-824 SMR (ARDIS) Public Service
   807-890 TV channels 70-83
   821-824 Public Safety
   824-849 Cellular Mobil Telephone (AMPS, CDMA, TDMA, CDPD) 800 MHz
   851-869 SMR (NEXTEL) & Public Service/Trunking Repeater
   866-869 Public Safety (Police, )
   869-894 Cellular Mobil Telephone (AMPS, CDMA, TDMA, CDPD) 800 MHz
   894-960 Public Service
   896-901 SMR (RAM)
   890-960 GSM Mobil Phone in Europe, Israel, Far East, Australia,
   900 MHz Cordless Phones
   902+    Military Radar
   902-928 33-cm/900 Amateur Radio
   914-914 Wireless headphones
   915 MHz ISM WLAN
   930-931 MHz advanced paging/narowband PCS
   935-940 SMR
   960-1215 MHz ARNS (navigation)
Microwave 1 GHz - 300 GHz
 L-band 1000-2000MHz 
   1,240-1,300 MHz 23-cm/1240 Amateur Radio
   1,215-1,390 MSS, GWCS, Radar
   1,227 GPS L2 frequency P-code
   1,435-1,525 DAB, MSS
   1,400-1,700 Radio Astronomy and Weather Satellites
   1.4 GHz Cordless Phones
   1,559 GPS Aeronautical radionavigation service (ARNS)
   1,575 GPS L1 frequency - C/A code, P-Code
   1.6 GHz LEO (Low Earth Orbiting Satellites 500-1000 mi.),
                 satellite pagers
   1610-1618.7 MHz Globalstar Satellite Phones
   1.8 - 2.0 GHz PCS Mobil Telephone (CDMA, TDMA, GSM)
   1.8 - 1.9 GHz DECT (Europe)
 S-band 2000-4000MHz
   2.2 GHz WLL, MDS
   2.29-2.3 GHz Deep Space communication
   2.3-2.45 MHz 13-cm Amateur Radio (Amateur TV)
   2.4 GHz MicroWave Oven
   2.4 GHz ISM Band - License Free Wireless (Cordless Phone, BlueTooth,
           802.11b,n,ac (Wi-Fi) WLAN using DSSS to 11Mbps)
   2.1-2.7 GHz MMDS
 SHF 3 GHz - 30 GHz (Super High Frequency) ITU Band 10
   3.1-3.6     MDS, WLL, FSS
   3.3-3.7 GHz  WLAN band.
 C-band 4000-8000MHz
   3.7 - 4.2 Satellite to Earth communications
   4.4-5.0 GHz FSS, GWCS, Public Saftey
   5.5-5.7 WLAN 802.11a, n, ac
   5.725-5.85 GHz ISM U-NII Band License Free - WLAN 802.11a at 54 Mbps
                        (108 Mbps in the future)
   5.8-5.9 proposed DSRC, Radar
   5.9-6.4 GHz Earth to Satellite communications

 X-band 8-12 GHz
    10.5 Police Radar
    10.7-13.2  Commercial use
 Ku-band 12GHz-18 GHz
    11-12 GHz Satellite to ground
    12 GHz CARS
 K-band 18 GHz-27 GHz
   NASA - Satellite comm
   24.15 GHz Police Radar
EHF 30 GHz - 300 GHz (Extremely High Frequency) ITU Band 11
 Ka-band 27-40 GHz Millimeter Wave Frequencies
   20 GHz LEOS
   31 GHz LMDS 
   Commco Tec, Winstar 28, 38
 V-band 40-75 GHz
60 GHz WirelessHD more bandwidth than hardwired USB 3.0 connections.
 W-band 75-110 GHz

