so ive been licensed for about 8 months now, got my general back in the spring and been having a blast but i keep running into confusion about what i can and cant actually do. like theres so much in part 97 that i dont fully understand and honestly the FCC website is kind of a nightmare to navigate.

my main question is about third party communications - i was talking to my buddy who isnt licensed and he wanted to say hi to someone overseas through my station, i let him talk for a second but then got nervous and shut it down. was that actually illegal? i think i read something about third party agreements between countries but i have no idea which countries have them or how to find that list. also completely separate but does anyone know if theres like a simple plain-english breakdown of part 97 somewhere because reading the actual regulation document is brutal

yeah the third party thing trips up a lot of people. basically the short answer is it depends on which country you were talking to. the US has third party agreements with a bunch of countries, mostly in the americas and a few others, but definitely not all of them. if you were working a station in say Japan or most of Europe you technically shouldnt let an unlicensed person take over the mic even briefly. ARRL has a list of the countries on their website, just search for third party traffic agreements and it should come up pretty quick.

and yes you as the control operator are responsible the whole time regardless, so you need to be present and in control of the situation. probably smart that you cut it short until you know for sure. the ARRL handbook also has a pretty readable section on part 97 basics, way better than staring at the actual CFR document.

im in kind of the same boat honestly, been licensed about a year and i still find myself second guessing stuff. one thing that helped me was the ARRL's operating manual, it breaks things down in normal language. also gordon west study guides are pretty good for this kind of stuff even if youre past the exam stage.

the third party thing i always just avoid unless im really sure, not worth the headache. i did hear once that even if you're in compliance technically you can still get in trouble if the foreign station's country doesnt allow it on their end so it kind of goes both ways