ok so i passed my general about two months ago and ive been mostly just listening but i want to start actually transmitting. i keep reading about band edges and band plans and im getting confused because some of it seems like rules and some of it seems like just... suggestions? like nobody actually enforces it?

specifically on 40 meters i see people say dont operate below 7025 or whatever but then i also see people say the phone portion starts at 7125 for general class and other places say 7175 and i dont know which one is right. and whats the deal with the region 1 stuff showing up in my reading, does that even apply to me im in the US

also someone told me to stay away from band edges because of frequency drift but my radio is pretty modern so is that still a thing i need to worry about

the region 1 stuff doesnt apply to you if youre in the US, that's ITU region 2. The band plans you're probably reading are IARU or maybe ARRL suggested plans which are voluntary -- nobody is going to cite you for operating SSB at 7150 instead of 7200 or whatever. the actual hard rules are the FCC allocations which say what modes are allowed in what subband and those DO matter legally.

for 40m as a general, your phone privileges start at 7175 kHz on the low end of what you're allowed. the 7125 number might be from an older chart or from a different license class breakdown, i'd double check the current part 97 or the ARRL page specifically. tech class has basically nothing on 40m HF except a small CW slice so most of what you're reading is aimed at generals and extras.

the band edge drift thing is real but yeah modern rigs with TCXO or good temp compensation are pretty stable. the real reason people say dont park right on 7300 or wherever is that if your signal is even slightly wide or your carrier drifts you can end up out of band which is a violation. staying a few kHz inside the edge is just good practice. nothing magic about it.

yeah the region thing tripped me up too when i was studying. just ignore region 1 and 3 stuff for now unless youre planning to operate from europe or asia lol

one thing i'll add -- even though the band plans are voluntary people get pretty grumpy if you set up an SSB ragchew in the middle of the CW portion so it's worth paying attention to at least the mode segments. not a rule thing just kind of a social contract i guess