ok so i just upgraded to general last month and im trying to figure out where i can actually operate on 40 meters. ive been reading the band plan on the arrl website but honestly its a little confusing because it shows different things for phone vs cw and then there's the actual FCC allocations which seem different from the "recommended" stuff and i dont know which one i actually have to follow legally vs which is just courtesy.

like can i just park on 7.250 and call CQ or is that too close to the edge of the phone segment or what. also someone at my club said something about 7.300 being the upper band edge and you shouldnt go above that but i thought the allocation goes a bit higher? maybe im misremembering. anyway just trying to not step on toes or worse transmit somewhere im not supposed to as a new general

yeah so the FCC allocations are what you legally have to follow, the ARRL band plan on top of that is basically just gentlemens agreement stuff to keep things organized. for 40m as a general your phone privileges run from 7.175 up to 7.300 MHz, so 7.250 is fine and well within your range. 7.300 is indeed the top of your phone segment so you dont want to transmit above that.

the confusion comes because technically the US amateur allocation on 40m does go up to 7.300 for general/extra on phone, but some older references show 7.225 as a starting point which was the old pre-2007 plan before the ITU refarmed things. your club buddy is right that 7.300 is the ceiling, just make sure your signal and any sidebands stay inside that. USB on 40m means your carrier frequency should probably be no higher than about 7.298 or so to keep the actual audio within the band. its a small thing but worth knowing near the edges

7.250 is fine, i work that area all the time. just be aware that 40m gets pretty crowded especially in the evenings and you might find a lot of nets already parked on certain freqs. dont stress too much about the band plan stuff when youre starting out, just listen before you transmit and youll figure out where things are pretty quick. the main thing new generals mess up isnt the allocations, its forgetting that their ssb carrier freq plus the audio bandwidth is what takes up space, not just the dial number