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What to listen to · Amateur radio
FT8 on 60 metres: 5357 kHz, the narrow shared band
60 m is the newest and narrowest amateur band, fifteen kilohertz shared with other services and limited to a few watts in many countries. FT8 on 5357 kHz is where most of its activity gathers.
What you hear
The FT8 chorus described in the main article, but sparse: a handful of stripes, rarely a crowd. 5357 kHz sits between 80 m and 40 m and sounds like both, regional by day, continental by night, with less static than 80 m.
Who transmits and why
Amateurs who got access to the band only recently. The 2015 world radio conference allotted amateurs a sliver, 5351.5 to 5366.5 kHz, as a secondary user with a power limit of 15 watts EIRP in most of the world; some countries allow more or use a few fixed channels instead, and some have not opened the band at all. 5357 kHz is the common FT8 spot because it also fits the channel plans of countries like the United States, so stations from both schemes meet there. With such low power, a weak-signal mode is the natural choice.
When and where to listen
Evening and night, with the best reach in the hours after sunset and before sunrise; by day the band works to a few hundred kilometres. Winter nights are quietest. Receivers in Europe and North America hear their own continents most of the time; a transatlantic decode is a small event. The dial is 5357 kHz, USB.
In ShackDeck
Station catalogue → Amateur radio → FT8 60 m. The program picks a public receiver that covers 5357 kHz, sets FT8 mode and decodes into the On air list and the map every fifteen seconds; no receiver, antenna or account of your own is needed.