ok so i passed my technician exam about three weeks ago and im still trying to figure out exactly what i'm allowed to do. i know i have VHF/UHF privileges and some HF stuff but when i look at Part 97 it honestly reads like a legal document and i get lost pretty fast. my question is basically -- is there like a simple breakdown of what modes and bands i can use vs what i need general or extra for? i tried looking it up on the ARRL site and i found a band plan chart but it didnt really explain the rules behind it, just what's common practice. also can i use digital modes on 2m or is there restrictions there too. sorry if this is a dumb question im still learning all this

not a dumb question at all, this trips up a lot of new hams. so the short version is as a tech you get basically full privileges on 2m, 70cm, and the other VHF/UHF bands -- any mode, any power within the legal limits. for HF you get a slice of 10m for phone (28.300-28.500 MHz), some CW privileges on a few other bands like 40m and 80m but those are pretty narrow. digital modes on 2m are totally fine, nothing in Part 97 restricts you from running FT8 or JS8Call or whatever on VHF as a tech. the band plan stuff you saw is just gentlemens agreements basically, it's not law. the actual rules are in 97.301 and 97.305 if you want to look at the specific sections, they're painful to read but those two cover allocations and emission types. honestly just grab the ARRL tech manual or even just look at the license class charts they publish, way easier than staring at the CFR

yeah what he said. one thing i'll add -- dont stress too much about memorizing all the specifics right away. i was a tech for like two years before upgrading and honestly you learn the relevant rules pretty quick just by operating. the stuff that really matters day to day is knowing your power limits (1500w PEP max but realistically nobody's running that on VHF lol), not broadcasting music or obscene content, IDing every 10 minutes and at the end of transmissions. that's like 90% of what Part 97 is about for normal operating. the rest only comes up in weird edge cases