Open-source Band Plans for SDR Software

Open-source detailed band plans for greater aid in signal identification, and for those who simply want more from their band plan.

If you just want to skip to how to install: click here.

Introduction
1. Preview the Band Plans
2. Pictures
3. Videos
4. Supported Software
5. Things to Keep in Mind
Installation
1. SDR#
2. SDR++
Band Plans Contents
1. US
2. International
Latest Updates
Useful Links/ Downloads

Introduction

Hello everyone! Quick backstory, a while back a few users and I on r/rtlsdr and r/amateursatellites discussed the creation of a better band plan for SDR. It was my desire to make a decently detailed band plan from then on, so here it is!

I've made the US band plans (where I live) the most detailed and by extension the best maintained, since US allocations are what I'm most familiar with. More detail on what it contains in the 'Contents' section.

The International band plan is a more general version for anyone else in the world. It might also contain allocations that are not correct in your country, so if you want to make sure, you could use the 'Useful Links/ Downloads' resources to try and confirm. The band plan does not contain allocations in some spots since different regions might have numerous wildly different allocations. It is still an upgrade from most default band plans though. More detail on what it contains in the 'Contents' section.

This project is also an opportunity for people to make band plans for their own areas. Those created band plans could then be added to this repository to make a number of band plans available to everyone in the SDR community and expand the usefulness of this project.

I will try to support as many SDR programs as I can, but what is easiest to work with will be the most up to date.

Preview the Band Plans

Showing the 137.1MHz Area (SDR#)

Showing the 146MHz Area (SDR++) (Sorry for all the interference)

Showing the 4.3MHz Area (SDR++) (No signal at the time.) (WEFAX is only in US version.)

Videos of the Bandplans

If you want to a different view of the plans I have some old videos showing the initial band plan release, Just keep in mind a lot has been updated since then. I plan on updating this soon:

Supported Software

Region/ Version	SDR#	SDR++
USA	🟩	🟨
French	🟦	⬜
International	🟩	🟥
Build Your Own	🟩	🟪

Legend:

⬜ - In the Future
🟪 - Next Update
🟦 - Partial Band Plan
🟩 - Full Support
🟨 - Preliminary/ Review
🟧 - Experimental
🟥 - No Plan to Support (Open to Requests)
🔳 - Adapted from Other Works/ 'As is'

Things to Keep in Mind

Sources for the allocations are in the comments of the band plan file for XML (SDR#). JSON (SDR++) does not natively support comments so refer to the XML file comments for sources.
Alternatively, you can reference the sources folder. However, it is limited to avoid any potential copyright issues.
Make sure to use the 'Useful Links/ Downloads' resources if your trying to confidently identify a signal.
Watch out for interference, harmonics, and be aware of the limitations of your SDR (e.g. Signals can appear to be at a frequency they really are not [for various technical reasons]).
Since band plans are meant to be an aid in helping identify an unknown signal I tried to make them as detailed as possible without making them too cluttered, so some signals might be from a secondary allocation user that couldn't be listed.
When using the band plan you may need to zoom in a lot to read the allocation name, since a named allocation is the same width as the signals bandwidth.
Don't take the band plans as infallible; local areas can have slightly different allocations.

Installation

SDR#

Make sure to have a backup of the old default band plan in case something doesn't work!

It's as easy as dropping it in the SDR# folder.

Click Here to download the ZIP file, extract it, navigate to the file you want (US, International, etc. e.g. SDR-Band-Plans-master>US>SDR#), then drag and drop "BandPlan" it in.

SDR++

Currently in testing, this process may change in the future!

Make sure to have a backup of the old config file in case something doesn't work!

SDR++ takes a little more work, but still is easy enough:

Locate the band plans folder in SDR++; example for windows: sdrpp_windows_x64>res>bandplans

Click Here to download the ZIP file, extract it, navigate to the file you want (US, International, etc. e.g. SDR-Band-Plans-master>US>SDR++), then drag and drop the JSON file (e.g. 'usa-kn1e') into the 'bandplans' folder.

