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United States Coast Guard
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. VHF Channel Information

New Channel Number Old Channel Number Ship Transmit MHz Ship Receive MHz Use
1001 01A 156.050 156.050 Port Operations and Commercial, VTS. Available only in New Orleans / Lower Mississippi area.
1005 05A 156.250 156.250 Port Operations or VTS in the Houston, New Orleans and Seattle areas.
06 06 156.300 156.300 Intership Safety
1007 07A 156.350 156.350 Commercial. VDSMS
08 08 156.400 156.400 Commercial (Intership only). VDSMS
09 09 156.450 156.450 Boater Calling. Commercial and Non-Commercial. VDSMS
10 10 156.500 156.500 Commercial. VDSMS
11 11 156.550 156.550 Commercial. VTS in selected areas. VDSMS
12 12 156.600 156.600 Port Operations. VTS in selected areas.
13 13 156.650 156.650 Intership Navigation Safety (Bridge-to-bridge). Ships >20m length maintain a listening watch on this channel in US waters.
14 14 156.700 156.700 Port Operations. VTS in selected areas.
15 15 -- 156.750 Environmental (Receive only). Used by Class C EPIRBs.
16 16 156.800 156.800 International Distress, Safety and Calling. Ships required to carry radio, USCG, and most coast stations maintain a listening watch on this channel.  See our Watchkeeping Regulations page.
17 17 156.850 156.850 State & local govt maritime control
1018 18A 156.900 156.900 Commercial. VDSMS
1019 19A 156.950 156.950 Commercial. VDSMS
20 20 157.000 161.600 Port Operations (duplex)
1020 20A 157.000 157.000 Port Operations
1021 21A 157.050 157.050 U.S. Coast Guard only
1022 22A 157.100 157.100 Coast Guard Liaison and Maritime Safety Information Broadcasts. Broadcasts announced on channel 16.
1023 23A 157.150 157.150 U.S. Coast Guard only
24 24 157.200 161.800 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
25 25 157.250 161.850 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
26 26 157.300 161.900 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
27 27 157.350 161.950 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
28 28 157.400 162.000 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
1063 63A 156.175 156.175 Port Operations and Commercial, VTS. Available only in New Orleans / Lower Mississippi area.
1065 65A 156.275 156.275 Port Operations
1066 66A 156.325 156.325 Port Operations
67 67 156.375 156.375 Commercial. Used for Bridge-to-bridge communications in lower Mississippi River. Intership only.
68 68 156.425 156.425 Non-Commercial. VDSMS
69 69 156.475 156.475 Non-Commercial. VDSMS
70 70 156.525 156.525 Digital Selective Calling (voice communications not allowed)
71 71 156.575 156.575 Non-Commercial. VDSMS
72 72 156.625 156.625 Non-Commercial (Intership only). VDSMS
73 73 156.675 156.675 Port Operations
74 74 156.725 156.725 Port Operations
77 77 156.875 156.875 Port Operations (Intership only)
1078 78A 156.925 156.925 Non-Commercial. VDSMS
1079 79A 156.975 156.975 Commercial. Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only. VDSMS
1080 80A 157.025 157.025 Commercial. Non-Commercial in Great Lakes only. VDSMS
1081 81A 157.075 157.075 U.S. Government only - Environmental protection operations.
1082 82A 157.125 157.125 U.S. Government only
1083 83A 157.175 157.175 U.S. Coast Guard only
84 84 157.225 161.825 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
85 85 157.275 161.875 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
86 86 157.325 161.925 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
87 87 157.375 157.375 Public Correspondence (Marine Operator). VDSMS
88 88 157.425 157.425 Commercial, Intership only. VDSMS
AIS 1 AIS 1 161.975 161.975 Automatic Identification System (AIS)
AIS 2 AIS 2 162.025 162.025 Automatic Identification System (AIS)

 

Note: VDSMS (VHF Digital Small Message Services). Transmissions of short digital messages in accordance with RTCM Standard 12301.1 is allowed.

Frequencies are in MHz. Modulation is 16KF3E or 16KG3E.

Note that the four digit channel number beginning with the digits "10" indicates simplex use of the ship station transmit side of what had been an international duplex channel.  These new channel numbers, now recognized internationally, were previously designated in the US by the two digit channel number ending with the letter "A".  That is, the international channel 1005 has been designated in the US by channel 05A, and the US Coast Guard channel 1022 has been designated in the US as channel 22A.  Four digit channels beginning with "20", sometimes shown by the two-digit channel number ending with the letter "B", indicates simplex use of the coast station transmit side of what normally was an international duplex channel. The U.S. does not currently use "B" or "20NN" channels in the VHF maritime band. Some VHF transceivers are equipped with an "International - U.S." switch to avoid conflicting use of these channels.  See ITU Radio Regulation Appendix 18 and ITU-R M.1084-5 Annex 4, summarized here.

These new channel numbers should eventually begin to be displayed on new models of VHF marine radios.

Boaters should normally use channels listed as Non-Commercial. Channel 16 is used for calling other stations or for distress alerting. Channel 13 should be used to contact a ship when there is danger of collision. All ships of length 20m or greater are required to guard VHF channel 13, in addition to VHF channel 16, when operating within U.S. territorial waters. Users may be fined by the FCC for improper use of these channels. See Marine Radio Watch R/radio-watchkeeping-regulations requirements for further information.

VHF Maritime Spectrum Chart

NOAA Weather Radio Frequencies

Channel Frequency (MHz)

WX1

162.550

WX2

162.400

WX3

162.475

WX4

162.425

WX5

162.450

WX6

162.500

WX7

162.525


Channel numbers, e.g. (WX1, WX2) etc. have no special significance but are often designated this way in consumer equipment. Other channel numbering schemes are also prevalent.

The order of channels shown is the order they were established and is slowly becoming less "popular" over time than a numerical ordering of channels.

See NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARINE PRODUCTS VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO and the NOAA Weather Radio Homepage for more information.

Additional Information, Frequencies, & Charts

Also available are International VHF Maritime Radio Channels and Frequencies, Narrowband VHF Maritime Channels and Frequencies, Radio Information for Boaters, and U.S. Coast Guard VHF Distress and Safety Coverage Charts.