Beyond Radio Frequency
At 300GHz the wave length is 0.1 mm and the em energy starts to behave more like
particles than waves.
( EM energy has properties of both waves and particles or quanta of energy.)
300 GHz - 3THz ITU Band 12
Infrared 100 GHz - 500 THz
 mm 110-300GHz
    Infrared radiation (IR) is used for heat lamps, night vision
     Wireless remote controls for TVs and data comm (e.g. for PDAs) up to 1Mbs.
  Far Infrared (FIR) (Thermal Infared) 15-1000 µm
  Moderate Infrared (MIR) 1.4-15 µm
  Near Infrared (NIR) 0.7-1.4 µm
   
Visible  500 THz - 900 THz
 400nm to 700nm.
 The visible light spectrum goes Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet
Ultraviolet 750x10¹² Hz (THz)- 30x10¹⁵ Hz (PHz)
  Steralization
    UVA (315-400 nm) - rays penetrate deeper into the skin
          and are implicated in premature ageing and wrinkling,
          as well as skin allergies and rashes. They are present
           all-day and all-year round.
    UVB (280-315 nm) - rays are responsible for sunburn.
                    They are at their most intense around
                     mid-day, during mid-summer,
    UVC - (100-280 nm) 
    VUV - ( 10-200 nm) Vacuum UV (absorbed by air)
    NUV - (300-400 nm) Near UV (visible to birds, insects and fish)
    MUV - (200-300 nm) Middle UV
    FUV - (122-200 nm) Far UV

X-Rays  30x10¹⁵ PHZ - 30x10¹⁸ EHz
  500 nm - 1 pm (overlaps UV)
  Medical diagnostics
  
Y Gamma rays 30x10¹⁸ - 10²⁸ Hz
  500 pm -
  Food Irradiation, cancer therapy
Cosmic rays  30x10¹⁸ (EHz)- 10²⁸ Hz
   NASA defines Cosmic Rays as Particles and high-energy light
   that bombard the Earth from anywhere beyond its atmosphere.
Theoritical Maximum  10⁴³

Super Unification Theory (Gravitation unified with combined force and matter fields) predicts a natural end of space and time at 10^-43 sec. and 10^-35 m This is the Planck scale and time - space-time becomes quantized and gains infinite curvature, so that the classical concepts of space and time become meaningless. No faster times or shorter distances. There is one unified field.

UV - X-Rays - Gamma:
Some charts have fixed boundaries between X-rays and UV and Gamma rays others have X-rays overlapping.

Terms
802.11 IEEE Wireless LAN standards
AMPS Advanced Mobile phone service.
ARDIS wireless data svc. 800 MHz
ARNS aeronautical radionavigation service (Air traffic control)
ATV  - Amateur Television, also known as fast scan television 
BCB  Broadcast Band (AM) - International (Shortwave)
CARS  Cable Television Relay Service
CDMA Code division multiple access (Mobil phone and 14Kbs data, spread spectrum)
CDPD Cellular digital packet data (19Kbs, AT&T, Verizon, ...)
CEPT Committee of European Posts and Telecommunications
CMRS Commercial Mobile Radio Service
CORES Commission Registration System (FCC) - the online registration system
DAB  Digital Audio Broadcasting
DSRC Dedicated short-range communication 
DECT Digital European Cordless Technology
DSSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
ELT  Emergency Locator Beacon - Aircraft 
EPIRB Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon - Marine
FCC  Federal Communications Commission
FRS  Family Radio Service 
  (14 channel + 38 privacy codes 2 mi. walkie talkie no license) 
FSS  Fixed Satellite Services
GHz  Giga (Billion 10^9)Hz
GMRS General Mobile Radio Service (8 channels 4 mi. 5 watts max. license req.)
GNSS Global Navigation Satellite Systems
GPRS General Packet Radio Service (64Kbs, Vodaphone, Mannesman)
GPRs Ground Penetrating Radar Systems
GSM  Global System for Mobile Communications
GWCS General Wireless Communications Service
Hz   Hertz - cycles per second
IG - Industrial Business
IRAC Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (NTIA group)
ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical band) - un-licensed bands
 e.g. 41 MHz (Garage door openers, ..)
  434 MHz, 868 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5.8GHz
  902 to 928 MHz
   Spread spectrum     1 W
   Microwave ovens     750 W
   Industrial heaters  up to 100 kW
   Military radar      up to 1000 kW

