okay so i passed my technician exam like two months ago and ive been mostly on 2m and 70cm which is fine but i want to get on HF and i keep reading different things about what techs are allowed to do. someone at the club told me i can use some HF privileges but then another guy said basically no you cant really do anything useful down there without a general.

i looked up part 97 but honestly its kind of hard to parse if youre not used to reading that kind of legal document. something about 10 meters and CW on some other bands? im just not sure what the actual limits are and whether its even worth buying an HF rig before i upgrade. also does any of this change depending on if you have a Technician license from before 2000 or something, i saw something about that online

yeah the old tech plus thing is real — if you had a Technician Plus license before they consolidated everything around 2000 you kept some extra HF privileges that current techs dont get. but if you got your ticket recently that doesnt apply to you.

for a current tech what you actually get on HF is pretty limited honestly. you can do CW on portions of 80, 40, and 15 meters, and then on 10 meters you get voice plus all modes up to 200 watts in the general/extra portion i think. 10m is really where a tech can have some fun when the band is open, which it actually has been lately with the solar cycle doing its thing. but yeah for most practical HF operating youre going to want to get your General, its not that hard and it opens everything up. i did mine about six weeks after i got my tech and just used the same study materials basically.

the part 97.301 table is what youre looking for, thats where it breaks down privileges by license class. its dense but once you find the right table it actually makes sense. i remember being in the same boat as you not that long ago lol