UAV Frequency Bands

From HFUnderground

Drone data link bands. Digital data link. Control station radio link. UHF line of sight for most applications. Some use of UHF/SHF bands as well as various license-free remote control RC R/C, short range device (SRD) or low power civilian frequency bands, often vaguely referred to as “ISM bands”, “Part 15 bands”, “UHF”, “L-band” (which just means “1-2 GHz”), “S-band” (which means “2-4 GHz”). Note that military standardization including NATO bands do not use these same designators, D-band / E-band / F-band referring to the 1-2 GHz band, 2-3 GHz band and 3-4 GHz band respectively.

900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz are extremely popular due to their relatively high power output capability and wide bandwidth for high definition broadband transmission back to the control station, mesh network operation, use of frequency hopping, etc. These bands are sometimes simply called "sub-GHz" (for 900 MHz - 902-928 MHz, 600 MHz - 1000 MHz on a bigger picture and/or in a frequency agile environment), the 2.4G band (for 2.4 GHz - 2400 MHz - 2483.5 MHz or 2400 MHz - 2500 MHz), 5G band (not to be confused with 5G mobile systems) for the 5 GHz band, and 5.8G for the 5.8 GHz band (5725 MHz - 5875 MHz / 5.725 GHz - 5.875 GHz). Good examples of this include the DJI drone systems, which use the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands for uplink and downlink, 2400 MHz - 2483.5 MHz and 5725 MHz - 5850 MHz, respectively.

• License free UAV bands UAS frequency bands drone data link list VHF/UHF/SHF LOS - Line of Sight and BLOS - Beyond Line of Sight (using either satellite-based control links and/or another UAV/UAS or drone operating a radio relay to increase range.

Range is significantly impacted by the drone’s altitude, the elevation of the control station’s transmitter antenna or antennas, the frequency or frequencies used, antenna performance, obstructions in between the control station and the drone as well as noise and interference on the frequency band(s) in use. Noise and interference may be unintentional (heavily congested license free spectrum) or it may be intentional interference (jamming, electronic warfare (EW) jammers or “radio suppression” may significantly degrade the signal to noise ratio enough to reduce effective range and/or interfere with navigation systems such as GPS (jamming or spoofing).

Note that not all frequencies are available in all areas. For example, in the United States, the 433 MHz band is allocated to the amateur radio service and is also used for military radar purposes, and the 900 MHz band is shared between ham radio (33cm band), Part 15 license free voice and data systems as well as Part 90 radiolocation, fixed point-to-point systems, long range cordless phones, telemetry, remote control and other services.

• 900 MHz band: 902 MHz - 928 MHz - including Mesh networks such as Meshtastic, LoRa, etc.
• 2.4 GHz band: 2400 MHz - 2500 MHz 2.4 GHz - 2.5 GHz
• 5 GHz band: various allocations 5000 MHz - 5725 MHz - sometimes called the 5-6 GHz band.
• 5.8 GHz band: 5725 MHz - 5875 MHz 5.725 GHz - 5.875 MHz
• Below 900 MHz Bands:
• SRD860 band: 865 MHz - 870 MHz
• LPD433 band: 433.050 MHz - 434.775 MHz (433-435 MHz) or 433MHz band 433.92 MHz

• Mesh rider radio waveform bands, WiFi / Wi-Fi compliance 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
• M bands - Full frequency range 1625 MHz - 2510 MHz 1.625 GHz - 2.51 GHz
• M1 band: 1625 MHz - 1725 MHz - 1.7 GHz band
• M2 band: 1780 MHz - 1850 MHz - 1.8 GHz band
• M3 band: 2025 MHz - 2110 MHz - 2.0 GHz band
• M4 band: 2200 MHz - 2290 MHz - 2.2 GHz band
• M5 band: 2310 MHz - 2390 MHz - 2.3 GHz band
• M6 band: 2400 MHz - 2510 MHz (2.4 GHz band overlap)

• Narrowband remote control frequency bands, including
• the European CEPT standardized bands:
• 35 MHz RC band - 34.995 MHz - 35.225 MHz (100mW power limit)
• 40 MHz RC band - 40.66 MHz - 40.70 MHz shared with short range devices or SRDs, ISM, paging systems, the 8 meter ham radio band
• 72 MHz RC band - country specific - not available in all areas
• 75 MHz RC band - country specific - not available in all areas
• Various country-specific bands from 26-28 MHz, 29.7-50 MHz bands and various 137-174 MHz, 420-470 MHz bands, 800MHz, 900MHz, others.