So far, this would show the allocations if selected in SDR++, but there would be no color to the band plan banners. To add this, open the "Config BandColors Modification.txt" and copy all of the text in the file. (If new SDR++ download, run SDR++ to generate a config file) Open the SDR++ config file and paste the copied text in the ""bandColors": { field:

Correct any formatting errors and make sure they all have commas, except the last line.

Save and open SDR++, if it looks like the sample images, it's good to go!

The strange hex format basically brute-force converts the color format used in SDR# to the color format used in SDR++. It was easier to adapt the XML file to JSON this way, but this will most likely be updated in the future, but the process will stay the same.

Band Plan Contents

US Band Plan Contents

The US plan contains, among many other things not listed:

Broadcast:

AM Radio, FM Radio, Long Wave, Medium Wave (212m), Shortwave (Tropical Band 120m), Shortwave (Tropical Band 90m), Shortwave (75m), Shortwave (Tropical Band 60m), Shortwave (49m), Sortwave (41m), Shortwave (31m), Shortwave (25m), Shortwave (22m), Shortwave (19m), Shortwave (16m), Shortwave (15m), Shortwave (13m), Shortwave (11m), Television Channels 2 to 69 *Note: Some TV channels are no longer used for TV anymore.

Amateur:

2200m, 1750m (LowFER), 630m, 160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 22m (HiFER), 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 33cm, 23cm, 13cm, 9cm, 5cm, 3cm (w/ ARRL BPs)

Satellites:

NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19 (NOAAs DSB, DCS, APT, HRPT, CDA, Telemetry, Command), METEOR M2 (LRPT, AHRPT), METEOR M2-2 (AHRPT), Orbcomm (Uplink and Downlink), GOES-16, GOES-17 (HRIT, GRB, DCP), Metop-A, Metop-B, Metop-C (Metops AHRPT, DCP) Feng-Yun-3A, Feng-Yun-3B, Feng-Yun-3C (CHRPT), GPS (L5, L2, L1), GALILEO (E5a, E1, SAR Downlink), GLONASS (G1, G2, G3), Iridium (General, Ring, Alert, Messaging), Inmarsat (General Only), ISS (Voice U/D, SSTV, VHF Packet U/D, U/V Repeater Uplink, ISS UHF Packet U/D, ISS U/V Repeater Downlink), AO-85 (U/D), AO-91 (U/D), AO-92 (U/D), SO-50 (U/D), PO-101 (U/D), SiriusXM Satellites, Milstar, NOAA-20/ JPSS (TDRSS, Telemetry, Command), SNPP (TDRSS, Telemetry, Command), Starlink(U/D), TRDS(U/D)

ISM:

50m (6.7MHz), 22m (13.7MHz, inside HiFER), 10m (27MHz), 8m (40MHz), 70cm (433MHz) (Not ISM but Common Use Part 15), 33cm (900MHz), 13cm (2.5GHz)

Time Signals:

20KHz Time Signal, WWVB, WWV (2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25), CHU (3.33, 7.85, 14.670), JJY-40 (40 KHz)(Japan), RBU (66.66 KHz)(Russia), BPC (68.5 KHz)(China), DCF77 (77.5 kHz)(Germany), TDF (162 kHz)(France)

Aeronautical:

ADSB 978, ADSB 1090, ACARS, Air Band VOR/ILS, Air Band Voice, Civilian Aircraft Distress/ Emergency (121.5 MHz)

Marine:

2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18, 22, 25, and 156MHz (Marine VHF) (Marine 4MHz and Marine VHF are expanded to show channels), WEFAX (Boston, New Orleans, Port Reyes), (AIS), and Most Distress Frequencies

Submarine Stations:

