FT8 on 30 metres: 10136 kHz around the clock

What you hear

The FT8 chorus of the main article, on a band that never fully closes. By day 10136 kHz behaves like a quieter 20 m, with Europe and the nearer DX; by night it behaves like 40 m, and the decodes drift towards the Americas and Asia. There are fewer stripes than on 14074, but there is rarely nothing.

Who transmits and why

30 m is a narrow band, 10100 to 10150 kHz, reserved for CW and narrow digital modes: no SSB, and by agreement no contests. It is shared with other services, and the permitted power is often lower than on the neighbouring bands. That gives it a calm character; the people here are after steady contacts and propagation checks rather than crowds, and many DX stations pick it because it is open when the other bands are not.

When and where to listen

Any hour. The best DX comes around sunrise and sunset at either end of the path, when 30 m combines the reach of the day bands with the night paths. Receivers anywhere in Europe hear it well, and summer static bothers it less than 40 m. The dial is 10136 kHz in USB.

In ShackDeck

Station catalogue → Amateur radio → FT8 30 m. The program picks a public receiver covering 10136 kHz, sets FT8 mode and runs the decoder: callsigns and locators go to the On air list and the map every fifteen seconds, with no receiver, antenna or account of your own.