IARU Band Plan Explained: Regions 1, 2 and 3 for Beginners
Sooner or later every new operator asks the same question: where exactly am I allowed to put a CW signal, an SSB signal or an FT8 signal on this band? The honest answer has two layers. Your licence tells you what is legal. The IARU band plan tells you what is polite, practical and expected. Understanding how those two layers fit together, and why the plan looks different depending on where in the world you live, is one of the quickest ways to stop sounding like a beginner on the air.
This guide explains what the International Amateur Radio Union publishes, how its three regions divide the world, what a band plan does and does not control, and how to read one without memorising it. It deliberately avoids quoting individual frequencies. Band edges and segment boundaries are revised over time and differ between regions and countries, so the only safe numbers are the ones in the current edition of the plan you are actually operating under.
What the IARU Band Plan Actually Is
The IARU is the federation of national amateur radio societies. It represents amateurs at the International Telecommunication Union, the body that allocates radio spectrum among services worldwide. Within the allocations the ITU makes available to the amateur service, the IARU’s regional organisations publish band plans: agreed layouts that divide each band into segments by mode and type of use.
A typical plan will show, for a given band, a segment at the bottom reserved for narrowband modes such as CW, then space for narrowband digital modes, then a segment shared by wider digital modes, then the general voice area, and often a designated area for beacons, satellites, or emergency traffic. It also marks calling frequencies, contest-friendly areas and places where you are asked to keep clear.
The key phrase is agreed layout. The plan is negotiated by the member societies of a region, usually at a general conference, then published as a reference. It is not written by a regulator and it carries no penalty of its own. That is exactly why it works only as well as operators respect it.
Three Regions, Three Plans
The IARU mirrors the ITU’s division of the world into three regions, and each has its own organisation and its own set of plans.
- Region 1 covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia.
- Region 2 covers the Americas, including North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
- Region 3 covers most of Asia and the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand.
The differences matter most in three places: the underlying allocations (which slices of a band amateurs may use at all), the sub-band layout (which modes go where), and the traditional habits that have grown up around each. A station in Vilnius and a station in Vancouver may both be on the same nominal band and still see a noticeably different landscape.
For example, some HF bands are a different width in different regions, which affects where the top edge of a voice segment sits. Some bands, including the low-frequency and the 60 metre area, have allocations that vary by country as well as by region. That is why you should read the plan for your region and the licence terms of the country you are operating from at the same moment.
You can browse the plans at the source: the IARU Region 1 band plans, and the IARU home page links to the other regional organisations. The ARRL band plan page is the reference many operators in the Americas use.
Law Versus Gentlemen’s Agreement
Confusing the plan with the law causes trouble in both directions. Some newcomers assume anything outside a plan segment is illegal, and refuse to use a legal frequency simply because it is not in the expected slot. Others assume that anything their licence permits is fair game and park a wide signal in the middle of the CW area.
The correct order of authority is roughly this:
- Your national licence and regulator. These define what frequencies, powers and modes you may legally use. Break these and you can lose your licence.
- The ITU allocation for your region and country. This is the framework the regulator works within.
- The IARU regional band plan. This is the voluntary layer that keeps modes out of each other’s way.
- National society plans and local agreements. Some societies publish stricter guidance or additional protection for specific activities.
- Common courtesy. Listen first, ask if the frequency is in use, and move if someone is there before you.
Note that a few band plan items are protected in practice even though they are not law: beacon segments, emergency traffic frequencies, and satellite segments. Interfering with them causes real harm to other users, so treat them as if they were legal exclusion zones.
How the Bands Are Typically Organised
You do not need the numbers to understand the pattern. Across most HF bands, plans follow the same broad logic, because the physics of the modes forces it.
Narrowband at the bottom
CW and other very narrow modes occupy the lower part of a band. A CW signal occupies very little spectrum, so many can share the space, and skilled operators can dig weak stations out of the noise with narrow filters. Placing wide signals here would raise the noise floor for everyone else.
Digital modes in the middle
Narrowband digital modes such as those used by weak-signal software sit in their own segment, usually close to the CW area. Modern modes concentrate activity around a few popular frequencies, which is why the same handful of frequencies fills up with signals while nearby space stays empty. If you use WSJT-X, our guide to a WSJT-X and FT8 setup that works the first time shows how to select a calling frequency correctly, and the comparison of digital modes beyond FT8 explains how the different modes divide the space.
Voice at the top
Single sideband voice uses a much wider signal and is placed in the upper part of the band. Many plans also mark a preferred area for contests or for DX operation, or ask that you do not use a wide mode in a space set aside for narrower ones.
Special-purpose segments
Beacons, satellite downlinks, and sometimes emergency or experimental areas are kept clear of general use. On the VHF and UHF bands the plan goes further and assigns specific slots for FM simplex, repeater inputs and outputs, weak-signal work, and linking. If you are moving into that territory, the guide to VHF and UHF simplex and repeater operating is a natural next step.
Comparing the Three Regions at a Glance
The table below summarises how the regions relate to each other in practice. It intentionally stays qualitative. The details change, so verify them in the current publication for the region you operate in.
| Aspect | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | Europe, Africa, Middle East, northern Asia | The Americas | Most of Asia and the Pacific |
| Where the plan is published | IARU Region 1 organisation | IARU Region 2 organisation; national plans such as the ARRL plan are widely used | IARU Region 3 organisation |
| Who agrees revisions | Member societies at regional conferences | Member societies and national bodies | Member societies at regional conferences |
| Voice and digital layout | Segment layout set by the regional plan | Often shaped by national licence sub-bands in addition to the plan | Regional plan plus national rules |
| Typical trap | Assuming a neighbouring country has the same limits | Assuming US-style sub-bands apply everywhere in the region | Assuming a Region 1 layout applies |
The last row is the most useful. The most common mistake is not misreading a plan, but importing the layout of the region you know into a region you do not.
