Audio Introduction
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The 80 metre amateur radio band is one of the oldest and most popular HF bands. It has an interesting history in Britain, especially during the valve radio era of the 1930s through to the 1970s. The British 80 metre amateur band is 3.5–3.8 MHz.
History of the 80 metre band
The 80 metre band became established during the early development of amateur radio in the 1920s. Before the Second World War, British amateurs used relatively simple transmitters, often built around one or two thermionic valves. Morse code (CW) was particularly popular, although amplitude-modulated (AM) speech transmissions became increasingly common.
During the 1930s, 80 metres was used for both local and international communication. Following the resumption of amateur radio after the Second World War in 1946, the band became extremely popular with British operators.
In the 1950s and 1960s, typical amateur stations used:
- Home-built valve transmitters, sometimes using 6L6, 807 or similar transmitting valves.
- Communications receivers such as the Eddystone and AR88.
- AM transmission for speech.
- Morse code for long-distance communication.
- Simple wire aerials, including dipoles and end-fed wires.
During the 1960s and 1970s, SSB transmission gradually replaced AM as the principal speech mode.
Propagation characteristics
One of the most fascinating characteristics of 80 metres is the enormous difference between daytime and night-time propagation.
During daylight: Signals are strongly absorbed by the ionosphere’s D-layer. Communication is generally restricted to relatively short distances, often around 50–300 miles depending on conditions and antenna arrangements.
During darkness: Absorption decreases substantially, allowing signals to travel hundreds or thousands of miles. British amateurs can regularly contact European stations, while longer-distance contacts with North America and elsewhere become possible under favourable conditions.
During winter: Longer nights and generally reduced atmospheric noise can make 80 metres particularly effective for international communication.
This is (was) my favourite HF band. Was because these days it suffers from QRM at my QTH. It’s great for inter-G and further afield, depending on your aerial. I use a doublet fed with 300 ohm ladder line, cut for 80m, 132 feet long, which is only 30 feet high in the centre. The last 15 feet of each end is at right angles to the dipole but I get great reports, often 9 plus, from UK stations. Many stations use nothing more than a random length end-fed wire, but they put out good signals. Using ground wave propagation, 80m is also great for local contacts.
Back in the 1960s and 70s, the 80 metre amateur band was alive with QSOs day and night. The hours of darkness were best, of course, but during the day propagation was still pretty good for inter-G contacts. I had many contacts during the day on 80 metres. But now, the band seems to be pretty dead during daylight hours. Some of the problem is caused by noise. QRM is worse now than it’s ever been which is ruining the hobby for many.
If I had a day off work in the old days, I’d listen to the various nets on 80 metres. I was years away from retirement back then but, I often thought, when I retire, I will probably spend most of my time chatting on the band. I’m now retired and… I don’t think I need say more. Don’t give up on the band just because of my moaning. It’s really busy at night and there are a few nets during the day… if your noise level isn’t too high.
Aerials for 80 metres:
I use a 132 foot doublet antenna on 80 metres. The antenna is great on 80 60 and 40 metres but results are not so good on the higher frequency bands. I use vertical aerials for those bands.
Update 3/11/25:
My noise level has been a constant S9+20 for several years. However, I have some good news. The noise level is now hovering around S7, even at night. I don’t know what’s changed but, obviously, someone has switched something off or replaced the offending power supply or whatever. At last, I’m able to use 80m again!