ok so i passed my general a few months ago and ive been mostly hanging out on 2m but i want to try HF finally. got a used IC-7300 and its working great but im confused about where i can actually transmit on 40 meters. like i know there are band edges and i know i cant go below some frequency but the FCC rules and the ARRL band plan seem like two different things and i dont know which one actually matters legally

for example i see people saying dont operate within like 3 khz of the band edge but i dont know if thats a rule or just like... a courtesy thing? and on 40 specifically is the phone portion starting at 7.125 or 7.175 because ive seen both mentioned in different places and now im just more confused than when i started

anyway sorry if this is a dumb question just dont want to step on anybody or transmit somewhere i shouldnt be

not a dumb question at all, this trips up a lot of new generals. ok so the FCC part 97 rules are the law, those are what you legally have to follow. the ARRL band plan is more of a gentlemans agreement, it divides things up more specifically like where CW usually lives vs phone vs digital but none of that is legally binding. you wont get fined for operating phone at 7.130 even though CW operators might give you a hard time about it.

for 40m as a general your phone privileges start at 7.175 MHz up to 7.300 MHz. the 7.125-7.175 part is actually extra class only for phone. CW you can do from 7.025 up i believe. the band edge thing is basically just good practice because if your signal is wide or your rig drifts you dont want to splatter outside the band, that would be an actual violation. staying 3 khz or so inside the edge is just common sense not a hard rule. get on 7.200 on a weekend afternoon and youll find plenty of activity to listen to before you jump in.

yeah what he said about the band edge, i learned that the hard way when i first got my general and someone on the air told me my lower sideband signal was probably clipping outside the band because i was sitting right at 7.175. wasnt intentional but it made me paranoid enough to always leave a few khz buffer now. the 7300 shows you your passband which helps a lot actually