What Frequency Do I Use On 2 Meters (144MHz )?

You’ve just purchased your first handheld transceiver and have been chatting with both old and new friends around town on the 2 Meter band. There are many different frequencies to choose from, so how do you find an appropriate frequency to use?

FCC Rules
The first thing we need to know are the frequencies that the FCC has authorized for our particular license class. For the HF bands, the frequency privileges depend greatly on the license class of the operator. Above 50 MHz, the frequency allocations are the same for Technician licenses and higher. In particular, the 2M band extends from 144 MHz to 148 MHz. The FCC Rules say that any mode (FM, AM, SSB, CW, etc.) can be used on the band from 144.100 to 148.000 MHz. The FCC has restricted 144.0 to 144.100 MHz to CW operation only.

Band Plans
Knowing the FCC frequency authorizations is a good start but we need to check a bit further. Amateur radio operators use a variety of modulation techniques to carry out communications. Often, these modulation techniques are incompatible since a signal of one type can’t be received by a radio set to another modulation type. For example, an SSB signal can’t be……

2 Meters (144-148 MHz)

144.00-144.05	EME (CW)
144.05-144.10	General CW and weak signals
144.10-144.20	EME and weak-signal SSB
144.200	National calling frequency
144.200-144.275	General SSB operation
144.275-144.300	Propagation beacons
144.30-144.50	New OSCAR subband
144.50-144.60	Linear translator inputs
144.60-144.90	FM repeater inputs
144.90-145.10	Weak signal and FM simplex (145.01,03,05,07,09 are widely used for packet)
145.10-145.20	Linear translator outputs
145.20-145.50	FM repeater outputs
145.50-145.80	Miscellaneous and experimental modes
145.80-146.00	OSCAR subband
146.01-146.37	Repeater inputs
146.40-146.58	Simplex
146.52	National Simplex Calling Frequency
146.61-146.97	Repeater outputs
147.00-147.39	Repeater outputs
147.42-147.57	Simplex
147.60-147.99	Repeater inputs