ok so i just upgraded to general last month and ive been trying to figure out where i can actually operate on 40 meters. i keep reading about the band plan and the frequency allocations but its like every source i look at says something slightly different. like is the band plan actually law or is it just a suggestion? and i keep hearing people say dont operate too close to the band edge but nobody really explains how close is too close. my radio shows me im on 7.195 and i think thats fine but someone in a net last week kind of implied i shouldnt be up that high? im probably overthinking this but i just dont want to step on anyone or worse transmit somewhere im not supposed to as a general class

so the short version is the FCC frequency allocations are actual law, the band plan is more of a gentlemans agreement. for 40m as a general you can do phone from 7.175 up to 7.300 MHz so 7.195 is totally fine. the band edge thing is real though -- your radio's displayed frequency is the suppressed carrier frequency for SSB so your actual signal can be a few kHz wide. if you're at 7.300 and transmitting USB your sidebands can spill over the edge into frequencies you're not supposed to be on. most people say stay at least 3 kHz inside the edge to be safe, so like 7.297 or lower in practice. the guy in the net was probably just being overly cautious or maybe had a reason specific to that net's frequency, hard to say without more context.

yeah what he said about the edge is important, i learned that the hard way when i first got on HF. also worth knowing that 7.125 to 7.175 is the general CW/digital segment so dont wander down there with phone. and around 7.200 you'll run into the atlantic hurricane net and a few others that kind of informally own certain frequencies, nobody can actually own a frequency but good luck telling them that lol. just listen around first and you'll figure out the patterns pretty quick