ok so i passed my general exam like 3 weeks ago and ive been trying to figure out exactly what frequencies i have access to now vs when i was a tech. i read through part 97 but honestly a lot of it is written in a way that makes my head spin. like i get that theres the frequency allocations table but then theres all these sub-sections about power limits and modes and it gets confusing fast.

my main question is about phone privileges on 40 meters. i see general class has access to 7.175 to 7.300 but then someone in my club was saying something about how you still need to watch out for certain operating practices near the edges of the band? and also i keep seeing people talking about the 200w vs 1500w limit and when each applies. i thought as a general you just had 1500w across the board but maybe im wrong on that. just trying to make sure im staying legal before i get too deep into this

congrats on the general. the 40m phone thing is straightforward once you see it laid out — generals get 7.175 to 7.300 for SSB and the extra class folks have everything from 7.125 on up. so just stay above 7.175 for voice and you're fine. the "edges of the band" comment your club guy made is probably more of an operating practice thing than a strict legal requirement, like some people get touchy about operating right at 7.175 because you can accidentally splatter into the tech/general CW portion if your rig isn't clean. not a regulation exactly but worth being aware of.

on the power question — 1500w PEP is the max for HF in most situations, that's your Part 97.313 limit. the 200w thing applies to certain bands like 30 meters specifically, that one's capped at 200w by international agreement so the FCC built it into Part 97. also 10 meters above 28.5 has some restrictions depending on sunspot activity... actually no wait that's not a rule that's just a practical thing. anyway point is read 97.313 carefully, it breaks down the exceptions band by band. you're probably fine just running normal power on 40.

im in basically the same boat, got my general a couple months ago and the FCC rules are a lot to absorb. one thing that helped me was the ARRL's band plan page because it kind of translates the legal stuff into plain english. technically Part 97 is the actual law and the ARRL band plan has some stuff that's just gentlemens agreement, not actual rules, so its worth knowing which is which. i got confused about that early on and thought some of the suggested operating practices were actual legal requirements lol