Very low frequency

Very low frequency Frequency range 3 to 30 kHz

ITU Radio Band Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ITU Radio Band Symbols ELF SLF ULF VLF LF MF HF VHF UHF SHF EHF THF NATO Radio bands A B C D E F G H I J K L M IEEE Radar bands HF VHF UHF L S C X Ku K Ka Q V W

A VLF receiving antenna at Palmer Station, Antarctica, operated by Stanford University

Very low frequency or VLF refers to radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3 kHz to 30 kHz and wavelengths from 10 to 100 kilometres. Since there is not much bandwidth in this band of the radio spectrum, audio (voice) cannot be transmitted, and only low data rate coded signals are used. The VLF band is used for radio navigation services, government time radio stations which broacast time signals to set radio clocks, and for secure military communication. Since VLF waves penetrate about 40 meters into saltwater, they are used for military communication with submarines. Also known as the myriametre band or myriametre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten myriametres (an obsolete metric unit equal to 10 kilometres).

Propagation characteristics

Because of their large wavelengths, VLF radio waves can refract around large obstacles and so are not blocked by mountain ranges, and can propagate as a ground wave following the curvature of the Earth. The main mode of long distance propagation is an Earth-ionosphere waveguide mechanism. The Earth is surrounded by a conductive layer of ions in the atmosphere, the ionosphere D layer at 60 km altitude, which reflects VLF radio waves. This, and the conductive Earth, form a horizontal "duct" a few VLF wavelengths high, which acts as a waveguide confining the waves so they don't escape into space. The waves travel in a zigzag path around the Earth, reflected alternately by the Earth and the ionosphere, in TM (transverse magnetic) mode. VLF waves have low path attenuation, 2-3 dB per 1000 km, with little of the "fading" experienced at higher frequencies. Propagation distances of 5000 to 20000 km have been realized. However, atmospheric noise (sferics) is high in the band, including such phenomena as "whistlers", caused by lightning.

VLF waves can penetrate seawater to a depth of roughly 10 to 40 metres (30 to 130 feet), depending on the frequency employed and the salinity of the water, so they are used to communicate with submarines when they are at shallow depths.

A major practical drawback to this band is that resonant antennas (half wave dipole or quarter wave monopole antennas) cannot be built because of their physical size. Typical transmitting antennas such as umbrella antennas (mast radiators capacitively top-loaded by a network of cables) are electrically short, a small fraction of a wavelength long, and therefore are very inefficient, radiating only 10% to 20% of the transmitter power. So very high power transmitters (~1 megawatt) are required to radiate enough power for long distance communication.

The requirements for receiving antennas are less stringent because atmospheric noise and not receiver noise determines the signal to noise ratio, so small inefficient antennas can be used. Ferrite loop antennas are typically used for reception.

Applications

Part of the aerial of the Grimeton VLF transmitter

The frequency range below 9 kHz is not allocated by the International Telecommunication Union and may be used in some nations license-free. Many natural radio emissions, such as whistlers, can also be heard in this band.

VLF is used to communicate with submarines near the surface (for example using the transmitter DHO38), while ELF is used for deeply-submerged vessels. VLF is also used for radio navigation beacons (alpha) and time signals (beta). VLF is also used in electromagnetic geophysical surveys. [1]

In the USA, the time signal station WWVL began transmitting a 500 W signal on 20 kHz in August 1963. It used Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) to send data, shifting between 20 kHz and 26 kHz. The WWVL service was discontinued in July 1972.

The very long wave transmitter SAQ at Grimeton near Varberg in Sweden can be visited by the public at certain times, such as on Alexanderson Day.

Historically, this band was used for transcontinental radio communication during the wireless telegraphy era between about 1900 and 1925. Nations built networks of high power LF and VLF radio stations which transmitted text information by Morse code, to communicate with their colonies and naval fleets. Early attempts were made to use radiotelephone using amplitude modulation and single-sideband modulation within the band starting from 20 kHz, but the result was unsatisfactory because of the small available bandwidth.

VLF submarine communication methods

The VLF antenna of a World War II U‑boat

High power land-based transmitters in countries that operate submarines send signals that can be received thousands of miles away. Transmitter sites typically cover great areas (many acres or square kilometres), with transmitted power anywhere from 20 kW to 2 MW. Submarines receive the signal using some form of towed antenna which floats just under the surface of the water – for example a BCAA (Buoyant Cable Array Antenna). Modern receivers, such as those produced by Detica, use sophisticated digital signal processing techniques to remove the effects of atmospheric noise (largely caused by lightning strikes around the world) and adjacent channel signals, extending the useful reception range.

Because of the low bandwidth available it is not possible to transmit audio signals, therefore all messaging is done with alphanumeric data at very low bit rates. Three types of modulation are used:

• OOK / CWK: On-Off Keying / Continuous Wave Keying. Simple Morse code transmission mode where carrier on = mark and off = space. This is the simplest possible form of radio transmission, but it is difficult for transmitters to transmit high power levels, and the signal can easily be swamped by atmospheric noise, so this is only really used for emergencies or basic testing.
• FSK: Frequency-shift keying. The oldest and simplest form of digital radio data modulation. Frequency is increased by 25 Hz (for example) from the carrier to indicate a binary “1” and reduced by 25 Hz to indicate binary “0”. FSK is used at rates of 50 bit/s and 75 bit/s.
• MSK: Minimum-shift keying. A more sophisticated modulation method that uses less bandwidth for a given data rate than FSK. This is the normal mode for submarine communications today, and can be used at data rates up to 300 bit/s- or about 35 8-bit ASCII characters per second (or the equivalence of a sentence every two seconds) – a total of 450 words per minute. For comparison, the NCTJ's shorthand requirement is 100WPM for newspapers or 80WPM for magazines.

