ok so i just upgraded to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually transmit on 40 meters. ive been reading the band plan stuff on the arrl website but honestly its kind of confusing because theres the actual FCC allocation and then theres like the "gentlemans agreement" stuff that everyone seems to follow but isnt actually law? like i get that phone starts at 7.175 but ive heard people say you shouldnt operate right at the band edge because of sideband splatter or something. how much margin do i need to leave and is there a difference between what the rules say and what people actually do in practice

yeah this trips up a lot of new generals. so the legal edge for phone on 40 is 7.175 but your carrier frequency has to be inside the band, and with USB your actual signal extends upward so thats fine, but the issue is if youre running USB near 7.175 your lower sideband components can spill below the edge. most people just stay above 7.178 or so to be safe, gives you a little cushion. the FCC rules are about occupied bandwidth not just carrier so technically your whole signal has to be within the allocation.

the other thing is just the convention stuff — like cw ops really do get annoyed if you're running phone down in the cw segment even though as a general you technically have some of that. 7.125 to 7.175 is your phone subband as a general and most experienced guys just stay in there and dont push the edges. honestly just listen around first before transmitting anywhere you're not sure about

dont stress too much about the band edge thing in normal operation. i mean unless youre running like a kilowatt into a mismatched antenna or something your splatter isnt going to be some huge problem. the main thing is just knowing 7.175 is your lower limit and stay above it. i got confused by the same thing when i upgraded, kept second guessing myself before calling CQ. just get on and operate, youll figure it out pretty quick just by listening to where everyone else is hanging out