Monitoring the Military Part 1

I wrote this article for the January 2007 issue of Key Klix, the newsletter of the Amateur Radio Club of Savannah (ARCS). The main purpose of this article is to give those new to or unfamiliar with military monitoring some starting points for the frequency ranges used.

More new scanners, as well as some amateur radio gear, are being produced with the ability to monitor a subject that doesn’t get much attention in the general scanning community. Most radio hobbyists are familiar with monitoring pubic safety type communications, but not with monitoring military communications. The Savannah area is rich with military communications to monitor. With this series of articles, I hope to open up the basics of the easiest part of military monitoring, military aviation, to you.

In order to monitor military communications, you have to get used to some different sets of frequencies than what public safety communications use. Additionally, some of these frequency ranges utilize AM rather than FM. For this reason, it is important to look for gear with selectable modes when looking for a radio to monitor the military with.

30.000-88.000 MHz
This frequency range uses 25 kHz steps in FM mode. The Amateur 6-meter band is in the middle of this frequency range, but look here for military activity, too. This range is used for ground communications and by aircraft such as Army and Marine helicopters and the USAF A-10.

118.000-136.000 MHz
Many of you are already familiar with the VHF airband. This range uses 25 kHz steps and uses AM mode. Military aviation utilizes the airband along with civilian aviation. Many of the cargo and transportation type aircraft use this range almost exclusively for air traffic control.

138.000-144.00 MHz
This frequency range uses 12.5 kHz steps and both AM and FM modes. It is used for air and ground communications. Air communications utilize AM mode. USAF F-16s and A-10s frequently use this frequency range for air-to-air communications. Ground communications use FM mode. Many 2-meter and dual band radios have the ability to monitor this range although not necessarily in AM.

148.000-150.800 MHz
Although there are some non-government users in the top of this frequency range, this range is used by the military mostly for ground communications with 12.5 kHz steps in FM mode. There is some air communications utilizing AM, but it is not as frequently used for air communications as 138-144 MHz and 225-400 MHz is. Just as with the 138-144 MHz band, many 2-meter and dual band radios have the ability to receive this range.

162.000-174.000 MHz
Commonly known as the VHF federal band, the military also uses this frequency range for ground communications. 12.5 kHz steps and FM mode are used in this range, although more and more users are starting to use the P25 digital mode. It is not unusual to run into encryption in use by both federal and military users in this band.

225.000-400.000 MHz
This is the big one, the military airband. For the most part, this frequency range uses 25 kHz steps and AM mode. This band is currently undergoing changes, with the top 20 MHz being shifted to land mobile use in 12.5 kHz steps and FM mode. The rest of the band is primarily used for air-to-air and air-to-ground communications by aircraft of all the armed services. Satellite Communications are also found in this range using FM mode. Some command and control type aircraft also use this range in WFM (wideband FM) and USB modes. Although this range has been left out of many scanners in the past, it is starting to be included in many newer ones. It can also be found in some dual band amateur gear.

406.000-420.000 MHz
Commonly known as the UHF federal band, the military also uses this frequency range for ground communications. 12.5 kHz steps and FM mode are used, although just like 162.000-174.000 MHz, P25 digital is coming into use. Frequencies in this range are also used for military base trunking systems.


With the frequency ranges explained, next month we’ll begin to move into some specifics of how they are used in the Savannah area, beginning with air traffic control frequencies. Air Traffic Control is the best place to start finding military aviation communications. Of all the forms of military communications, military aviation is the easiest to hear because the altitude at which the aircraft are flying. You can hear quite a bit even with a handheld. Until then, try searching through these frequency ranges, you never know what you might find.


Mac McCormick, KF4LMT
kf4lmt@comcast.net