Two alternative character sets may be used: 5-bit ITA2 or 8-bit ASCII. Because these are military transmissions they are almost always encrypted for security reasons. Although it is relatively easy to receive the transmissions and convert them into a string of characters, civilians cannot decode any encrypted messages because they most likely use one-time pads since the amount of text is so small.

PC-based VLF reception

VLF signals are often monitored by radio amateurs using simple homemade VLF radio receivers based on personal computers (PCs). An aerial in the form of a coil of insulated wire is connected to the input of the soundcard of the PC (via a jack plug) and placed a few metres away from it. Fast Fourier transform (FFT) software in combination with a sound card allows reception of all frequencies below the Nyquist frequency simultaneously in the form of spectrogrammes. Because CRT monitors are strong sources of noise in the VLF range, it is recommended to record the spectrograms on hard disk with any PC CRT monitors turned off. These spectrograms show many signals, which may include VLF transmitters, the horizontal electron beam deflection of TV sets and sometimes superpulses and twenty second pulses. The strength of the signal received can vary with a Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance. These cause the ionization level to drop in the atmosphere. The result of this is that the VLF signal will reflect down to Earth with greater strength.

List of VLF transmissions

Callsign	Frequency	Location of transmitter	Remarks
-	11.905 kHz	Russia (various locations)	Alpha-Navigation
-	12.649 kHz	Russia (various locations)	Alpha-Navigation
-	14.881 kHz	Russia (various locations)
-	15.625 kHz	-	Frequency for horizontal deflection of electron beam in CRT televisions (576i)
-	15.734 kHz	-	Frequency for horizontal deflection of electron beam in CRT televisions (480i)
GBR	15.8 kHz	Rugby, England	(Regular transmissions ceased April 2003) Many publications listed its frequency as 16 kHz
JXN	16.4 kHz	Helgeland (Norway)
SAQ	17.2 kHz	Grimeton (Sweden)	Only active at special occasions (Alexanderson Day)
-	ca. 17.5 kHz	?	Twenty second pulses
NAA	17.8 kHz	VLF station (NAA) at Cutler, Maine[2]	Transmits occasionally Superpulses
RDL/UPD/UFQE/UPP/UPD8	18.1 kHz	Russia (various locations)
HWU	18.3 kHz	Le Blanc (France)	Frequently inactive for longer periods
RKS	18.9 kHz	Russia (various locations)	Rarely active
GBZ	19.6 kHz	Anthorn (Britain)	Many operation modes, even Superpulses.
NWC	19.8 kHz	Exmouth, Western Australia (AUS)	Used for submarine communication, 1 Megawatt.
ICV	20.27 kHz	Tavolara (Italia)
RJH63, RJH66, RJH69, RJH77, RJH99	20.5 kHz	Russia (various locations)	Time signal transmitter Beta
ICV	20.76 kHz	Tavolara (Italia)
HWU	20.9 kHz	Le Blanc (France)
RDL	21.1 kHz	Russia (various locations)	rarely active
NPM	21.4 kHz	Hawaii (USA)
HWU	21.75 kHz	Le Blanc (France)
GBZ	22.1 kHz	Skelton (Britain)
-	22.2 kHz	Ebino (Japan)
?	22.3 kHz	Russia?	Only active on 2nd of each month for a short period between 11:00 and 13:00 (respectively 10:00 and 12:00 in winter), if 2nd of each month is not a Sunday
RJH63, RJH66, RJH69, RJH77, RJH99	23 kHz	Russia (various locations)	Time signal transmitter Beta
DHO38	23.4 kHz	near Rhauderfehn (Germany)	submarine communication
NAA	24 kHz	Cutler, Maine (USA)	Used for submarine communication, at 2 megawatts. [3]
NLF	24.8 kHz	Arlington, Washington (USA)	Used for submarine communication. [4][5]

See also

• Communication with submarines
• OMEGA Navigation System, 1971–1997

Further reading

• Romero, R. (2006) (in Italian). Radio Natura. Albino, Italy: SANDIT S.r.l.. 
• Klawitter, G.; Oexner, M., Herold, K. (2000) (in German). Langwelle und Längstwelle. Meckenheim: Siebel Verlag GmbH. ISBN 3-89632-043-2. 
• Friese "Very low wave reception with ferrite antennas 5-50 kHz

External links

• Longwave club of America
• Radio waves below 22 kHz
• VLF Discussion Group
• Tomislav Stimac, "Definition of frequency bands (VLF, ELF... etc.)".
• PC-based VLF-reception
• Gallery of VLF-signals
• NASA live streaming ELF -> VLF Receiver
• VLF radio art, 1
• VLF radio art, 2
• VLF radio art, 3
• World Wide Lightning Location Network
• Stanford University VLF group
• University of Louisville VLF Monitor
• Larry's Very Low Frequency site
• Kiel Longwave Monitor, VLF/LF real time data
• Mark's Live Online VLF Receiver, UK
• IW0BZD VLF TUBE receiver
• Internet based VLF listening guide with server list