okay so i passed my technician exam like two months ago and ive been mostly doing 2m and 70cm stuff but someone at the club mentioned i can do some HF too? i honestly didnt pay that much attention to that part when i was studying because i figured id just upgrade eventually but now im kind of curious what the actual rules are

i looked at part 97 briefly but honestly that document is not easy to read and i kept getting lost. something about phone privileges on 10m and also some CW stuff? i just dont want to accidentally transmit somewhere im not supposed to. is there like a simple breakdown somewhere or can someone just explain it

yeah the technician HF privileges are pretty limited but they do exist. basically you get CW on a small chunk of 80, 40, and 15 meters, and then on 10 meters you get a bit more — CW, digital modes, and phone up to 28.5 MHz i believe. that 10m phone privilege is what most techs end up using if they want to try HF before upgrading.

honestly the easiest thing to do is just look up the frequency/privileges chart on the ARRL website, way easier than trying to parse part 97 directly. the actual rule is in 97.301 i think but the chart just lays it all out visually. and yeah upgrade to general when you get a chance, opens up a ton more. the extra question pool isnt that scary either once youre already past tech.

same boat as you honestly, i upgraded to general pretty quick after realizing how much i was locked out of on HF. the 10m phone thing is real though and when the band is open its actually a lot of fun even with the limited priv. just dont transmit below 28.3 on phone or youll be in general/extra territory and thats a no go