Good QSO bands?

Over the past few months I have been having a listen around the bands using various online receivers.  

CB, seems to be reasonably dead, but given the level of  sun activity, that is not surprising. Presumably things will pick up a little  during the summer with some tropo popping up, sometimes.

The amateur bands seem reasonably quiet too. I have listened to FM CB & the local  amateur bands, 10 FM, 6, 4, 2 & 70cm since I moved up here & it's all reasonable quiet.  But other than 10 meters, I cannot really listen to SSB  & 6 meters is a summer band mainly. 

I have heard no QSO's on Medium Wave or even on 41 or 48 meters around lunchtime on a Sunday.  

PMR, even 446 does not seem to have anybody, but businesses on there around my area & both are really quiet. 

I do know of network radio & I did look at it, but it does not look like it can replicate an over the air QSO.

So two questions. 
1. There use to be another QSO band, where SSB, as well as AM was used somewhere between the 41/48 meter broadcast bands. Is that still used as I have heard nothing via  the online receivers.  
2. Where do people go for a, any point of the sun cycle, QSO's now?

The band your thinking of is 45m which is often referred to as Echo Charlie, I certainly wouldn’t recommend TXing on this band but no harm in having a listen 


40m is just about open 24/7 mainly EU but with some ZL and Vk heard early in the morning 

20m open from early mornings until the grey line hits  usually between 5 and 6pm although it’s not been so good last few days 

Craig

As Craig says the pirate band between 41/48 is the 45m (echo charlie). AM is very rarely used these days, the preferred mode is LSB. The calling frequency is 6670 and the main users apart from the UK are Ireland, France, Italy and The Netherlands. 86m and 21m is also popular with echo charlie users. No harm in SWLing these bands.

John123 wrote:

As Craig says the pirate band between 41/48 is the 45m (echo charlie). AM is very rarely used these days, the preferred mode is LSB. The calling frequency is 6670 and the main users apart from the UK are Ireland, France, Italy and The Netherlands. 86m and 21m is also popular with echo charlie users. No harm in SWLing these bands.

Thanks for that.  One broadcasting acquaintance was raided back in the early 80's, he believed that the raid was because he was using a frequency around 6900khz.

A lot of the users in my early days of radio operating were using home brew or ex WD radios like the wonderful 19 (tank) radio. Thus, the use of AM. But in the very early 80's a reasonable number  of rich CB'ers popped up on ham equipment, which at that time was really expensive & hard to get hold of, if you did not have a licence, as most hams would not  sell to  the unlicensed. The raid rate went up with the popularity. Eric Gotts & co even raided an organised 45 meter get together in London.

Eric Gotts is the DTI yob who punched a young presenter on, I think it was Jackie. Got convicted of assault & still kept his job!!!

There used to be a commercially made transverter for CB to 45 meters. A friend had one.

Now I know where it is I'll have a listen.

A good bit of history of the band, Nick.

I think it was originally a ham band that was taken and used by the military. Hence why the early users were on exmilitary radios and AM was used. I remember those transverters too.

John123 wrote:

A good bit of history of the band, Nick.

I think it was originally a ham band that was taken and used by the military. Hence why the early users were on exmilitary radios and AM was used. I remember those transverters too.

The origin of the band as I always understood it was, the UK's government's slow return of the amateur bands follow WW2. There were lots of amateurs, trained military operator's & ex military equipment about. 

Yesterday, I found the following, which maybe explains the use of the term Echo Charlie. 

I cannot post a link, so sorry, but you will have to highlight & then search to link below. 

eddystoneusergroup.org.uk/QRG/Ultimate%20QRG-2.pdf

Pages 9, 10 & 11 explains how Eddystone Radio came about. 

Page 25 contains the following.

Quote :

In the early 1960s a new system of numbering started, to run in parallel with this traditional nomenclature. It was the two-letter prefix of which the first was always ‘E’ (for ‘Eddystone’) and the second was a type designator, viz: 
EA – Amateur 
EB – Broadcast 
EC – Communication 
EM – Marine 
EP – Panadaptor (not strictly a receiver) 
EY – Yachtsman 

this is where i`m listen and call at the pirate frequenties

19 div Ops have used the EC (friendly) band for many years as do 14 div and its where 5w does the trick when conditions are ok.
Greek and Irish fishermen use it to keep in contact trawler to trawler and of course Shanwick Oceanic air traffic control often use 6.622 usb.
Malaysian ATC are somewhere on 6 mhz too and can be heard from time to time..

Sam

Cozzmik wrote:

19 div Ops have used the EC (friendly) band for many years as do 14 div and its where 5w does the trick when conditions are ok.

Sam

Div as in Military Division? 

A lot of the transmitters used when I was around for QSO's were simple single valve (AM) designs so probably 5 watts or less. Even one of the valves from a old black & white TV could make a very low power (under 1 watt) transmitter. The 19 set managed about 5 watts (& a bit more,)  I seem to remember.

The Dutch authorities  have always had much less restrictive view to pirate operating. Back around the late 60's, into the 70's & through to the early 80's there were loads of Dutch stations just above the medium Wave broadcast band (17- 1800 khz.) Every Friday & saturday night. There were also several Dutch stations operating much more freely than we could in the 48 meter band too. Here we had the constant threat of a raid at that time. 

We learned to never leave a crystal in a valve transmitter, or a modified amateur transceiver tuned to a unlicensed band, as visits were a regular occurrence, especially when you became known.

Seasick wrote:

Cozzmik wrote:

19 div Ops have used the EC (friendly) band for many years as do 14 div and its where 5w does the trick when conditions are ok.

Sam

Div as in Military Division? 

A lot of the transmitters used when I was around for QSO's were simple single valve (AM) designs so probably 5 watts or less. Even one of the valves from a old black & white TV could make a very low power (under 1 watt) transmitter. The 19 set managed about 5 watts (& a bit more,)  I seem to remember.

Div as in country....

Echo Charlie wakes up late evening usually....and worth a listen

Cozzmik wrote:

Echo Charlie wakes up late evening usually....and worth a listen

Thanks,  I'll have a listen on one of the online RX's.  It was always more of  an evening thing, when I played. I think in part because it reduced the risks of raids. The post office & later the DTI worked Monday to Friday 9-5 & only  really raided where they knew they would stand a good chance of success beyond that.

Seasick wrote:

Cozzmik wrote:

Echo Charlie wakes up late evening usually....and worth a listen

Thanks,  I'll have a listen on one of the online RX's.  It was always more of  an evening thing, when I played. I think in part because it reduced the risks of raids. The post office & later the DTI worked Monday to Friday 9-5 & only  really raided where they knew they would stand a good chance of success beyond that.

That makes sense,

Busby in his yellow van lol

Quote :

That makes sense,

Busby in his yellow van lol

Not Busby, But Victor Frisby,  someone called Crow, I think & of course Eric Gotts & then a few others who are now thankfully long forgotten.