Band plan

The radio frequency is traditionally separated in separate "slices" or "bands" of frequencies that have all their own use. By convention, certain bands are reserve to certain uses, most of the time because of the physical properties of the frequency or the environment.

The wikipedia page on bands is also an excellent reference.

Band Ranges

 * HF 3 MHz to 30 MHz
 * VHF 30 MHz to 300 MHz
 * UHF 300 MHz to 3 000 MHz (3GHz)
 * Microwave and other bands above 3 GHz

ITU Frequency Regions

 * LF 30 - 300 kHz
 * MF 300 kHz - 3 MHz
 * HF 3 - 30 MHz (aka shortwave)
 * VHF 30 - 300 MHz
 * UHF 300 MHz - 3000 MHz (3 GHz)
 * SHF 3,000 - 30,000 MHz

There's a much more comprehensive page at RadioIng.com eEngineer

HF Bands
There are a number of amateur HF bands used worldwide, although the bands and frequencies legally available vary from country to country.

HF bands used today include 80 metres, 60 metres, 40 metres, 30 metres, 20 metres, 17 metres, 15 metres, and 10 metres. (Although 160 metres is a Medium Frequency/MF band, it can be lumped in with the HF bands for simplicity.)

VHF/UHF/Microwave Bands
Related wiki pages: Tropospheric ducting, Meteor scatter, Aurora

VHF, UHF, and Microwave bands and frequencies available to amateurs vary more widely from country to country than HF bands do.

Amateur bands used today include 6 metres, 4 metres, 2 metres, 1.25 metres, 70 centimetres, 33 centimetres, 23 centimetres, 13 centimetres, 9 centimetres, 6 centimetres 3 centimetres, 1.25 centimetres and Bands above 24GHz.

Band Plans
Within three regions around the world, different "plans" are agreed upon by Amateur Radio Operators to divide up the authorized band into sections. Each section is targeted to a specific operating mode (e.g., SSB, FM, Digital, etc).

Region Band Plans
From the IARU website.

Region 1 encompasses Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Asiatic Russia


 * IARU Region 1 website

Region 2 encompasses North America, South America, and Greenland


 * IARU Region 2 website

Region 3 encompasses India, Australia, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and Pacific nations.


 * IARU Region 3 website

Country Band Plans (Alphabetical)

 * The Australian band plan (.pdf) from the Wireless Institute of Australia
 * The Canadian band plan (.html) from Radio Amateurs Canada
 * The New Zealand Band Plan can be found at NZART
 * The United Kingdom band plan (.pdf and .html) from the Radio Society of Great Britain
 * The United States Band Plan

Other spectrum distributions
The following information was copied from Wikipedia and modified for use on this wiki.

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The list list below is known as IEEE standard 521-2002. This standard specifically focusses on the bands above 1Ghz

Waveguide frequency bands
Further information about icrowaves and waveguides can be found at Microwaves 101