ok so i passed my technician exam back in march and ive been mostly doing 2m and 70cm stuff but i want to get on HF. someone at my club told me techs can use some HF privileges but i looked at part 97 and honestly i got lost pretty fast. like there are all these tables and footnotes and i dont really know how to read it properly.

from what i can tell i can do something on 10 meters? maybe 15? but i dont want to accidentally transmit somewhere im not supposed to because i know the FCC takes that seriously. can someone just kind of explain in plain english what HF i actually have access to as a tech and what modes are allowed, i dont want to get a violation or whatever

yeah the band plan tables in part 97 are a nightmare to read the first time, dont feel bad about that. so for technicians the short version is you do get some HF but its pretty limited. on 10 meters you can do phone in a small slice up near the top of the band, i think it starts around 28.3 MHz, and you also have some CW privileges on 10m below that. there's also tech phone on 15m but only a tiny segment, and same deal with 40m — very narrow CW only chunk near the bottom.

the ARRL band plan chart is honestly way easier to read than the actual part 97 text, id just google that and bookmark it. the actual regulation is 97.301 and 97.305 if you want to look at the real thing but the ARRL version lays it out visually and is much friendlier. and yeah the FCC does care about operating outside your privileges so its worth being sure before you key up anywhere new.

i was in the same spot like a year ago lol. just get your general, seriously the test isnt that bad and then you dont have to worry about any of this. most techs i know who want HF just go ahead and upgrade because the tech HF privileges are so limited its almost not worth the hassle of keeping track of what tiny slice you're allowed in.