page_title: 60-meter band
section_title: Propagation characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: 60-meter band / Propagation characteristics
caption_attribution_description: ionogramme
context_page_description: The 60-meter band or 5 MHz band is a relatively new amateur radio allocation, first introduced in 2002, that was originally only available in a few countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Iceland. Over a number of years however, an increasing proportion of countries' telecommunications administrations – together with their government and military users – have permitted Amateur Radio operation in the 5 MHz area on a short or longer term basis, ranging from discrete channels to a frequency band allocation.
  At the closing meeting of the 2015 ITU World Radiocommunication Conference on 27 November 2015, amongst the Final Acts signed into the International Radio Regulations was one approving "A Worldwide Frequency Allocation of 5351.5–5366.5 kHz to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis". The ITU's enhanced band allocation limits most amateurs to 15 watts effective isotropic radiated power, with some countries allowed up to 25 W EIRP. The ITU allocation came into effect January 1, 2017, after which each country's national administration must formally revise their rules to permit amateur operation.
context_section_description: Lying approximately halfway between 80 m (3.5 MHz) and 40 m (7 MHz), the 60-meter (5 MHz) band forms a communication bridge when propagation effects make use of 80 or 40 m impossible for local-to-medium distance communications –  often needed in emergency communication scenarios where there is no existing normal communications infrastructure or it is devastated. Less affected by D-Layer absorption than 80 m, the 60-meter (5 MHz) band is an ideal candidate for  Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS), the most commonly used technique capable of providing seamless local-to-medium distance HF communications. Information about the Critical Frequency (foF2) of the Ionosphere at any one time is highly important for setting up and maintaining reliable NVIS radio links. This information can be found online from Ionograms produced by local ionosondes at this site
caption: Typical ionogram indicating foF2 of approximately 5.4 MHz.
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