The 40m band: frequencies, band plan and propagation
The 40 metre band: open around the clock, the most versatile HF band for both local and DX contacts.
Band plan
| CW | 7.000–7.040 MHz |
| Digital modes | 7.040–7.053 MHz |
| Phone (SSB) | 7.053–7.200 MHz |
Simplified from the IARU Region 1 band plan. Your national rules and licence class decide what you may use.
- CW
- Digital modes
- Phone (SSB)
40 metres is open somewhere almost all the time. During the day it covers your own region and neighbouring countries; at night it opens to the other side of the world.
It is the workhorse of portable operation: POTA and SOTA activators come here first because it gives contacts at any hour with a simple wire antenna.
Expect a crowded band. The edges differ by region, so a station in the Americas may answer you outside your own allocation: always transmit inside yours.
Allocation
| Region 1 | 7.000–7.200 MHz |
| Region 2 | 7.000–7.300 MHz |
| Region 3 | 7.000–7.200 MHz |
Region 1 is Europe, Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia; Region 2 the Americas; Region 3 Asia-Pacific.