There are so many bands to choose from! Here is an easy way to keep track of them.

HF

HF is long wavelenth, so it uses long antennas. These waves reflect off the ionosphere and come back to earth. This reflection means far off signals can be heard.

Typically the lower the HF band, the better it works at night. 160 meters works best when it is very dark, same with 80 meters. 40 is good in the evening hours and the first few hours after sunset.

30 meters is an oddball band. SSB is not allowed, CW and digital only. This band follows the greyline – the line of sunset. This band works best in the afternoon as the sun is setting accross the US. You will hear signals strongest as the greyline moves.

20 meters through 10 meters are best during the day. These bands are contestor and DX favorites.

VHF

6 meters is another oddball band. It behaves like 2 meters, but during times of solar instability, 6 meters can suddenly open to anywhere in the world! And just as suddenly as it opens, it fades.

2 meters is generally is used for local communications, especially with repeaters. Most repeater-capable radios are dual-band 2-meter & 70 centimeter radios. Of the 2 bands, 2 meters can be negatively affected by buildings and obstacles, but it is often cited as further reaching than 70 cm.

1.25m (220) is a US-specific band that behaves similarly to both the 2m band and 70cm band. Unfortunately, because very few other countries use this band, equipment is limited, and the band spectrum is relatively small. Though there are several dedicated operators that frequent the repeaters on this band. They are generally very friendly and happy to hear new users.

70 centimeters is a band favorite for suburban and urban areas. The waves are more likely to penetrate buildings and urban environments. 70cm is also typically where digital repeaters are. This is because of the extra band space vs. 2 meters.

23 centimeter