Interactive · synthetic data · first-party reference only
Spectrum Heat
The radio spectrum is crowded, and knowing which band carries what is the first step to making sense of it. This explorer lays the public allocations this site documents onto a single axis from 1 MHz to 6 GHz, over an illustrative occupancy waterfall. The waterfall is synthetic — it shows the shape of the idea, not any real signal. Select a band to read a plain-language summary and jump to its full reference page.
Synthetic — illustrative occupancy only. Not live RF, not operational spectrum data.
All bands (17) — select one
- 433 MHz ISM (Region 1) 433.05 MHz – 434.79 MHz RF Spectrum Band
- 868 MHz SRD/ISM (Europe) 863 MHz – 870 MHz RF Spectrum Band
- 900 MHz ISM 902 MHz – 928 MHz RF Spectrum Band
- ADS-B 978 UAT 976.53 MHz – 979.47 MHz RF Spectrum Band
- ADS-B 1090ES 1.09 GHz – 1.09 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- Galileo E5a 1.17 GHz – 1.18 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L5 1.17 GHz – 1.18 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L2 1.23 GHz – 1.23 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- GLONASS L2 (G2) 1.24 GHz – 1.25 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- L-band SATCOM (approx.) 1 GHz – 2 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- BeiDou B1I 1.56 GHz – 1.56 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- Galileo E1 1.57 GHz – 1.58 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L1 1.57 GHz – 1.58 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- GLONASS L1 (G1) 1.60 GHz – 1.61 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- 2.4 GHz ISM 2.40 GHz – 2.48 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- Remote ID Broadcast 2.40 GHz – 2.48 GHz RF Spectrum Band
- 5.8 GHz ISM 5.72 GHz – 5.88 GHz RF Spectrum Band
What you are looking at
The horizontal axis is frequency on a logarithmic scale, so the crowded low bands and the wide microwave bands both fit in one view. Each labeled region is a real allocation from this site’s spectrum library — a navigation aid, an ISM band, a satellite link. The colored wash behind them is a synthetic occupancy pattern generated in your browser; it is deliberately not tied to any live receiver, capture, or operational source. Nothing here describes how any signal is exploited — only which bands exist and why they matter.
Why the low end is so busy
Global navigation systems, aviation surveillance, and short-range device bands all sit inside roughly 400 MHz to 2 GHz, which is why so many labels cluster there. That density is exactly why the spectrum is contested: many services of very different importance share a narrow, physically finite resource. Select a navigation band and its reference page explains where it sits and what depends on it.
Bands in this explorer
All 17 bands below are sourced from the spectrum reference library and link to their full pages. This list is the accessible, no-JavaScript fallback for the interactive map above, and it works at any screen width.
- 433 MHz ISM (Region 1) 433.05–434.79 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- 868 MHz SRD/ISM (Europe) 863–870 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- 900 MHz ISM 902–928 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- ADS-B 978 UAT 978 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- ADS-B 1090ES 1090 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- Galileo E5a 1176.45 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L5 1176.45 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L2 1227.60 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- GLONASS L2 (G2) 1242.9375–1248.625 MHz (FDMA, channel-dependent) — RF Spectrum Band
- L-band SATCOM (approx.) ≈1–2 GHz (system-dependent) — RF Spectrum Band
- BeiDou B1I 1561.098 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- Galileo E1 1575.42 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- GPS L1 1575.42 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- GLONASS L1 (G1) 1598.0625–1605.375 MHz (FDMA, channel-dependent) — RF Spectrum Band
- 2.4 GHz ISM 2400–2483.5 MHz — RF Spectrum Band
- Remote ID Broadcast 2400–2483.5 MHz (Bluetooth 4/5 or Wi-Fi, implementation-dependent) — RF Spectrum Band
- 5.8 GHz ISM 5725–5875 MHz — RF Spectrum Band