Listed below is the radio spectrum allocation for North America which was in force in the early 1940's. It's intended to give the reader a general idea of where merchant or naval ships operated within the radio spectrum. Note that the practical upper limit of the radio spectrum in 1942 was around 400 MHz. This figure changed to 22 GHz in 1959 and revised to 300 GHz in 1992.
| FREQ in kc | ALLOCATION |
|---|---|
| 10 - 103 | Fixed, government |
| 103 - 141 | Coastal telegraph; government. |
| 143 - 193 | Maritime calling; ship telegraph; fixed and coastal telegraph (190kc
exclusive for police). |
| 194 - 391 | Government; fixed; airport; aircraft (375 kc for direction finding). |
| 392 - 548 | Coastal telegraph; government; ship telegraph; intership phone
(500kc for marine calling and distress). |
| 550 - 1600 | Commercial broadcasting. |
| 1600 - 1712 | Geophysical; relay; police; government; marine; experimental; fire;
aviation; motion pictures. |
| 1750 - 2050 | Amateur radio. |
| 2004 - 2500 | Experimental visual and relay broadcast; police; government; ship harbour;fixed; misc. |
| 2504 - 3497 | Coastal harbour; government; aviation; fixed. |
| 3500 - 4000 | Amateur radio. |
| 4005 - 6000 | Government; aviation; fixed. |
| 6020 - 6190 | International broadcasting; government. |
| 6200 - 6990 | Coastal telegraph and phone; government; fixed and miscellaneous. |
| 7000 - 7300 | Amateur radio. |
| 7305 - 9490 | Government; fixed; aviation; ship telegraph; coastal telegraph;
miscellaneous. |
| 9510 - 9690 | International broadcast. |
| 9710 - 11000 | Government; fixed aviation. |
| 11010 - 11685 | Ship telegraph; maritime calling; government; coastal telegraph |
| 11710 - 11890 | International broadcast; government. |
| 11910 - 13990 | Aviation; fixed; government; ship telegraph; coastal telegraph; misc. |
| 14000 - 14400 | Amateur radio. |
| 14410 - 15085 | Fixed. |
| 15110 - 15330 | International broadcast; government. |
| 15355 - 17740 | Fixed; government; aviation; ship and coastal telegraph. |
| 17660 - 17840 | International broadcast. |
| 17860 - 21440 | Fixed, government; aviation. |
| 21460 - 21650 | International broadcast; government. |
| 21650 - 23175 | Coastal telegraph; government; ship telegraph. |
| 23200 - 25000 | Aviation; government; miscellaneous. |
| 25025 - 26975 | Broadcast; government. |
| 27000 - 27975 | Government; general communication. |
| 28000 - 30000 | Amateur radio. |
| 30000 - 42000 | Police; government; relay broadcast; coastal and ship harbour. |
| 42000 - 50000 | Broadcast and educational - FM. |
| 50000 - 56000 | Television. |
| 56000 - 60000 | Amateur radio. |
| 60000 - 112000 | Television; government. |
| 112000 - 116000 | Amateur radio. |
| 116110 - 139960 | Broadcast; government; aviation; police; misc. |
| 140100 - 143880 | Aviation. |
| 144000 - 400000 | Government; television ; amateur radio; fixed. |
| Above 400000 | Experimental |
Source: 1942 Amateur Radio Handbook
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