NOTEBOOK

Bands

My band-by-band notes — propagation, key frequencies, band plans. Frequency edges are the US amateur allocations. WARC bands are marked accordingly.

US HF Ham Bands — overview

Quick breakdown of the US Amateur Radio HF bands, why I skipped some bands below, and notable FCC rules and changes.

160 m 1.800 – 2.000 MHz

"Top band" — all modes, often noisy, and a tougher DX haul.

80 m 3.500 – 4.000 MHz

Nighttime band, huge and busy — ragchew country, best in winter.

40 m 7.000 – 7.300 MHz

Evening-to-morning band — the most reliable all-season DX band.

30 m 10.100 – 10.150 MHz

HF WARC

Quiet WARC band — CW and data only, solid DX and FT8.

20 m 14.000 – 14.350 MHz

The daytime DX and POTA workhorse — great for portable antenna setups.

17 m 18.068 – 18.168 MHz

HF WARC

Narrow WARC band — quiet, and a touch more solar-cycle dependent than 20 m.

15 m 21.000 – 21.450 MHz

Daytime DX band — long-haul F2, best when the solar cycle is high.

12 m 24.890 – 24.990 MHz

HF WARC

Quiet WARC band — daytime use, with nighttime DX around solar max.

10 m 28.000 – 29.700 MHz

Groundwave like CB, summer sporadic-E, and an FM segment up top.