Look at the dial on an old AM radio and you'll see frequencies marked from 535 to 1605 kilohertz. Imagine that band extended out many thousands of kilohertz, and you'll have some idea of how much additional radio spectrum is available for amateur, government, and commercial radio bands. It is here that you'll find aircraft, ship, fire, and police communication, as well as the so-called "shortwave" stations, which are world-wide commercial and government broadcast stations from Canada, the United States, and overseas.

Amateurs are allocated nine basic "bands" (ie. groups of frequencies) in the high frequency (HF) (shortwave) range between 1800 and 29,700 kilohertz, and another nineteen bands in the very high frequency (VHF), ultra high frequency (UHF), and microwave frequencies. Amateur Radio is basically a two-way communication ; but, if desired, and if given the right frequency and propagation conditions, Amateur Radio conversations may be heard around the world !

For a table of all the Amateur Radio Bands (in Canada), consult this web page, found at the RAC (the national organization for radio amateurs in Canada) web site.