The 80m band: frequencies, band plan and propagation
The 80 metre band: regional contacts by night, nets and the first long-distance openings of winter.
Band plan
| CW | 3.500–3.570 MHz |
| Digital modes | 3.570–3.600 MHz |
| Phone (SSB) | 3.600–3.800 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)
80 metres works over a few hundred kilometres during the day and opens to long distance at night, when the D layer fades. In winter, around sunrise and sunset, the grey line carries signals across oceans.
The band is busy with nets and local rag-chews in the phone segment. DX lives at the bottom end in CW and on the digital calling frequencies.
On a cluster, 80 metre DX spots cluster around dusk and dawn at the listener: that is when to look.
Allocation
| Region 1 | 3.500–3.800 MHz |
| Region 2 | 3.500–4.000 MHz |
| Region 3 | 3.500–3.900 MHz |
Region 1 is Europe, Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia; Region 2 the Americas; Region 3 Asia-Pacific.