8 Meter or 40 MHz Amateur Radio Band

8 Meter or 40 MHz Amateur Radio Band is the buzz word on Twitter or X among radio amateurs as Spain has opened it up for ham radio operators a couple of days back, for a period of 18 months. Maximum power permitted is 25 W Peak Envelope Power. Many have posted details of their first QSO to and from Spain on 8m. Frequency allotted is from 40.650 to 40.750 MHz. 40 MHz is the lowest portion of the very high frequency or VHF spectrum allocated to amateur radio use. Had a look at VU land National Frequency Allocation Plan 2022 to see if there is an allocation on 8m. No, it is not there! So we are unable to participate in the new buzz of activity on the lowest VHF band. For us, the lowest VHF band is still 6m, that too with very little activity.

South Africa, Slovenia, Ireland and Belgium are the other countries which have amateur radio allocations for 8m, as per Wikipedia. 8m signals can occasionally bounce off the F2 layer of the ionosphere like HF signals, though not as much. Similarly Sporadic E propagation through clouds of ionization in the E layer of the ionosphere can also be there just as for 6m band. My FT-710 does not have 40 MHz listed among the bands available for selection.