• U.S. Part 95 RCRS 27 MHz band 26-28 MHz (high power long range ground to air control channel, very long range 50-100+ km - channel bandwidth limit 8 kHz

possible with 4w / 25w frequencies antenna may be mounted up to 60 feet (18.3 m) above ground.

• U.S. Part 95 RCRS 72MHz VHF band 50 frequency channels specifically for controlling aircraft 750mW power, antenna may be mounted up to 60 feet (18.3m) above ground. Channel bandwidth limited to 8 kHz.
• U.S. Part 95 MURS VHF service narrowband control links, ground to air only. 2 watt power limit, no antenna gain limit, antenna may be up to 60 feet above ground. 3 channels with 11.25 kHz channel bandwidth, 2 channels with 20 kHz channel bandwidth. Very long range ground-to-air control radio links possible using VHF allocations.

• 5.8 GHz Band

Frequency range 5725 - 5875 MHz 5.725 GHz to 5.875 GHz

Used for FPV drones, among many other purposes. Some channels below are not legal for use in the UK, frequencies immediately below 5725 MHz and/or immediately above 5875 MHz are allocated to other services, including the 5.6 GHz and 5.9 GHz channels indicated.

• Channel A1 - 5865 MHz / 5.865 GHz
• Channel A2 - 5845 MHz / 5.845 GHz
• Channel A3 - 5825 MHz / 5.825 GHz
• Channel A4 - 5805 MHz / 5.805 GHz
• Channel A5 - 5785 MHz / 5.785 GHz
• Channel A6 - 5765 MHz / 5.765 GHz
• Channel A7 - 5745 MHz / 5.745 GHz
• Channel A8 - 5725 MHz / 5.725 GHz
• Channel B1 - 5733 MHz / 5.733 GHz
• Channel B2 - 5752 MHz / 5.752 GHz
• Channel B3 - 5771 MHz / 5.771 GHz
• Channel B4 - 5790 MHz / 5.790 GHz
• Channel B5 - 5809 MHz / 5.809 GHz
• Channel B6 - 5828 MHz / 5.828 GHz
• Channel B7 - 5847 MHz / 5.847 GHz
• Channel B8 - 5866 MHz / 5.866 GHz
• Channel E1 - 5705 MHz / 5.705 GHz
• Channel E2 - 5685 MHz / 5.685 GHz
• Channel E3 - 5665 MHz / 5.665 GHz
• Channel E4 - 5645 MHz / 5.645 GHz
• Channel E5 - 5885 MHz / 5.885 GHz
• Channel E6 - 5905 MHz / 5.905 GHz
• Channel E7 - 5925 MHz / 5.925 GHz
• Channel E8 - 5945 MHz / 5.945 GHz
• Channel F1 - 5740 MHz / 5.740 GHz
• Channel F2 - 5760 MHz / 5.760 GHz
• Channel F3 - 5780 MHz / 5.780 GHz
• Channel F4 - 5800 MHz / 5.800 GHz
• Channel F5 - 5820 MHz / 5.820 GHz
• Channel F6 - 5840 MHz / 5.840 GHz
• Channel F7 - 5860 MHz / 5.860 GHz
• Channel F8 - 5880 MHz / 5.880 GHz

• 3 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz and 20 MHz channel bandwidths available. Command and control datalink channel URLLC Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Control. Encryption Level 1 FIPS 140-3 compliance.

• Drone frequencies
• Drone Radio Frequency Bands
• UAS Frequency Bands
• UAS Frequencies List
• UAV Frequencies List