ok so ive been looking at the band plan charts and honestly i'm more confused than before i started. i just upgraded to General last month and i know i have more privileges now but i'm not totally sure where i'm actually allowed to transmit on 40 meters. like the FCC allocation and the ARRL band plan seem like two different things? and then theres the whole thing about band edges that my elmer was warning me about but didnt fully explain. do i just stay away from 7.000-7.025 or what? i dont want to accidentally transmit somewhere i shouldnt be

yeah this trips up a lot of newly upgraded generals, dont feel bad. so the short version is the FCC part 97 is the law — that's what you legally have to follow. the ARRL band plan is more like a gentlemen's agreement about what modes go where within your legal limits, nobody's going to fine you for operating SSB slightly outside the ARRL's suggested SSB segment as long as you're inside your FCC allocation.

for 40m as a general you can do phone (SSB) from 7.175 to 7.300, and CW and digital modes from 7.025 up. the 7.000-7.025 chunk is extra class only for CW. as for band edges, your elmer is right to warn you — the issue is that your signal has bandwidth, so if you're on 7.300 and you're running SSB your actual transmitted signal is gonna extend a few kHz above that which puts you outside the band. most people stay a few kHz inside the edge just to be safe. some rigs will let you tune right to the edge and it's technically a violation even if you cant hear it yourself.

also worth knowing that 40m gets weird because of international allocations — in ITU region 1 (europe, africa) the band only goes up to 7.200 so if you're working DX on SSB up around 7.250-7.280 you might hear them but they literally cannot transmit back to you there legally. just something that confused me for a while when i first got on HF and kept wondering why europeans would go quiet after i'd call them back