20-meter band

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The 20-meter or 14-MHz amateur radio band is a portion of the shortwave radio spectrum, comprising frequencies stretching from 14.000 MHz to 14.350 MHz.[1] The 20-meter band is widely considered among the best for long-distance communication (DXing), and is one of the most popular—and crowded—during contests.[2] Several factors contribute to this, including the band's large size, the relatively small size of antennas tuned to it (especially as compared to antennas for the 40-meter band or the 80-meter band) and its good potential for daytime DX operation even in unfavorable propagation conditions.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

[icon] This section requires expansion.

The 20-meter band was first made available to amateurs in the United States by the Third National Radio Conference[4] on October 10, 1924. The band was allocated on a worldwide basis by the International Radiotelegraph Conference[5] in Washington, D.C., on October 4, 1927. Its frequency allocation was then 14000–14400 kHz. The allocation was reduced to 14000–14350 kHz. by the International Radio Conference of Atlantic City 1947.[6]

[edit] Band plans

[edit] ITU region 1

The following chart shows the voluntary bandplan used by amateurs in Region 1. Unlike the USA, slots for the various transmission modes are not set by the amateur's licence, but most users do follow these guidelines.

20 Meters 14000 14070 14070 14099 B 14101 14350
IARU Region 1

Key

= CW and data (<200 Hz bandwidth)
= CW, RTTY and data (< 500 Hz Bandwidth)
= CW, phone and image (<3 kHz bandwidth)
= Reserved for beacons

[edit] United States

Effective 12:01 a.m. EST, February 23, 2007

20 m 14000 - 14350
 United States 14000 14025 14025 14150 14150 14175 14175 14225 14225 14350
General
Advanced
Extra

Key

= CW, RTTY and data (US: < 1 kHz Bandwidth)
= CW, phone and image

[edit] Canada

Canada[7] is part of region 2 and as such is subject to the IARU band plan. Radio Amateurs of Canada offers the bandplan below as a recommendation for use by radio amateurs in that country but it does not have the force of law and should only be considered a suggestion or guideline.

License class 14.000–14.070 14.070-14.095 14.095-14.0995 14.0995-14.1005 14.1005-14.112 14.112-14.350
Basic(+), Advanced

Key

= CW only
= CW, narrow band digital ( <= 500 Hz )
= CW, narrow band digital ( <= 500 Hz ), wide band digital
= Beacons
= CW, phone

[edit] References

 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (October 2011)
  1. ^ US Amateur Radio Frequency Allocations. http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/allocate.html accessed 12 May 2008.
  2. ^ Picking a band. The ARRL Operating Manual, 8th Edition (Steve Ford, Ed.):1-15.
  3. ^ "Propagation of RF Signals". The ARRL Handbook For Radio Communications (82nd ed.). American Radio Relay League. 2005. p. 20.4. ISBN 0-87259-928-0. 
  4. ^ Recommendations for Regulation of Radio Adopted by the Third National Radio Conference. http://earlyradiohistory.us/1924conf.htm Accessed 21 May 2008.
  5. ^ http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/oth/02/01/S02010000144002PDFE.pdf
  6. ^ http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-s/oth/02/01/S020100002B4506PDFE.pdf
  7. ^ Radio Amateurs of Canada HF/MF band plan http://www.rac.ca/en/rac/services/bandplans/hf/hfplan-20080711.pdf accessed 12 January 2011


International amateur radio frequency allocations
Range Band ITU Region 1 ITU Region 2 ITU Region 3
LF 2200 m 135.7 kHz - 137.8 kHz
MF 600 m4 472 kHz - 479 kHz
160 m 1.810 MHz - 1.850 MHz 1.800 MHz - 2.000 MHz 1.800 MHz - 2.000 MHz
HF 80 / 75 m 3.500 MHz - 3.800 MHz 3.500 MHz - 4.000 MHz 3.500 MHz - 3.900 MHz
60 m1 5.250 MHz - 5.450 MHz
40 m 7.000 MHz - 7.200 MHz 7.000 MHz - 7.300 MHz 7.000 MHz - 7.200 MHz
30 m2 10.100 MHz - 10.150 MHz
20 m 14.000 MHz - 14.350 MHz
17 m2 18.068 MHz - 18.168 MHz
15 m 21.000 MHz - 21.450 MHz
12 m2 24.890 MHz - 24.990 MHz
10 m 28.000 MHz - 29.700 MHz
VHF 6 m 50.000 MHz - 52.000 MHz1 50.000 MHz - 54.000 MHz 50.000 MHz - 54.000 MHz
4 m1 70.000 MHz - 70.500 MHz
2 m 144.000 MHz - 146.000 MHz 144.000 MHz - 148.000 MHz 144.000 MHz - 148.000 MHz
1.25 m 220.000 MHz - 225.000 MHz
UHF 70 cm 430.000 MHz - 440.000 MHz 420.000 MHz - 450.000 MHz3 420.000 MHz - 450.000 MHz3
33 cm 902.000 MHz - 928.000 MHz
23 cm 1.240 GHz - 1.300 GHz
13 cm 2.300 GHz - 2.450 GHz
SHF 9 cm 3.400 GHz - 3.475 GHz3 3.300 GHz - 3.500 GHz 3.300 GHz - 3.500 GHz
5 cm 5.650 GHz - 5.850 GHz 5.650 GHz - 5.925 GHz 5.650 GHz - 5.850 GHz
3 cm 10.000 GHz - 10.500 GHz
1.2 cm 24.000 GHz - 24.250 GHz
EHF 6 mm 47.000 GHz - 47.200 GHz
4 mm3 75.500 GHz1 - 81.500 GHz 76.000 GHz - 81.500 GHz 76.000 GHz - 81.500 GHz
2.5 mm 122.250 GHz - 123.000 GHz
2 mm 134.000 GHz - 141.000 GHz
1 mm 241.000 GHz - 250.000 GHz
THF Sub-mm Some administrations have authorized spectrum for amateur use in this region.

1 This is not mentioned in the ITU's Table of Frequency Allocations, but it is a de facto international amateur radio allocation.
2 HF allocation created at the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference. These are commonly called the "WARC bands".
3 This includes a currently active footnote allocation mentioned in the ITU's Table of Frequency Allocations.
4 The band 472 kHz - 479 kHz was formally approved at WRC12 on February 14, 2012. It does not take effect until it is entered into the ITU's Radio Regulations and is subsequently implemented by national regulators.
See also: Radio spectrum · Electromagnetic spectrum


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