Band name | Abbreviation | ITU band number | Frequency and wavelength | Example uses |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tremendously low frequency | TLF | — | <3 Hz 100,000 km |
— |
Extremely low frequency | ELF | 1 | 3–30 Hz 100,000–10,000 km |
Communication with submarines |
Super low frequency | SLF | 2 | 30–300 Hz 10,000–1,000 km |
Communication with submarines |
Ultra low frequency | ULF | 3 | 300–3,000 Hz 1,000–100 km |
Communication with submarines, communication within mines, landline telephony, fax machines, fiber-optic communication |
Very low frequency | VLF | 4 | 3–30 kHz 100–10 km |
Navigation, time signals, communication with submarines, wireless heart rate monitors, geophysics |
Low frequency | LF | 5 | 30–300 kHz 10–1 km |
Navigation, time signals, AM longwave broadcasting (Europe and parts of Asia), RFID, amateur radio. |
Medium frequency | MF | 6 | 300–3,000 kHz 1,000–100 m |
AM (medium-wave) broadcasts, amateur radio, avalanche beacons, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, electrical telegraph, wireless telegraphy, radioteletype, dial-up internet. |
High frequency | HF | 7 | 3–30 MHz 100–10 m |
Shortwave broadcasts, citizens band radio, amateur radio and over-the-horizon aviation communications, RFID, over-the-horizon radar, automatic link establishment (ALE) / near-vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) radio communications, marine and mobile radio telephony, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, cordless phones. |
Very high frequency | VHF | 8 | 30–300 MHz 10–1 m |
FM broadcasts, television broadcasts, cable television broadcasting, radars, line-of-sight ground-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-aircraft communications, radioteletype, land mobile and maritime mobile communications, amateur radio, police, fire and emergency medical services scanners, weather radio, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, cordless phones. |
Ultra high frequency | UHF | 9 | 300–3,000 MHz 100–10 cm |
Television broadcasts, cable television broadcasting, microwave oven, radars, microwave devices/communications, radio astronomy, radars (L band), mobile phones, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS and two-way radios such as land mobile, FRS and GMRS radios, amateur radio, satellite radio, police, fire and emergency medical services scanners, remote control systems, ADSB, cordless phones, internet, dial-up internet, satellite broadcasting, communication satellites, weather satellites, satellite phones (L band), satellite phones (S band). |
Super high frequency | SHF | 10 | 3–30 GHz 10–1 cm |
Radio astronomy, microwave devices/communications, wireless LAN, DSRC, most modern radars, communications satellites, cable and satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur radio, satellite broadcasting, communication satellites, weather satellites, satellite radio, cordless phones, internet, satellite phones (S band). |
Extremely high frequency | EHF | 11 | 30–300 GHz 10–1 mm |
Radio astronomy, satellite broadcasting, communication satellites, weather satellites, high-frequency microwave radio relay, microwave remote sensing, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave scanner, Wireless Lan 802.11ad, internet. |
Terahertz or tremendously high frequency | THF | 12 | 300–3,000 GHz 1–0.1 mm |
Experimental medical imaging to replace X-rays, ultrafast molecular dynamics, condensed-matter physics, terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, terahertz computing/communications, remote sensing |