Band Plans
Band plans exist in all three regions of the IARU. They are mandatory in some countries but voluntary in others. In the United Kingdom and Ireland the band plans are voluntary but all ham radio operators are expected to adhere to them.
The concept of the band plan is to ensure there is some sense of order to the way in which the bands are utilised. Segments are set aside for phone, data and cw operation. Some bands are available for contest work while others, such as the three WARC bands, are not. Portions of a band may be set aside for the International Beacon project whilst some areas are designated as "centres of activity" or reserved for inter-continental working.
The data (or digi) modes are generally referred to as the narrow band modes and band plans are published on the websites of all the major National Societies. It should be noted that the following convention applies to SSB working: below 10MHz (with the exception of of 5MHz NoV's)- Lower SideBand (LSB) and above 10MHz - Upper Sideband (USB)
Changes occured to the 40 metre band on 29 March 2009. Commercial stations were expected to vacate the 7.100 - 7.200Mhz section of the band since it was desianated as a primary allocation for the amateur service from that date. Accordingly a revised band plan was put in place and the new IARU Region 1 band plan is reproduced here.
All the UK HF and VHF band plans are very clearly presented and detailed in the G3YRC website which may be found here.
Updated 14 June, 2010 11:08:15 GMT