ok so i passed my general a few weeks ago and ive been trying to figure out exactly where i can operate on 40 meters. i know technicians are pretty limited but i thought generals had most of the hf bands... anyway i pulled up the arrl band plan and also the fcc part 97 allocations and they dont quite match up, or at least they look different to me and im not sure which one actually matters legally.

like the band plan shows certain modes in certain parts of the band but is that actually a rule or just kind of a gentlemans agreement thing? and also someone at my club said to stay away from the band edges which makes sense i guess but how far away are we talking. my rig shows 7.000 and i dont want to accidentally transmit out of band if my vfo drifts or whatever

the short answer is part 97 is the law, the band plan is more of a voluntary thing the amateur community follows to keep things organized. so legally you just need to stay within the fcc allocations, but if you start calling cq in the middle of the cw segment on phone you're gonna have a bad time with people calling you lid even if its technically allowed

for generals on 40m you got 7.175 to 7.300 for phone i believe, double check that. the cw and digital stuff is lower in the band. as far as band edges go yeah staying a few khz inside is just good practice, your signal has sidebands that extend beyond where your carrier is sitting, so if you're on ssb and you tune to 7.175 your actual transmitted signal is kind of riding right on that edge. most guys just stay at least 3-5 khz inside to be safe

yeah what he said about the sidebands is the big thing people forget. on lsb your signal goes DOWN in frequency from your dial reading, so if youre on 7.178 your voice is actually occupying somewhere around 7.175 to 7.178 depending on how you talk. so you could be right on the edge without realizing it. i made that mistake early on and someone was nice enough to point it out instead of just complaining about me

honestly just dont stress too much about the exact edges when youre starting out, just stay somewhere in the middle of your phone allocation and youll be fine. you can get more precise about it once you get comfortable just making contacts