NWC (19.8 KHz)(Australia), NPM (21.4 KHz)(US), Jim Creek (NLK) (24.8 KHz)(US), NML (25.2 KHz)(US), NOV (26.9 KHz)(US), SHR (38 KHz)(Sweden), SAS/SRC (40.4 kHz)(Sweden), SAS2 (42.5 kHz)(Sweden), SAS3 (44.2 kHz)(Sweden), GYN2 GBR (81 kHz)(UK)

Miscellaneous:

CB, GMRS and FRS, NOAA (NWR), 800MHz Bands, Police/ Fire/ Ambulance/ Business (2m), Hydrogen Line, Industrial/Business Bands, Paging Bands, Railroad H.O.T and E.O.T. (Head and End of train Devices), 220MHz Control/ Telemetry

The files also contain a list of contents, reference, color legend, explanation on how you can customize the file, and my comments about the file, at the bottom under all of the allocations.

International Band Plan Contents

Quick Author's Note on the band plan: It is impossible to compile a list that every country can agree on, so I went with what I thought would likely be the best choice. I live in the US so I have no experience or familiarity with frequencies other than those in the US, so it's within reason that I will make mistakes/ seemingly unfounded choices. There also might be a few things missing from this list for a variety of reasons. It's just meant to be better than the default.

The International plan contains, among many other things not listed:

Broadcast:

Amateur:

With (ARRL) Bandplans: 2200m, 1750m (LowFER), 630m, 160m, 80m, 60m, 40m, 30m, 22m (HiFER), 20m
Without Bandplans: 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm, 13cm

Satellites:

NOAA-15, NOAA-18, NOAA-19 (NOAAs DSB, DCS, APT, HRPT), METEOR M2 (LRPT, AHRPT), METEOR M2-2 (AHRPT), Orbcomm (Uplink and Downlink), GOES-16, GOES-17 (HRIT, GRB, DCP), Metop-A, Metop-B, Metop-C (Metops AHRPT, DCP) Feng-Yun-3A, Feng-Yun-3B, Feng-Yun-3C (CHRPT), GPS (L5, L2, L1), GALILEO (E5a, E1, SAR Downlink), GLONASS (G1, G2, G3), Iridium (General, Ring, Alert, Messaging), Inmarsat (General Only), ISS (Voice U/D, SSTV, VHF Packet U/D, U/V Repeater Uplink, ISS UHF Packet U/D, ISS U/V Repeater Downlink), AO-85 (U/D), AO-91 (U/D), AO-92 (U/D), SO-50 (U/D), PO-101 (U/D), SiriusXM Satellites,

ISM:

22m (13.5MHz, inside HiFER), 10m (27MHz), 8m (40MHz), 70cm (433MHz) (Europe, Africa, Russia), 33cm (902MHz) (Americas), 13cm (2.5GHz)

Time Signals:

20KHz Time Signal, WWVB, Generalized 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25MHz

Aeronautical:

ADSB 978, ADSB 1090

Marine:

2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 18, 22, 25, and 156MHz (Marine VHF) (Marine 4MHz and Marine VHF are expanded to show channels), WEFAX (Boston, New Orleans, Port Reyes), and Most Distress Frequencies

The files also contain a list of contents, reference, color legend, explanation on how you can customize the file, and my comments about the file, at the bottom under all of the allocations.

Create Your Own Band plan

The purpose of the efforts here are to aid SDR users in the ability to identify signals and bands with greater ease than before. With a basic layout file provided ('Create your own Band plan') it gives users anywhere the ability to assign a band plan to their regional or personal needs, which can then be shared with the greater SDR community if desired. It has a simple layout with nothing more than a basic structure that the writer can adhere to if they desire. Luckily XML is a simple language that can be easily learned by those even with little skill in programming.

Latest Updates

Addition of sources below the allocations in the SDR# XML file's comments (about every 25 lines).

Starlink and TDRS Downlink and Uplink frequencies added to both SDR# and SDR++ versions.

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Metadata

Open-source Band Plans for SDR Software

Table of Contents

Introduction