Plain English Meaning

It's a way of slicing up the radio band into smaller slots so more channels fit into the same range. Some areas — mainly in Europe — require radios that can use these smaller slots.

Full Definition

A VHF communication radio channel arrangement in which the available frequency band is divided into slots 8.33 kilohertz wide, allowing roughly three times as many usable channels as the older 25 kHz spacing. Aircraft operating in airspace where 8.33 kHz spacing is required must have a radio capable of tuning and transmitting on these narrower channels.

Context Anchor

Seen in radio equipment discussions, especially when checking whether an aircraft communication radio can tune the required channels for a particular area or country.

Derivation

kHz stands for kilohertz, a measure of . The 8.33 figure is simply 25 divided by 3 — the original 25 kHz channel was into three narrower channels to ease .