Alex Discovers Amateur Radio

2 Both. There are BANDS of frequencies set aside for Amateur use. Some bands use low frequencies – these are long waves, longer than a house – and some use high frequencies. Some Amateur waves are so small they are called ‘microwaves’ . That’s not Amateur Radio. Radio is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, just like x-rays and light. All electromagnetic energy travels in waves at the speed of light. The longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency and the shorter the wavelength the higher the frequency. So are Amateur Radio waves longer or shorter than one’s received by my radio? But why not? I hear music on my radio all the time. Amateur Radio is a fun and exciting hobby. It is regulated and licensed in the UK by OFCOM . You can’t broadcast or play music over Amateur Radio. That’s Broadcast Radio . It transmits programmes as a public service, or to make money through advertising. Amateur Radio is not for commercial use, and your radio doesn’t pick up Amateur frequencies. Amateur Radio Bands available to beginners include: Low Frequency LF: 136KHz, High Frequency HF: 160m (1.8MHz), 80m (3.5MHz), 40m (7MHz), 30m (10MHz), 20m (14MHz), 17m (18MHz), 15m (21MHz), 12m (24MHz), 10m (28MHz), Very High Frequency VHF: 6m (50MHz), 4m (70MHz), 2m (144MHz), Ultra High Frequency UHF: 70cm (430MHz), Microwaves: 3cm (10GHz). Hz stands for Hertz and is named after the German scientist Heinrich Hertz who discovered electromagnetic waves – at first called Hertzian Waves. A frequency of 1 Hz is one wave per second, 1 KHz is one thousand per second, 1 MHz is 1 million, and 1 GHz a thousand million.