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If your favorite AM radio station has a frequency of 680 kilohertz (kHz), that means the station's transmitter is oscillating (vibrating) at a rate of 680,000 cycles per second (i.e., 680,000 times a second). A related term is megahertz (MHz), meaning "millions of cycles per second". Shortwave radio operates between 5.9 and 26.1 MHz, and the FM radio band operates between 88 and 108 MHz. Garage-door openers work at about 40 MHz, baby monitors work at 49 MHz, and so on. The terms hertz, kilohertz and megahertz honor the great German physicist Heinrich Hertz, the first person to broadcast and receive radio waves.
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“Kilohertz.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kilohertz. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.
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