Reading a Band Plan Before You Transmit
A band plan is a reference document, not a memory test. This is the routine that works whether you are on your home band or on a band you have never used.
Step 1: Confirm your region and country
Know which IARU region the country you are transmitting from belongs to. If you travel, remember that your licence and the local rules apply to the place where the transmitter is, not to your home country. Many countries have reciprocal arrangements, but the conditions of the host country decide what you may use.
Step 2: Get the current edition
Download the plan from the regional organisation or from your national society. Check the revision date. A chart in an old handbook, a logging program or a forum post can be years out of date.
Step 3: Find your mode on that band
Look for the segment that matches what you plan to do. If the segment is marked for something else, move. If your mode is not listed at all, consider whether it is a good idea to start using that band with it.
Step 4: Listen before you transmit
Listen on the frequency for long enough to know whether it is in use. A band plan does not stop a net, a beacon or a weak DX station from being there already. Ask if the frequency is in use, and if you get no answer, call once and be prepared to move.
Step 5: Respect calling and activity frequencies
Calling frequencies exist so people can find each other. Make your first call there if that is the convention, then move up or down to have the conversation and free the calling frequency for the next caller. On the busy digital calling frequencies, do not hold a long QSO on the channel where everyone else is trying to make first contact.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Using a wide mode in a narrowband segment. A wide voice or data signal in a CW area can wipe out many narrowband contacts at once. Stay in your mode’s segment.
- Assuming a plan is a licence. The plan does not authorise anything. Check that the frequency is within your licence privileges first.
- Calling CQ on a DX or contest frequency. During a contest, activity is dense, and some parts of the band are effectively reserved by custom. Move away from the busy area if you are not participating. If you are, the guide to running versus search and pounce explains how operators behave in that environment.
- Ignoring split operation. DX stations working a pileup often transmit on one frequency and listen on another. Calling on the DX frequency is one of the fastest ways to earn a bad reputation. See our overview of working a pileup for the details.
- Trusting an unsourced chart. A convenient cheat sheet may be wrong or out of date. Prefer the primary source and note its date.
Why the Plan Keeps Changing
Band plans evolve because the way people use the bands evolves. Weak-signal digital modes did not exist in their current form a generation ago, yet they now dominate activity on several bands. Regions revise their plans to account for new modes, changing allocations, and lessons from crowded contest weekends. The direction of travel is usually toward more explicit segments for digital modes and clearer protection for beacons and satellite links.
The practical consequence is that you should treat the plan as a living document. Set a reminder to check the regional publication once in a while, especially before a major contest or a trip abroad. When the plan and a piece of software disagree, trust the plan and update the software.
How the Plan Relates to Propagation and Antennas
Band plans also shape the way you think about the bands. Different parts of the spectrum behave differently, and the busy segments follow the times when propagation opens. If you want to know why a band is packed at one time and empty at another, the article on HF propagation is the place to start, and if you are still choosing a wire to put up, your first HF antenna explains which bands each common design suits. Understanding the plan tells you where to listen. Understanding propagation tells you when.
Operating Abroad and Portable
Travel is where band plan knowledge pays off. If you operate from another country, you are bound by that country’s rules and by the plan for its region. Some places restrict the modes, power levels or bands you can use, and some publish the rules only in the local language. Look up the local regulator, ask the local society and, if in doubt, pick a mode and band combination you are sure about. It is also worth remembering that a station in your logbook from a different region may be using a different layout from the one you assume when you tune around.
The Bottom Line
The IARU band plan is the shared map of how amateurs divide up the spectrum. It is voluntary, it differs by region, and it works only because operators choose to follow it. Learn which region you are in, get the current plan from its source, keep your mode in its segment, listen before you transmit, and never mistake the plan for your licence. Do those five things and you will avoid nearly every band-plan mistake beginners make, whether you are in Region 1, Region 2 or Region 3.
If you want to explore more practical operating guides, browse the full blog index or the tag list for related topics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the IARU band plan?
The IARU band plan is a set of voluntary recommendations, published separately for each of the three IARU regions, that says which parts of each amateur band are used for which modes and activities, such as CW, narrowband digital, SSB, beacons and satellites.
Is the IARU band plan legally binding?
No. Your national licence conditions and the regulator’s rules are the law. The band plan is a gentlemen’s agreement that keeps different modes from interfering with each other. Ignoring it will not usually cost you your licence, but it will cost you goodwill and can cause harmful interference.
Which IARU region am I in?
Region 1 covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia. Region 2 covers the Americas. Region 3 covers most of Asia and the Pacific. The regions follow the ITU regions, and each national society belongs to one of them.
Why do band plans differ between regions?
The underlying frequency allocations come from the ITU Radio Regulations, which differ by region, and each region’s member societies then agree their own detailed sub-band recommendations. Historical usage patterns also differ, so the same band can be organised in noticeably different ways.
Do I need to follow the plan of my region or my country?
Follow your national licence first, then the IARU plan for your region, and then any national society plan that is stricter. When you operate abroad, learn the local rules and the region’s plan for that country before you transmit.
Where do I find the current IARU band plan?
Each region publishes its own plans on its website, and the plans are revised periodically. Always download the current edition rather than relying on a printed copy, a logging program’s built-in chart or a forum post.
Are FT8 and other digital modes covered by the band plan?
Yes. Plans set aside narrowband digital segments, and popular modes tend to gather on well-known calling frequencies inside them. Check the current plan and your software’s documentation, and expect activity to be concentrated rather than spread evenly.