Amateur Radio Band Chart
Enter a frequency to find its wavelength and which amateur radio band, if any, it falls in.
Band & wavelength
| Band | Frequency range |
|---|---|
| 160m | 1.8–2 MHz |
| 80m | 3.5–4 MHz |
| 40m | 7–7.3 MHz |
| 30m | 10.1–10.15 MHz |
| 20m | 14–14.35 MHz |
| 17m | 18.068–18.168 MHz |
| 15m | 21–21.45 MHz |
| 12m | 24.89–24.99 MHz |
| 10m | 28–29.7 MHz |
| 6m | 50–54 MHz |
| 2m | 144–148 MHz |
| 1.25m | 222–225 MHz |
| 70cm | 420–450 MHz |
From 160 meters down to 70 centimeters
Amateur radio operators are allocated narrow slices of spectrum scattered from 1.8 MHz all the way up past 400 MHz, each with its own personality. The lower HF bands like 160m and 80m favor nighttime long-distance contacts; 20m is a reliable daytime workhorse for talking across continents; and the VHF/UHF bands like 2m and 70cm are the local, line-of-sight bands most new hams get on the air with first.
Knowing a frequency's band matters because privileges, antenna lengths, and propagation behavior are all tied to it — a dipole cut for 40m is roughly twice as long as one cut for 20m, and what works well at night on 80m often does the opposite at noon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are amateur bands named after a length in meters?
Each band's name is (approximately) the wavelength of a signal near the middle of that range — the 2m band, for instance, centers on frequencies whose wavelength works out to roughly 2 meters. It's a holdover from the early days of radio, when engineers thought in wavelength before frequency, and it stuck.
How is wavelength calculated from frequency?
From the basic wave relationship c = f × λ, where c is the speed of light. Rearranged for wavelength: λ (in meters) = 299.792458 ÷ frequency (in MHz). At 146 MHz, for example, that works out to about 2.05 meters — right in line with the "2 meter" band name.
Why does a frequency like 27 MHz show no amateur band?
27 MHz sits in the Citizens Band (CB) radio allocation, not an amateur radio band — the nearest amateur allocation is the 10-meter band starting at 28.0 MHz. This chart only covers amateur allocations, not CB, marine, aviation, or broadcast frequencies.
Are these band edges the same everywhere in the world?
Not exactly. This chart uses the commonly published US / IARU Region 2 amateur band plan; edges and available bands can differ somewhat in other ITU regions and countries. Always check your own national band plan before transmitting.
Educational tool only. Always verify your transmit frequency and power against your license class and your national band plan before operating.