Plain English Meaning

A specific band of radio frequencies that DME uses to talk to ground stations and figure out how far away the aircraft is.

Full Definition

The Ultra High Frequency spectrum is the range of radio frequencies from 300 megahertz (MHz) to 3,000 MHz (3 gigahertz). In aviation, DME equipment operates within this spectrum, using paired frequencies between 962 MHz and 1213 MHz to send and receive distance-measuring signals.

Context Anchor

Seen in DME component discussions when describing the radio signals used between the aircraft and the ground equipment.

Derivation

Ultra' comes from Latin meaning 'beyond,' and 'high frequency' refers to how rapidly the radio waves oscillate. UHF sits above the older (Very High Frequency) band used for voice and , which is why DME signals don't interfere with VHF radio .