Band

160M

160M has many of the same characteristics as the nearby AM Medium Wave broadcast band, likewise it is used for local ham radio contacts during the day when signals are heard via ground wave and, dependent upon transmitter powers and antennas, distances of 80km or more may be reached. Night time prorogation distances increase and it may be possible to hear stations several hundreds of km away due to the absence of the ionospheres D layer. Contacts in to New Zealand  are possible when conditions are right if sufficiently good antennas are available at both ends. It is even possible to make contacts over longer distances such as the USA.

For very long distance contacts the whole of the path must lie in darkness. However, there can be significant improvements at dawn and dusk for contacts with the other side of the globe. These enhancements may only last for 10 to 15 minutes at maximum, and sometimes less.

For shorter paths, signals peak when it is either sunrise or sunset at one end or the other. Long distance contacts improve in winter because of the longer hours of darkness and lower levels of static. As this does not correspond with optimum conditions in the other hemisphere, it means that these signals may be heard at any time of the year.

80M

Day time stations a few hundred km away can be heard, making it an ideal band for medium distance contacts. At night ham radio stations from further away can be heard. Distances of over 1500km are common, and greater distances can be achieved by those with good antennas. The band comes into its own during the years of the sunspot minimum, but it can perform well at any time. 

Propagation along the grey line, i.e. the line along which dawn / dusk occurs) can produce exceedingly good results with stations from the other side of the globe being audible, however, this may only be short lived and it can be very selective in terms of location. It is also best during spring and autumn. Levels of static can be quite high, with electrical storms being heard many kilometres away.

* 60M

NOTE: NOT YET AVAILABLE TO AUSTRALIAN AMATEURS
 Halfway between 80m and 40m, the 60 meter (5 MHz) band behaves as hybrid of the two and forms a communication bridge when propagation effects make use of 80 or 40m impossible for local-to-medium distance communications – often needed in emergency communication scenarios. Less affected by D-Layer absorption than 80m, the 60 meter (5 MHz) band is an ideal candidate for Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS), the most commonly used technique capable of providing seamless local-to-medium distance HF communications.

A new band for Amateur Radio, operators are finding out that long distance contacts are possible along with grey line propagation. 

40M

40m is a popular and useful band with interesting mix of daytime short-haul DX, with worldwide communications at night. 

During the day, stations up to distances of a few hundred kilometres can  be heard. Then at night the distances over which stations can be heard increases considerably, but local stations fall in strength. It is a favourite band for many during the low part of the sunspot cycle, being capable of long-haul contacts during the hours of darkness. Again the grey line can produce some spectacular results.

The band can be quite busy at times especially during contests. Few Amateurs have directional antennas and may be operating their legal power limit

30M

This band was released for amateur radio use after the World Administrative Radio Conference held in 1979 (WARC 79). Although it has been available for many years now, it is still not very widely used although it but is capable of giving good results.

This ham radio band is very similar to 40 Metres and as a result it is capable of giving DX contacts for most of the day, although it is generally better at night, enabling ham radio contacts to be made around the globe Again conditions are enhanced by grey line and dusk or dawn conditions. It is also found that during periods of the sunspot minimum, when ionisation levels are lower, absorption is sufficiently low to allow long-distance contacts throughout the day.

Like the 40 metre ham radio band, this and the other WARC bands are good bands for the DXer who does not have a really big station. Few of the common directional Yagi antennas have this band and some stations may still be using linear amplifiers that cannot operate here. As a result it means that those with more average stations will be operating at less of a disadvantage.

Due to the small size of the band and the high level of commercial activity (because it is shared with other services), most of the operation is in Morse. In fact the IARU for Region 1 have recommended that contests and phone operation should be excluded from the band.

** 20M

This amateur radio allocation is the main long-haul band for radio amateurs, reliably giving the possibility of long-distance contacts during all phases of the sunspot cycle. The band allocation is the same throughout the world, there being virtually no limitations where ham radio activity is permitted.

In terms of the performance of this ham radio band, during the day, stations up to about 3000 to 5000+ km can be heard when conditions are good, and there are virtually always stations between 800 to 3000 km that can be heard. Often the band will close at night, especially during the winter and during periods towards the sunspot minimum. Spring and autumn normally produce good results, with stations from the other hemisphere being heard with ease at various times of the day.

Over the course of a day, signals can be heard from all over the world. In the early morning signals arrive from the east, and typically these will include signals from the other side of the globe. When these signals fade out, more local signals will become prominent, and there may be openings to the west as the Sun rises in that direction. As the afternoon wears on, openings further west may arise. There may also be openings to the other side of the globe again as their morning approaches. In the evening, as the levels of ionisation fall, the local signals will fall in strength, leaving long-distance stations to the west.

