European HF band plan (IARU Region 1)

One plan for Europe, Africa and the Middle East

The International Amateur Radio Union divides the world into three regions. Region 1 covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia, and its HF band plan is agreed at IARU conferences by the national societies, such as the DARC in Germany, the REF in France and the RSGB in the UK. Each society publishes the plan for its own country, usually with small local additions, but the segments are the same across the region, so you'll find CW, data and phone in the same places wherever you are in Europe.

National differences

Licences are national, so the frequencies you're allowed to use can be narrower than the band plan. The biggest differences are on 160m, where some countries allocate only part of the band, on 80m, and on 60m, where countries have anything from the WRC-15 band of 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz to their own wider allocations, or none. Region 1's 40m band is 7000 to 7200 kHz, compared with 7300 kHz in the Americas.

How to read it

• CW segments are at the bottom of every band, with narrow-band data modes such as FT8, PSK31 and RTTY above them, and phone (SSB) higher up.
• Centres of activity are where to look for particular activities, such as QRP (low power), image modes like SSTV, and emergency traffic.
• Frequencies are transmitted frequencies, not dial settings. On LSB your signal extends about 3 kHz below the dial, and on USB about 3 kHz above it, so keep the whole signal inside the segment and the band.
• Beacon segments around 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930 and 28.200 MHz are kept clear for the NCDXF beacons.

For the standard data mode frequencies on every band, see the digital mode frequencies page, and for contest weekends, the contest calendar.

Questions