WARC bands - the quiet frequencies in amateur radio

Contest on all frequencies - and now?

If you prefer to devote yourself to your amateur radio hobby at the weekend, you know the problem! You finally have time to get on the radio again - but as soon as you switch on the transceiver, you hear: “CQ contest, CQ contest...” Nothing against the band revival through contests, but if you have nothing left for contest operation, only the non-contest band ranges remain for a longer radio conversation. It's good if you are a telegraph operator and can switch to these areas. You may experience the same situation there during a telegraphy contest: Finding a partner for a longer telegraphy connection in clear text is likely to be difficult. Either you switch off, or you find yourself in a chat with old radio friends. Either way, everyone has to somehow get along with their self-imposed priorities. If you rarely have time to radio and are slowed down by a contest just when you finally have the time and opportunity to do so, your displeasure is understandable. Otherwise, tolerance is required. As a frequent radio operator, you should react differently and devote yourself to a self-build project, for example, during this time - or even keep your hands off amateur radio altogether. For telegraphists and fans of narrowband, digital modes of operation, there is fortunately an alternative with the WARC bands 30, 17 and 12 m, as well as the 60 m band, which was added later.

A place of retreat for interference-free radio operation

In 1979, the World Administration Radio Conference allocated three new narrow bands from the spectrum of shortwave, for amateur radio. Named after this conference, the bands were released for use worldwide at the beginning of the 1980s:

• 30 m: 10,100-10,150 MHz
• 17 m: 18,068-18,168 MHz
• 12 m: 24,890-24,990 MHz

Furthermore, there was a tacit agreement, known as a “gentlemen's agreement”, not to use these new bands for contests. In addition to the additional propagation possibilities of the new WARC bands, radio amateurs who were not particularly interested in contests were given the opportunity to avoid having to deal with interference on the then overcrowded classic amateur radio bands. The HF Managers Handbook of IARU Region 1 also recommends that radio amateurs who are not interested in contests switch to the WARC bands or the 60-meter band, which are free of competition.

Global band plans for smooth international operation

Why is it useful to present the band plans for all IARU regions 1-3? To know what is required on our side, the band plan for Region 1 would suffice for the time being. However, to get along with each other in worldwide radio operations, it is important to be aware of the different regulations in Regions 2 and 3 in order to avoid conflicts. For example, the fact that single-sideband (SSB) is allowed in some band segments and geographical sub-regions.

30m band

IARU Region 1

In most parts of the world, the 30-meter band cannot generally be used for voice radio. Only in emergencies involving the immediate safety of life and property may voice radio be used, and only by stations actually involved in the handling of the emergency traffic. However, in part of Region 1, radio telephony is permitted at certain times. The band segment 10.12 to 10.14 may only be used for radiotelephony communications in the African region south of the equator during daylight hours.

IARU Region 2

Canada (Region 2)

USA (Region 2)

The USA limits the maximum transmission power of amateur radio operators on this band to 200 W.

IARU Region 3

Australia (Region 3)

Australia has a range of privileges at 30 m that allow extended license holders to use radio telephony on part of the band. The digital segment is at 10.130-10.150 MHz. The current band plan allows for radio telephony from 10.120-10.135 MHz, as well as telegraphy only below 10.120 MHz. These are only the recommendations of the WIA (Wireless Infrastructure Association), as the ACMA (Australia Communications and Media) does not further restrict the modes of Australian amateurs within the HF allocations, other than requiring a occupied bandwidth of less than 8kHz per channel below 28MHz.

Japan (Region 3)

Note: The occupied bandwidth must be less than 2 kHz.

17m band

IARU-Region 1

IARU Region 2

Canada (Region 2)

IARU Region 3

Japan (Region 3)

12m band

IARU Region 1

IARU Region 2

Canada (Region 2)

Canada belongs to Region 2 and is thus subject to the IARU band plan. The amateur radio association “Radio Amateurs of Canada” propagates the following band plan as a recommendation for Canadian radio amateurs.

USA (Region 2)

60m band

The World Radio Conference (WRC) had already approved the global allocation of the 60-meter band for amateur radio in 2015. In December 2016, the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) implemented the WRC recommendation into national law.

Since then, the narrow frequency range from 5.3515 to 5.3665 MHz has been allocated to class A license holders on a secondary basis. This means that amateur radio may only use the 60-m band on a non-interference basis alongside commercial radio services. The maximum permissible radiated power EIRP is limited to 15 W and the maximum bandwidth of the signal to 2.7 kHz.

Due to the narrow frequency allocation of 15 kHz, a maximum of four simultaneous connections in SSB are theoretically possible if the frequencies 5.354, 5.357, 5.360 and 5.363 MHz are occupied in upper sideband (USB). In practice, however, the number is unfortunately lower for interference-free operation.

Band plan 60m band

The 60-meter band is suitable for amateur radio to establish NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) connections both during the day and at night. These are particularly suitable for regional emergency radio due to the short range and propagation by skywave. At the same time, however, DX connections are also possible at night or in the twilight zones.

The WARC bands in modern transceivers

In the first years after the WARC bands were released, there were mainly QRP transceivers that only had the new ranges “on board” and were intended for first-time users. Older transceivers sometimes already had the 10 MHz range to receive the WWV signal and were thus also QRV on the transmission side in the 30 m band by retrofitting a corresponding band quartz. Since all newer devices had long since had a continuous shortwave range on the receive side, the standard conversion did not take long. Soon, the WARC bands were standard equipment for all current shortwave transceivers, for both transmitting and receiving. That is why you will not miss the WARC bands and the 60 m band in the WiMo online store for any transceiver model – whether conventional, DSP or SDR.

• Desktop Radios
• Mobile Radios
• Frequency extension service

The right antenna makes all the difference

Likewise, it looks in the “antenna forest”: Numerous multi-band antennas, whether beam, vertical or wire antennas, have integrated in addition to the classic amateur radio bands, one or even several WARC bands. In the case of broadband antennas and tunable magnetic antennas, this is virtually “automatically” the case depending on the bandwidth and frequency range. Those who are particularly interested in the WARC bands can choose from the extensive range of ZX Yagis, from monoband to dualband to the 6-element Yagi, to find their optimal antenna. Less expensive alternatives are the WiMo GP-3W as a 3-band vertical, and the Kelemen trap dipole DP-WARC for 30, 20 and 12 m.

• Antennas for the 12 m band
• Antennas for the 17 m band
• Antennas for the 30 m band
• Antennas for the 60 m band
• Antennas for all WARC bands

Away from the hustle and bustle and successful on the WARC bands

Take advantage of the quiet of these frequencies when the signals from the adjacent channels are getting in your way in the classic amateur radio ranges. Enjoy the generally quieter bands to escape the hustle and bustle or to dig up a rare DX that you wouldn't even reach elsewhere in the murderous pile-up. After all, there are also rare DX stations that are only active on the WARC bands for the reasons mentioned above anyway. We wish you good luck and hope you enjoy the fascination of DX signals in an environment that is otherwise relatively quiet in terms of radio traffic. If a pileup does develop, then it will be for a truly rare DX.

Source reference:

www.onallbands.com/warc-bands

www.wikipedia.com/warc-bands

December 2024, Alfred Klüß, DF2BC