Being the mainstay ham radio DX band, 20m is often crowded and, when any rare amateur radio stations appear, the levels of competition are high. As a result many ham radio stations that frequent this band use good directional antennas that are mounted high up, combined with high transmitter powers. Some of the "big" stations run powers of the order of a kilowatt (where licensing conditions permit) and at least three element Yagi antennas at a height of around 20m. Nevertheless it is still possible to make many good contacts, but it is necessary to employ good operating techniques. Often when the conditions are good it may be necessary to assess the any pile-ups that are heard, deciding whether to preserve to make a contact with a particular station or whether to move on to find if there are any other DX stations with whom contact is more likely.

** 17M

Like the 30m band, this one was released for amateur radio use after the WARC 79 conference. Accordingly some old transceivers may not cover this ham radio allocation.

In terms of performance, it is very much a half-way house between 15 and 20m. Although rather narrow, it is still very popular and well worth investigating when conditions look promising.

This ham radio band can offer some excellent opportunities for radio amateurs with more average stations to contact the rare DX stations. Although beam antennas are available for the band, most stations still use dipoles as those with beams may use them for the more traditional DX bands of 10, 15 and 20m, thereby limiting the number of strong stations. However, more antennas are appearing for the WARC bands with the result that more people are using these frequencies.

** 15M

The conditions experienced on this amateur band are more variable than for the 20 metre band, being affected more by the state of the sunspot cycle. During the peak it is open during the day and well into the night when it will support propagation over many thousands of kilometers. Conditions are usually not quite so good in the early morning, improving as the day progresses. During the sunspot minimum few stations may be heard during the day and none at night..

At the top of the 15 metre ham radio band is the 13m broadcast band. It is possible to monitor this to gain a quick assessment of whether the amateur band may be open.

** 12M

This amateur radio band is the highest of the bands released for ham radio operation at WARC 79. As such it is not as widely used as the traditional bands including 20 metres, 15 metres and 10 metres, but it is still capable of providing some good results and it has a reasonable level of occupancy when compared to 15 or 10 metres.

Like 17m this band also is quite narrow but worth investigating when conditions mean the band could be open. Also, there are few stations using beam antennas and this makes it a good hunting ground.

In view of its frequency, this frequency allocation is greatly affected by the position of the sunspot cycle and it has many similarities with 10 metre ham radio band.

** 10M

This is the highest-frequency amateur radio band in the short-wave (HF) portion of the spectrum. The allocation remains the same worldwide, and in view of its bandwidth (1.7 MHz) it is used for a variety of different modes of transmission including Morse, and SSB as well as FM, and there are even ham radio repeaters in some countries that are able to give worldwide coverage when conditions are good.

in terms of its properties, during the sunspot minimum it may only support ionospheric propagation via sporadic E which occurs mainly in the summer months. This gives propagation over distances of 1500 km or so.

At the peak of the sunspot cycle it gives excellent possibilities for long-distance contacts, producing very strong signals. This band is well known for enabling ham radio stations with low powers and poor antennas to make contacts over great distances. In general, propagation on these frequencies requires that the signal path is in daylight. Despite this, at the peak of the sunspot cycle the band may remain open into the night, although it will eventually close.

Activity in the SSB portion of the band is often concentrated between the beacon section and 28.60MHz and a little above. However, it is worth taking a look above this, particularly in contests because stations may also be active in this sector.

10M has many beacons both locally and long distance see 

** 6M

Used for short distance  communication on FM, however during the spring and summer months can provide communications  over several hundred to thousands of kilometres via Sporadic-E propagation predominately in SSB, Data and CW modes.  E-propagation is most common in Australia from November through early February. Often referred to the Magic Band due to its behaviour, A Sporadic-E opening typically lasts for a few hours, and comes back every season, even during the sunspot minimum. At the peak of a sunspot cycle, when the solar flux rises to between 150 and 200, the F-layer refraction familiar to HF operators can provide worldwide contacts on six.

2M

Generally used for short haul mobile and portable communication on FM. Like 6M there is Sporadic-E propagation, and Tropospheric Ducting winch allows communications sometimes over 100s of Kilometres. There are other specialised forms of propagation to explore such as Meteor Scatter Auroral propagation and Moon bounce. 2M & 70cm) are also used for Amateur Satellite and International Space Station Communications.

* 60 Meters is not yet an Amateur Allocation in Australia. ARNSW broadcasts the news relay to Western NSW Sunday mornings  on 5.425 USB, commercial callsign VKE580

 ** The HF band propagation is dependant on the amount of sunspots, and correlating solar activity, decreases or increases according to a somewhat predictable 11-year cycle. The presence of sunspots indicates solar activity which affects the ionosphere’s ability to refract radio signals back to Earth. In the simplest terms, fewer sunspots means less solar activity, making operating on 14 though to 28 MHz (20 through 10 meters) and 50 MHz (6 meters) more challenging.

See Dr Dr. Tamitha Skov’s Space Weather Woman website for more on this interesting subject.  http://www.spaceweatherwoman.com/ 

The bands are rarely “Dead”, you just need to know where the activity is happening, what modes and what band. 

Call CQ and see what happens and you may be surprised!