 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz Wi-FI, Cordless phones, BlueTooth, ZidgBee ( 802.15.4 - Home Automation)
   Spread spectrum     1 W
   Microwave ovens     900 W

 5.725 to 5.850GHz.
   Spread spectrum     1 W
KHz  Killo (Thousand)Hz
LEOS  Low Earth Orbiting Satellites
LMDS Local Multipoint Distribution System (28GHz)
LMR Land Mobil Radio. Communications between a base station and
    multiple mobile units.
  Used by government organizations, and transportation and security companies.
MHz  Mega  (Million 10^6) Hz
MCS Multipoint Communications Systems
MDS Multipoint Distribution System - wideband wireless telecommunications
    services that are capable of carrying basic and advanced communications such
    as "wireless" cable TV, high-speed Internet access, video teleconferencing,
    and various other multimedia services.
mm mili-meter wave length band
MMDS Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service
   or Microwave Multipoint Distribution Service
MSS  mobile satellite service
MURD Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS)
NAB  National Associacion of Broadcasters
NAVTEX  automatic broadcast of localised Maritime Safety Information (MSI)
   using Radio Telex (also known as Narrow Band Direct Printing, or NBDP)
NII National Information Infrastructure
NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
PHz  Pico Hz (10^15)
PCS  Personal Communications Service (or System).
  Two-way digital wireless services incl. mobil telephn
PART 15 - PART of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations  which regulates
     power and RF radiation.
PCS - Personal Communication Services (newer frequencies used for mobil phone svc)
PDA  Personal Digital Assistant (e.g. Palm Pilot, Handspring)
RAM
PLB - Personal Locator Beacon
PMRS Private Mobile Radio Service
RAM   wireless data svc. 896 - 901 MHz
RF - Radio Frequency
RNSS radionavigation satellite service
RD-LAP  Motorola protocol for data over wireless voice channels
SCADA Supervisory Control And Data Access (meter reading)
Shortwave - 1.7 - 30 MHz (International news, Ham, ...)
SMR  Specalized Mobil Radio (two-way dispatch and
    data services 19.2Kbs, ARDIS, RAM)
SST  Spread Spectrum technology
TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
THz  Terra Hz (Trillion 10^12)
U-NII Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure
UP   Unified Protocol
WLAN Wireless LAN
WLL Wireless Local Loop (Telephone svc)

Notation:

Frequency
KHz Killo (Thousand 10³) Hz
MHz Mega (Million 10⁶) Hz
GHz Giga (Billion 10⁹) Hz
THz Terra (Trillion 10¹²) Hz
PHz Peta (10¹⁵) Hz
EHz Exa (10¹⁸) Hz

Length
cm centi (10^-2) meter
mm mili (10^-3) meter
µm micro (10^-6) meter
nm nano (10^-9) meter
Å angstrom (10^-10) meter
pm pico (10^-12) meter
fm femto (10^-15) meter
am atto (10^-18) meter

See:
US Frequency Allocation: Dept. of Commerce > The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) > Office of Spectrum Management (OSM) > Frequency Chart
FCC > Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) > radio spectrum > Table (pdf)

radio channel frequencies

International: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) > Radiocommunication Bureau:
Terrestrial Services Department (TSD)
Space Network Systems (SNS)

Radio Spectrum Allocation
Wave Length at Elecrormagnetic Radiation Principles
Frequency Tables at symek.com
Radio Frequency and Tables at wikipedia.org
Detailed FCC Table of Frequency Allocations at: 3towers.com, Brooke Clarke
Scanner frequency lists for emergency services and other.

last updated 19 May 2016