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Radio and Radar
Frequency Bands

Contents -- Frequency Multipliers | Police Radar Frequencies | Frequency Band Designations | Sound Waves
Frequency Multipliers
hertz Hz cycles per second 100 Hz 1 Hz
kilohertz kHz one thousand hertz 103 Hz 1,000 Hz
megahertz MHz one million hertz 106 Hz 1,000,000 Hz
gigahertz GHz one billion hertz 109 Hz 1,000,000,000 Hz
terahertz THz one trillion hertz 1012 Hz 1,000,000,000,000 Hz

Worldwide Police Radar Frequencies
Band Frequency Wavelength Notes
S 2.455 GHz 4.827 in
12.261 cm
obsolete
X 9.41 GHz 1.254 in
3.186 cm
Europe
X 9.90 GHz 1.192 in
3.028 cm
Europe
X 10.525 GHz 1.121 in
2.848 cm
USA
Ku 13.450 GHz 0.878 in
2.229 cm
Europe
Middle East
K 24.125 GHz 0.4892 in
1.243 cm
USA, Australia, Europe
K 24.150 GHz 0.4897 in
1.241 cm
USA
Ka 33.4 - 36.0 GHz 0.353 - 0.328 in
8.976 - 8.328 mm
USA, Australia, Europe
IR -- Infrared 331.6 THz 904 nm Laser Radar

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Frequency Band Designations

Military Radar Bands
Military radar band nomenclature, L, S, C, X, Ku, and K bands originated during World War II as a secret code so scientists and engineers could talk about frequencies without divulging them. After the war the codes were declassified and Ka band and millimeter (mm) were added. Military radar band nomenclature is widely used today in radar, satellite and terrestrial communications, and military electronic countermeasure applications.

Military Radar Bands
Radar Band Frequency Notes
HF 3 - 30 MHz High Frequency
VHF 30 - 300 MHz Very High Frequency
UHF 300 - 1000 MHz Ultra High Frequency
L 1 - 2 GHz
S 2 - 4 GHz
C 4 - 8 GHz
X 8 - 12 GHz
Ku 12 - 18 GHz
K 18 - 27 GHz
Ka 27 - 40 GHz
mm 40 - 300 GHz millimeter wavelength

Military HF, VHF, UHF same as Radio Band HF, VHF, UHF respectively.

ITU Radar Bands
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) specifies bands designated for radar systems. The ITU radar bands are sub-bands of military designations.

ITU Radar Bands
ITU Band Frequency
VHF 138 - 144 MHz
216 - 225 MHz
UHF 420 - 450 MHz
890 - 942 MHz
L 1.215 - 1.400 GHz
S 2.3 - 2.5 GHz
2.7 - 3.7 GHz
C 5.250 - 5.925 GHz
X 8.500 - 10.680 GHz
Ku 13.4 - 14.0 GHz
15.7 - 17.7 GHz
K 24.05 - 24.25 GHz
Ka 33.4 - 36.0 GHz

VHF -- Very High Frequency
UHF -- Ultra High Frequency

Radio Bands
Radio band designations are summarized below. Note that the radio band chart includes wavelength. In the early days of radio it was easier to measure wavelength than frequency.

Radio Frequency Bands
Band Nomenclature Frequency Wavelength
ELF Extremely Low Frequency 3 - 30 Hz 100,000 - 10,000 km
SLF Super Low Frequency 30 - 300 Hz 10,000 - 1,000 km
ULF Ultra Low Frequency 300 - 3000 Hz 1,000 - 100 km
VLF Very Low Frequency 3 - 30 kHz 100 - 10 km
LF Low Frequency 30 - 300 kHz 10 - 1 km
MF Medium Frequency 300 - 3000 kHz 1 km - 100 m
HF High Frequency 3 - 30 MHz 100 - 10 m
VHF Very High Frequency 30 - 300 MHz 10 - 1 m
UHF Ultra High Frequency 300 - 3000 MHz 1 m - 10 cm
SHF Super High Frequency 3 - 30 GHz 10 - 1 cm
EHF Extremely High Frequency 30 - 300 GHz 1 cm - 1 mm

ECM Bands
The electronic countermeasures (ECM) industry has it's own band designations.

ECM Bands
Band Frequency
A 30 - 250 MHz
B 250 - 500 MHz
C 500 - 1,000 MHz
D 1 - 2 GHz
E 2 - 3 GHz
F 3 - 4 GHz
G 4 - 6 GHz
H 6 - 8 GHz
I 8 - 10 GHz
J 10 - 20 GHz
K 20 - 40 GHz
L 40 - 60 GHz
M 60 - 100 GHz

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Sound Waves

Sound waves are air pressure waves that travel at 765 mph at sea level, not like electromagnetic radio or radar waves that travel at the speed of light. Sound is a pressure wave of vibrating air molecules, and does not exits in the vacuum of outer space.

Most people at best can hear sound waves between 20 and 20,000 Hertz, the audio band. Sound, pressure waves, can extend as high as 10 MHz, however above 160 kHz propagation range greatly decreases due to absorption by atmospheric gases, air.

Sound Bands
Band Frequency Range
infrasound 0 - 20 Hz
audio 20 - 20,000 Hz
ultrasound 20 kHz - 10 MHz


Sound Applications
Frequency Range Use Band
0 - 20 Hz Elephants, Whales infrasound
20 - 20,000 Hz Humans, Animals, Fish, SONAR audio
10 - 30 kHz Rodents audio - ultrasound
20 - 75 kHz Insects audio - ultrasound
20 - 160 kHz Bats, Dolphins ultrasound
100 kHz - 2 MHz Structures Test ultrasound
1 - 10 MHz Medical Applications ultrasound

AM radio broadcast electromagnetic waves from 0.5 - 1.6 MHz


CopRadar.com
Police Radar Information Center

Frequency Spectrum
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