ok so i passed my technician exam like three weeks ago and ive been trying to figure out exactly what HF privileges i actually have. i know tech gets some HF but every time i try to read part 97 directly my eyes kind of glaze over, its written in such a weird legal way.

from what i can tell i can do some stuff on 10 meters and maybe 15 meters? i think i can do phone on 10m but only in certain segments. and there was something about CW on a few bands but i dont really do CW so that part doesnt matter as much to me right now.

also my buddy told me that if im operating under a general class control operator i can use their privileges, is that actually true? that seems like it would be way too easy to just have a general class guy nearby and suddenly i can do whatever. he said its totally legal but i dunno it sounds off to me.

basically im just trying to understand what the actual limits are without having to hire a lawyer to read the FCC rules lol

your buddy is sorta right but its more nuanced than that. under part 97.105 the control operator determines the operating privileges, so if a general or extra is the control operator at a station, yeah the higher privileges apply. but thats the thing — they have to actually BE the control operator, meaning they need to be present and responsible for what goes on. you cant just have a general class guy in the same building doing something else and then claim his privs. the way the rules are written, whoever is designated the control operator is accountable for the transmission, so if something goes wrong its on them.

as far as your tech HF privileges go you basically get some CW access on 80, 40, 15, and i think 10 meters, and then on 10m you get a small phone segment around 28.3 to 28.5 MHz. theres also some digital and RTTY allocations. the ARRL website has a band plan chart thats way easier to read than the actual CFR text, id just bookmark that honestly.

yeah same thing happened to me when i first got my tech, i spent like an hour trying to read 97.301 and just gave up. the ARRL band plan chart is genuinely the move, it color codes everything by license class and you can see at a glance what youre allowed to do. i printed mine out and taped it next to my radio for the first few months.

one thing i'll add is dont stress too much about accidentally going out of band when youre first starting out — just double check your frequency before you transmit and youll be fine. the FCC isnt sitting there waiting to pounce on a new tech who drifts 2 kHz. that said its still worth knowing the rules properly eventually, just dont let it paralyze you from actually getting on the air.