so i just upgraded to general a few months ago and honestly the band plan stuff is still kind of confusing to me. i know there are certain frequency ranges i can use now that i couldnt as a tech but im not always sure if im in the right spot or if im accidentally stepping on an extra class only segment or whatever. like i was operating around 14.200 and someone told me to check my privileges which was kind of embarrassing. is there a simple way to understand this or do i just have to memorize the whole part 97 chart

also separate question but does the no-encryption rule apply to like everything or are there exceptions i should know about. i saw something about auxiliary links and got confused

yeah the band plan trips people up all the time dont feel bad. the FCC frequency allocations for each license class are in part 97.301 and 97.305 if you want to look them up directly but honestly the easiest thing is just to download the ARRL band plan chart and stick it on the wall near your rig. 14.200 is fine for general on 20m, whoever told you to check your privileges was either wrong or maybe thought you were doing something else, hard to say without knowing the full situation.

on the encryption thing, the rule is in 97.113 and basically you cant use codes or ciphers to obscure the meaning of your transmissions. the auxiliary link thing is a narrow exception that applies to certain automated control situations, its not really something that affects most normal operating. if youre just doing voice or digital modes like FT8 or JS8Call youre fine, those arent encrypted even though they look like gibberish to the ear.

i went through the same thing when i upgraded. what helped me was just keeping a frequency reference open on my phone for the first few months. the technician to general jump on HF is honestly a bigger deal than people make it out to be because suddenly youve got all these new bands and each one has little sub-segments carved out for different modes and license classes and it takes a while for it to click. dont stress too much about 14.200 specifically thats generally a calling frequency area and lots of activity there from all classes. the person who said that to you might have just been having a bad day or misheard something