ok so i just upgraded from tech to general last month and im still trying to figure out where i can actually operate. i know generals get more hf privileges but the band plan stuff is really confusing me. like on 40 meters i see people saying dont go below 7.125 or whatever but then i look at the arrl band plan and the fcc rules and they dont seem to match up exactly and i dont know which one im supposed to follow

also whats the deal with band edges, my elmer told me to stay away from them but didnt really explain why. is it like a rule or just a courtesy thing? i dont want to accidentally transmit somewhere illegal or step on a dx station or whatever

so the short version is the FCC allocations are the actual legal limits and the arrl band plan is more of a gentlemans agreement on top of that. you HAVE to follow the fcc rules, the band plan is just so everyone plays nice and doesnt cram phone ops into the cw portion etc.

for 40m as a general your phone priveliges start at 7.175 MHz, not 7.125 — that lower chunk down to 7.125 is for advanced and extra class. so yeah stay above 7.175 for ssb or youre actually operating outside your license. the arrl plan also suggests keeping the lower end of your allowed range open for certain modes but thats not a legal thing.

band edges are a courtesy and also a practical thing. if youre right on the edge like 7.300 and your radio drifts even a tiny bit or your sidebands spread out, you can end up technically transmitting outside the band. most people stay a few khz inside just to be safe. nothing in the rules says exactly how far but 3-5 kHz inside is pretty standard advice

yeah i was confused about this same stuff when i upgraded. one thing that helped me was just bookmarking the actual fcc part 97 page and the arrl frequency chart and keeping both open. the arrl one is color coded and easier to read but like the other guy said its not law.

also worth knowing that 40m gets kind of wild at night with all the international broadcast stations and stuff bleeding in, so even if youre technically in the right place you might have a hard time finding a clear frequency anyway lol. just something to be aware of if youre wondering why 40m sounds like a mess sometimes