ok so i passed my general a few weeks ago and im trying to figure out where i can actually operate on 40 meters. i know theres a chart somewhere but every time i look at it i get more confused not less. like the FCC part 97 says one thing and then the ARRL band plan says something slightly different and i dont know which one actually matters legally.

also whats the deal with band edges? my elmer told me to stay away from them but didnt really explain why. is it just an interference thing or is there some rule about it? i almost called CQ on 7.125 the other night and my buddy said dont do that but wouldnt explain it either lol

so the short version is part 97 is the law, the ARRL band plan is just a gentlemans agreement that most people follow to keep things organized. you wont get your license revoked for ignoring the band plan but you might annoy a lot of people.

for general on 40m you get phone privileges from 7.175 to 7.300 MHz. below that down to 7.025 is CW and digital modes for generals too. the band plan further divides that up into where people typically do SSB vs where the digital stuff hangs out but again thats not law.

the band edge thing is about your signal splatter. if youre running SSB and you tune right to 7.175 your actual transmitted signal depending on your sideband and audio extends a few kHz, so you could actually be transmitting below your privileges without meaning to. most people say stay at least 3 kHz inside the edge to be safe. 7.125 is in the extra class segment so as a general you really cant be there on phone, your buddy was right to flag it.

yeah i was in the exact same boat when i upgraded, honestly the chart on the ARRL website makes it look way more complicated than it is once someone walks you through it once. one thing that tripped me up for a while was not realizing that LSB is standard below 10 MHz so on 40m youre always on lower sideband for phone, which means your signal actually extends downward from wherever you set the dial. so if youre at 7.178 your voice is kind of smeared from like 7.175 to 7.178 roughly. thats the main reason the band edge buffer matters practically speaking