ok so i passed my tech exam about 3 weeks ago and ive been reading through part 97 trying to figure out what i can actually do. i keep seeing conflicting stuff online about whether techs can operate on certain HF bands. like i thought i read somewhere that techs get some HF privileges but then someone at my club meeting said that was only for certain modes and i got confused.

also is there like a summary version of part 97 somewhere because reading the actual FCC document is kind of a lot and i feel like im missing things. just want to make sure im not accidentally doing something i shouldnt be

yeah techs do get some HF privileges, its not just VHF/UHF. you get a small slice of 10 meters for phone around 28.3 to 28.5 MHz, and you can use CW on a few other bands like 40, 15, and 10 meters. the ARRL website actually has a pretty decent band plan chart that breaks it all down, way easier to read than the actual part 97 text honestly. just look up the ARRL frequency allocations page and it should make sense pretty quick.

the thing your club guy probably meant is that techs cant just go anywhere on HF, the privileges are limited to specific segments and specific modes. so you cant just fire up SSB on 40 meters for example, thats general and above territory. but youre not completely locked out of HF which some people think.

part 97 is genuinely a slog to read through, i dont think anyones gonna argue with you there. there are some good summaries floating around, the gordon west study materials have a pretty readable version of the key rules if you can find those. just dont rely on random reddit posts because ive seen some really wrong info out there about what techs can and cant do