1.25-meter band
amateur radio frequency band
The 1.25-meter, 220 MHz or 222 MHz band is a portion of the VHF radio spectrum internationally allocated for amateur radio use on a primary basis in ITU Region 2, and it comprises frequencies from 220 MHz to 225 MHz. In the United States and Canada, the band is available on a primary basis from 222 to 225 MHz, with the addition of 219 to 220 MHz on a limited, secondary basis. It is not available for use in ITU Region 1 (except in Somalia) or ITU Region 3. The license privileges of amateur radio operators include the use of frequencies within this band, which is primarily used for local communications. In the U.S. and Canada, the 1.25-meter band calling frequencies are 223.500 MHz for FM simplex and 222.100 MHz for SSB/CW.
History
The 1.25-meter band has a very long and colorful history, dating back to before World War II.
Pre-Cairo Conference
Some experimental amateur use in the U.S. was known to occur on the "1+1⁄4-meter band" as early as 1933, with reliable communications achieved in fall of 1934.
The Cairo Conference
In 1938, the FCC gave U.S. amateurs privileges in two VHF bands: 2.5 meters (112 MHz) and 1.25 meters (224 MHz). Both bands (as well as 70 centimeters) were natural harmonics of the 5-meter band. Amateur privileges in the 2.5-meter band were later moved to 144–148 MHz (becoming the modern-day 2-meter band), and the old frequencies were reassigned to aircraft communication during World War II. At that time, the 1.25-meter band expanded to a 5 MHz bandwidth, spanning 220–225 MHz.
The VHF/UHF explosion
Amateur use of VHF and UHF allocations exploded in the late 1960s and early 1970s as repeaters started going on the air. Repeater use sparked a huge interest in the 2-meter and 70-centimeter (420–450 MHz) bands; however, this interest never fully found its way into the 1.25-meter band.
“1.25-meter band” enters the record as amateur radio frequency band. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what 25-meter, band and amateur can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“1.25-meter band” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, 25-meter, band and amateur provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2882174. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1933, 1934 and 1938.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “1.25-meter band” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.