11 meters is opening up again 1045 UTC 19 Oct 2021

[R4002]

Looks like we might be in for another busy day:

At 1045 UTC:

Hearing two English-speaking OMs on 26.885 MHz AM...heard a third station break in, request radio check...sounds like a local channel (where these guys are, I don't know...) but they've got decent modulation.  Third station is considerably weaker...now a 4th station.  IDs include Jaybird, Tomcat, and others.   "I've got the preamp on and I still can't hear you as well..." "If I can hear you down here, I know they can hear you up there!" "We gonna talk to Possum" "Did you hear Ramblin' Man in The Carolina?"

This is almost certainly a local (regional) channel...

Weak signal noted at 1046 UTC on 26.875 MHz

1049 UTC I heard mention of "500 watts" on 26.885 MHz AM - and now they're working a station in Florida. 

1050 UTC - "he's on one of them big fancy radios" (more English speaking stations) on 26.675 MHz AM

1140 UTC - 27.505 MHz AM and 27.605 MHz AM active
1142 UTC - guys on 27.605 MHz AM switched to FM mode (sounds like they're doing testing) - 27.605 FM...then the frequency went quiet - some weak SSB QRM in the background

1145 UTC - 26.885 MHz AM - US stations still very strong
1145 UTC - 26.675 MHz AM - US stations also good signals
1145 UTC - 26.805 MHz AM - US stations active
1147 UTC - 27.505 MHz AM - confirmed truckers on 27505 - "she got her own policy on the other truck" "primary driver" and other trucker-specific chatter

I checked the legal 40 channels locally with my handheld CB and almost all 40 channels were active.  Channels 6, 11, 20, 21, 24, 25 and others were all quite active.  Some sporadic signals coming in and out on channel 26 and 28.  Heard some SSB activity on 38 and 39.

[Elf36]

I checked those freq's and did hear some locals. Not locals to me, but you could tell they had a routine. When up to 27.555 and already heard a couple of western stations. One was Idaho. Via SDR in Virginia

[ChrisSmolinski]

Yes, lots of activity here, many stations from FL in particular.

1359 Channel RC 11/A with an SS YL taxi dispatcher
1359 SS OM on CH 14 in FM mode
1401 27600 FF OM
1414 27405 AM is about 10 channels wide with over modulation

[Elf36]

Going to try FM again 0n 26 Mhz when I get home. That was pretty neat working those 3 western states yesterday. I typically don't work a lot of stations out that way on any band or mode. Every once in a while. Europe and SA are much more common.

[R4002]

I've noted FM on the following frequencies:

26.805 MHz FM - 26805 FM US stations - apparently this is the freeband FM calling frequency 26.805 FM (or the low channel FM calling frequency, similar to 26.915 MHz AM or 915 26.915 AM

27.125 MHz FM - 27125 FM CB Channel 14 - Spanish speaking stations...

27.255 MHz FM - 27.255 FM

27.600 MHz FM - 27600 FM - French speaking stations - not UK FM CB channel 1 (27.60125 MHz FM 27601.25 FM 27.601 FM)

27.650 MHz 27650 FM - Several different stations heard on this frequency - not UK FM CB channel 6 (27.65125 MHz FM 27651.25 FM 27.651 FM), these stations were definitely using 27.650 MHz

Interestingly enough, the UK FM 27/81 allocation is close enough to the "zeros" (27.600 MHz, 27.610 MHz, etc.) that the 1.25 kHz difference is usually not enough difference to make a difference. 

Combine that with the fact that the Irish authorities allow use of the 40 UK FM channels (the Irish call UKFM 1-40 LW01-LW40) and 40 offset channels (27.605 MHz to 27.995 MHz in straight 10 kHz channel sequence - the 27.605-27.995 channels are referred to as UW01-UW40) and the regular 40 mid band CB (FCC CB) channels (simply called CB01-CB40) for Irish church radio broadcasts - Wireless Public Address System or WPAS...in Ireland FM and AM are allowed (yes, AM is allowed on the UK FM channel plan, the UW01-UW40 channels and the 40 CB channels for Church radio broadcasts. 

So...for FM purposes, I think it's better to use the regular channels unless there's propagation to the UK. 

Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic and other places allow use of 80 CB channels - the standard 26.965-27.405 MHz 40 channel band plus 26.565 MHz to 26.955 MHz (26.565 MHz = channel 41, 26.575 MHz = channel 42, 26.585 = channel 43, 26.595 MHz = channel 44, up to 26.955 = channel 80).  Channels 41-80 / 26.565 MHz to 26.955 MHz are FM mode only, channels 1-40 / 26.965 MHz to 27.405 MHz are AM/FM/SSB.

I fully support designating in-band and out-of-band calling channels.  Seems like 26.805 MHz FM is the low channel FM calling channel.  How about 27.600 MHz and an alternate that doesn't clash with the WPAS/CADS Irish Church radio/UK FM allocation for the high channel FM calling channel?  27.575 MHz FM sounds good to me.

As far as in-band goes...I don't think channel 14 - 27.125 MHz is a good call.  Maybe channel 27 or 31 (I know that channel 31 FM is one of the standardized European FM calling channels...so it would make sense to make 31 FM the US FM channel.

So...

26.805 MHz - low channels FM calling channel
27.275 MHz - CB Channel 27 FM - USA FM CB calling channel
27.315 MHz - CB Channel 31 FM - USA FM CB calling channel
27.575 MHz - high channels FM calling channel
27.600 MHz - high channels FM calling/working channel (alternate)

[Elf36]

Checking 26.805 now. No takers. 27.385 was a bit of a mess and 27.555 was kinda dead.