14 What are the am/fm broadcast bands?
Description
This article is from the Shortwave radio FAQ, by Ralph Brandi rbrandi@lucent.com with numerous contributions by others.
14 What are the am/fm broadcast bands?
The mediumwave (commonly referred to as AM) broadcast band currently
extends from 525 to 1605 kilohertz. Channels are spaced in even 10 kHz
increments; i.e.: 530, 540, 550, ... , 1600 kHz in the United States and
Canada. Elsewhere, channels are spaced in 9 kHz increments, i.e.: 531,
540, 549, etc.
In the United States, the band is being expanded to 1700 kHz. Stations
which are currently experiencing high levels of interference will begin
appearing on the 1610-1700 kHz frequencies sometime in late 1993 or
1994. They will simulcast the new frequencies with the old for a period
of a few years, eventually dropping the `old' frequency. This opening up
of new channels presents some once-in a lifetime opportunities for the
alert mediumwave DXer.
The VHF-FM broadcast band in the United States extends from 88 to 108
megahertz. Channels are assigned at 200 kHz increments; i.e.: 88.1,
88.3, 88.5, ... , 107.9. The channels from 88.1 to 91.9 are reserved
for noncommercial educational stations. Outside the United States and
Canada, the boundaries and channel spacing vary. In Japan, the band
starts at 76 MHz. In Western Europe, the band generally runs from
88-108 MHz, but channels can be irregularly spaced, i.e.: 101.25 MHz.
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