HAM / HF / Business Band

Contents

  1. 1 Amateur ("Ham") Radio. 
  2. 2 NOAA Space Weather Scale for Geomagnetic Storms, Solar Radiation Storms, and Radio Blackouts
  3. 3 Long Haul HF
  4. 4 Business band
    1. 4.1 Frequency charts 
      1. 4.1.1 Low-band frequencies (low power)
      2. 4.1.2 VHF frequencies

Amateur ("Ham") Radio. 

An amateur radio license requires passing written tests, but there is no longer a Morse Code test. Hams have access to many frequency bands and up to 1,000 watts (or 1.500 watts in SSB). Hams can operate local line-of-sight to global communications. Every survival group should have a licensed amateur radio operator. Because of their license test studies, hams understand radio theory, propagation, and operating procedures.

Amateur Radio Bands | Ham Bands Color Chart PDF

"CW" means morse code. Rapidly turning the transmitter on and off with a hand operated switch called a telegraph key. When passed through a beat frequency oscillator (BFO) in the receiver, it sounds like a series of short and long tones. Each letter or number have an unique Morse Code pattern of tones. AMATEUR ( Ham ) RADIO NETS handle emergency messages during disasters. Amateur radio stations do not have assigned frequencies. All frequencies listed are approximate. 

ARRL ( American Radio Relay League ) during a communications emergency transmits hourly bulletins from their station W1AW in Newington, CT. 

VOICE hh:00 MORSE CODE hh:30 

  • 160 Meters: xxxx1.855 LSB 1.8175
  • 80 Meters: 3.990 LSB 3.5815
  • 40 Meters: 7.290 LSB 7.0475
  • 20 Meters: 14.290 USB 14.0475 
  • 17 Meters: 18.160 USB 18.0975
  • 15 Meters: 21.390 USB 21.0675
  • 10 Meters: 28.590 USB 28.0675

See the ARRL web site.

NOAA Space Weather Scale for Geomagnetic Storms, Solar Radiation Storms, and Radio Blackouts

ARRL has an online search for amateur radio nets.

Hurricane Watch Net is active whenever a hurricane is within 300 miles of land in the northern western hemisphere. Amateur radio station WX4NHC located at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, FL.

  • 3.977 LSB nights
  • 7.265 LSB nights
  • 14.265 USB daytime

More information about National Hurricane Center athttp://www.fiu.edu/orgs/w4ehw/
Additional hurricane net frequencies can be obtained athttp://www.hurricanefrequencies.com

SATERN The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network is called on 14.265 MHz daily ( except Sundays ) at 1500 z ( 1000 EST or 0900 EDT ).

  • 3.740 LSB
  • 3.977 LSB
  • 7.265 LSB
  • 14.265 USB - daytime primary frequency

See web site http://www.satern.org/net further information 


More information about amateur radio, see the ARRL web site.


Another resource for frequencies omitted that should be visited is RadioReference.com for up-to-date information on frequencies, changes, digital monitoring and state-by-state lists of what to tune to.

Long Haul HF


HF can link the continent together so you know what is happening all the way across the continent, even to the other end of the continent. It beats restricting yourself to only knowing what's going on 20, 40 or 60 miles away.(Not to mention talking worldwide or just listening worldwide, Hmmm?). Check out this article on the Regency Net and GRC-215s radios to get an idea of how the government planned to use HF to provide trans and post attack communications among nuclear capable units in the European Theater and then applied the concept for use in Continental United States (CONUS) for Federal Emergency Management Agency. (FEMA). (A U.S. Federal government agency) The acronym is also jokingly defined as "Foolishly Expecting Meaningful Aid."

Business band

The business band is the name used by US scanner hobbyists who listen to Federal Communications Commission licensees using Industrial/Business poolfrequencies. The regulations listing frequencies in this pool are contained in Subpart C of Part 90, Title 47 of the CFR. 

The pool describes a series of frequencies on the VHF and UHF two-way radio bands. They are reserved for use by businesses, and in some cases, by individuals. In the United States, private use of these frequencies requires a federal license issued by the U.S. FCC. The exceptions to this are five specific frequencies that are also part of the Multi-Use Radio Service, which permits unlicensed operation on these frequencies, provided the output power does not exceed 2 watts. 

The electromagnetic spectrum between approximately 450 and 470 MHz is used largely for UHF business communications, although this spectrum is not exclusively for business use. In some large metropolitan areas, such as New York, the UHF-T band (between 470 and 512 MHz) is also used, due to congestion on the standard VHF or UHF bands. There are also a number of specific frequencies, in both the VHF and UHF spectrum, that are for business use; some of these have color-coded names, such as Blue Dot or Red Star. 

Frequency charts 

Although the term "business band" refers to several discrete frequencies that are not grouped into a single band, the frequencies are grouped by band and listed below.

Low-band frequencies (low power)

  • 27.490 MHz
  • 27.510 MHz
  • 27.553 MHz
  • 30.840 MHz
  • 33.120 MHz
  • 33.140 MHz
  • 33.400 MHz
  • 35.020 MHz
  • 35.040 MHz
  • 42.980 MHz
  • 43.040 MHz

VHF frequencies

Name Frequency Notes
Red Dot 151.625 MHz Itinerant
  151.820 MHz Un-licensed Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS); 2 watts, 11.25 kHz bandwidth
  151.880 MHz Un-licensed Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS); 2 watts, 11.25 kHz bandwidth
  151.940 MHz Un-licensed Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS); 2 watts, 11.25 kHz bandwidth
Purple Dot 151.955 MHz  
  154.515 MHz  
  154.540 MHz  
Blue Dot 154.570 MHz Un-licensed Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS); 2 watts, 20 kHz bandwidth
Green Dot 154.600 MHz

Un-licensed Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS); 2 watts, 20 kHz bandwidth

 

 


 

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