OK, I understand frequencies. A Tech license is allowed to run on anything above 50Mhz. But the book I'm reading keeps talking about "bands", but he really doesn't say what they are. Also, when he says "2m" or "50m" bands, what are these? Is it how far the radio can transmit? Thanks...
Can anyone explain radio bands?
- Thread starter thehstrybean
- Start date
Now I don't have an amature radio license but I did study for it for a while, a band is the range of frequencies that one can operate on.
So how are bands split up? This is frustrating because no place on the net has a study guide...ugh...
* AM broadcast band (530?1610kHz, to 1700 in the Americas)
* Shortwave bands (5.9?26.1 MHz)
* Citizens' band
* Television stations 2?6 (54?88 MHz in the Americas)
* FM broadcast band (88?108 MHz, except 76?90 in Japan)
* Aircraft band (108?136 MHz), for air traffic control
* Television stations 7?13 (174?216 MHz in the Americas)
* L band (1452?1492 MHz) for digital radio (DAB) outside the US
* Amateur radio bands among several different frequencies
* Military bands
o X-Band 8?10 GHz
o S-Band 1750?2400 MHz
* Radionavigation beacons, such as LORAN and GPS
Each of these bands has a basic bandplan which dictates how it is to be used and shared, to avoid interference and to set protocol for the compatibility of transmitters and receivers.
Note that as a matter of physics, bands are divided at wavelengths of 10^n metres, or frequencies of 3×10^n hertz. For example, 30 MHz or 10 m divides shortwave (lower and longer) from VHF (shorter and higher). These are the parts of the radio spectrum, and not its frequency allocation.
* Shortwave bands (5.9?26.1 MHz)
* Citizens' band
* Television stations 2?6 (54?88 MHz in the Americas)
* FM broadcast band (88?108 MHz, except 76?90 in Japan)
* Aircraft band (108?136 MHz), for air traffic control
* Television stations 7?13 (174?216 MHz in the Americas)
* L band (1452?1492 MHz) for digital radio (DAB) outside the US
* Amateur radio bands among several different frequencies
* Military bands
o X-Band 8?10 GHz
o S-Band 1750?2400 MHz
* Radionavigation beacons, such as LORAN and GPS
Each of these bands has a basic bandplan which dictates how it is to be used and shared, to avoid interference and to set protocol for the compatibility of transmitters and receivers.
Note that as a matter of physics, bands are divided at wavelengths of 10^n metres, or frequencies of 3×10^n hertz. For example, 30 MHz or 10 m divides shortwave (lower and longer) from VHF (shorter and higher). These are the parts of the radio spectrum, and not its frequency allocation.
I got a book from Radioshack, and also the Amature Radio magazine and it helped alot. Not much as far as study guides online. Mostly oldtimers bragging about their equipment and how far they have reached 
OK. That makes since. I had to reread the section on SSB because of LSB & USB (confused the fvck out of me), but I think I've got some of it. So now what's with the meter designations?
Your point of confusion may be the labels. A band is just a range of frequencies, but they are labeled by their wavelength (Meters) rather than their frequency (Hz).
So 2m is the wavelength of the wave rather than something else? I thought it was how far the signal went. That makes a hell of a lot more sense. So when someone told to get a 2m radio...?
So if I'm reading this book right, getting a tech license means you are out of the HF range and all in the VHF, and most of ham radio is in the HF.
I don't know that much about ham, but I do know that they like to use an extremely long bandwidth, which allows their transmissions to achieve longer distances by taking advantage of some quirks of the physics of the earth. This means Extremely Low Frequencies.
Sounds like the materials you are using are designed to help you pass the exam but are short on theory.
Sadly yes. I went to Barnes and Noble and they only had two books. One was by AARL and it was a bunch of test questions, but it didn't explain anything. The other was a "dummies" guide, and I got that. It explains some stuff, but he just randomly starts throwing out "bands" and "m" and stuff like that. eHam had a great guide that I dug to find.
That ARRL book was probably the Question & Answer book, which is all the possible questions you could be asked when you go to write your test. So out of all those questions in the book, only a subset will be on the test. It can be a great help to make sure you've learned all the theory.
cardiac
Platinum Member
- Oct 9, 1999
- 2,082
- 14
- 81
Here are two places you can take practice tests online. Helps with your studies.....
AA9PW site
QRZ
The FCC just released an order that they are doing away with Morse code for all license classes. Read that here: Amateur Radio Relay League
Bob
AA9PW site
QRZ
The FCC just released an order that they are doing away with Morse code for all license classes. Read that here: Amateur Radio Relay League
Bob
You want to experiment with ELF? :Q
The lowest frequency you can get with ham radio is somewhere in MF, 160 meters, or about 1.7MHz.
ELF, extremely low frequency, has a wavelength from 10,000 to 100,000 kilometers, and requires some pretty specialized equipment to broadcast. I think the military uses ELF for submarine communication and mind control, but that is about it.
.. you meant HF and MF, right? You can bounce radio waves off the ionosphere with those, and they are within ham bands.
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