Longwave

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For other uses, see Longwave (disambiguation).


The tuning dial on a 1940s radio, showing longwave frequencies from 150 to 375 kHz
In radio, longwave refers to parts of the radio spectrum with relatively long wavelengths. The term is
a historic one dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was considered to consist
of long, medium and short wavelengths. Most modern radio systems and devices use wavelengths
which would then have been considered 'ultra-short'.
In contemporary usage, the term longwave is not defined precisely and its meaning varies across the
world. The most common definition is the radio band with wavelengths greater than 1000 meters
(frequencies less than 300 kHz),
[1][2][3]
which would include the ITUs low frequency (LF) (30300 kHz)
and very low frequency (VLF) (330 kHz) bands, but sometimes part of the medium frequency (MF)
band (3003000 kHz) is included.
[4]
In all cases it includes the entire LF band.
In the US, the Longwave Club of America is interested in "frequencies below the AM broadcast
band",
[5]
i.e., all frequencies below 535 kHz. (Lower frequencies correspond to longer wavelengths.)
In Europe, Africa and large parts of Asia (ITU Region 1), where a range of frequencies between
148.5 and 283.5 kHz is used for AM broadcasting (in addition to the medium wave band), the term
longwave usually refers specifically to this broadcasting band.
The Region 1 longwave broadcast band falls wholly within the low frequency band of the radio
spectrum (30300 kHz); broader definitions of longwave may extend below and/or above it.
Contents
[hide]
1 Non-broadcast use
o 1.1 Non-directional beacons
o 1.2 Time signals
o 1.3 Military communication
o 1.4 LowFER
2 Broadcasting
o 2.1 Carrier frequencies
o 2.2 List of longwave broadcasting transmitters
3 Notes and references
4 See also
5 External links
Non-broadcast use[edit]
Non-directional beacons[edit]
Main article: Non-directional beacon
Non-directional beacons transmit continuously for the benefit of radio direction finders in marine and
aeronautical navigation. They identify themselves by a callsign in Morse Code. They can occupy any
frequency in the range 1901750 kHz. In North America they occupy 190535 kHz. In ITU Region 1
the lower limit is 280 kHz.
Time signals[edit]
There are stations in the range 4080 kHz that transmit time signals to radio clocks. For example:
WWVB in Colorado on 60 kHz.
DCF77 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on 77.5 kHz.
JJY in Japan on 40 & 60 kHz.
66.6 kHz in Taldom transmitter, Russia.
50 kHz in Irkutsk, Russia.
MSF time and 60 kHz frequency standard transmitted from Anthorn in the UK
Radio controlled clocks receive their time calibrations signal with built-in longwave receivers. They
use longwave, rather than shortwave or mediumwave, because the accuracy of the clocks is not
affected by the time signal's travel from the transmitter to the ionosphere and to the receiver; as
longwave travels by groundwave, rather than skywave.
Military communication[edit]
The United Kingdom, Russian Federation, United States, Germany, and Sweden use frequencies
below 50 kHz to communicate with their submarines.
LowFER[edit]
In North America during the 1970s the frequencies 167, 179 and 191 kHz were assigned to the short-
lived Public Emergency Radio of the United States. Nowadays the 160190 kHz range is used in the
United States for Part 15 LowFER amateur and experimental stations, and the 190435 kHz band is
used for navigational beacons.
Broadcasting[edit]
Longwave is used only within ITU Region 1. Most of the longwave broadcasters are in Europe,
the former Soviet Union and Mongolia. The rest are located in Turkey, Algeria, Morocco,
and Libya.Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have vacant low powered broadcasting
allocations.
Typically, a larger area can be covered by a longwave broadcast transmitter than a medium-
wave one. This is because ground-wave propagation suffers less attenuation due to limited ground
conductivity at lower frequencies.
[6]

Carrier frequencies[edit]
Carrier frequencies are exact multiples of 9 kHz ranging from 153 to 279 kHz, except for two stations
in Germany on 177 kHz and 183 kHz.
Until the 1970s, some longwave stations in northern and eastern Europe and the Soviet Union
operated on frequencies as high as 433 kHz.
[7]

Some stations, for instance Droitwich in the UK, derive their carrier frequencies from an atomic clock.
They can be therefore used as frequency standards. Droitwich also broadcasts a low bit-rate data
channel, using narrow-shift phase-shift keying of the carrier, for Radio Teleswitch Services.