okay so i passed my tech exam like three weeks ago and ive been reading through part 97 trying to figure out what HF privileges i actually have and honestly its kind of confusing. i know techs get some HF but i cant figure out exactly which bands and modes are allowed. like i thought i could do SSB on 10 meters but then someone at my club told me techs cant do phone on HF at all which doesnt sound right to me. also whats the deal with 40 meters, i keep seeing people say techs can use it but only for certain things? im not trying to get in trouble obviously just want to understand what the rules actually say before i key up anywhere

your club guy is wrong, techs absolutely can do phone on 10 meters. you get 28.300 to 28.500 MHz for SSB and AM, up to 200 watts PEP. thats the main phone privilege you have on HF. on 40 meters techs only get CW, no phone, its a pretty narrow slice around 7.025 to 7.125 i think, you'd want to double check the exact edges in part 97.301. same story on 15 and 80 meters, CW only. 10 meters is really where techs can actually have some fun with voice. honestly 10 meters when its open is fantastic anyway so its not a bad deal

yeah what he said. i was a tech for almost two years before i upgraded and 10m phone was basically my whole HF life lol. the band was pretty dead for a while there but its been real good lately with the solar cycle picking up. just double check the current part 97 table, the FCC website has it and its way less confusing than the version people copy paste around on forums which sometimes has old info in it