In order for successful communication between two VHF radios, the transmitter and receiver on each item of equipment has to be tuned to the correct frequency. This has been simplified for the operator by allocating an international VHF channel number for each transmit and receive frequency on the VHF band. On VHF radios without the DSC facility channel, numbers are usually entered using rotary control, while on all other VHF radios they are usually entered by using the numeric keypad. The channel which is tuned in to on a VHF radio is called the working channel.

Practise on the VHF radio simulator

Enter the channel number using the numeric keypad. If the channel selection is not confirmed within 2 seconds (by pressing E key), the VHF radio will revert to the original channel.