G1: Commission's Rules – Ham Radio General License Study Guide

G1 covers the FCC regulations that define what General class licensees are authorized to do — and what is prohibited. Five exam questions come from this subelement, one from each group.

G1A addresses General class frequency privileges on HF bands, which portions are reserved for Amateur Extra licensees, primary versus secondary allocations, and specific restrictions such as the 30-meter phone prohibition. G1B covers antenna structure height limits, beacon station rules and power limits, prohibited transmissions, one-way transmission rules, state and local antenna regulation, and the standard of good engineering practice. G1C deals with transmitter power limits across the HF bands, FCC power measurement method, data emission standards, and 60-meter operating requirements. G1D covers the Volunteer Examiner system, accreditation and age requirements, temporary identification when upgrading, element credit for expired licenses, and remote station control rules. G1E addresses control categories, repeater regulations, third-party traffic rules, ITU regions, spread spectrum power limits, and automatically controlled digital station operation.

G1A: Frequency Privileges and Allocations

General class licensees have extensive HF privileges, but four bands have segments reserved exclusively for Amateur Extra operators: 80 meters, 40 meters, 20 meters, and 15 meters. On those bands, General licensees are limited to the upper frequency portion of the voice segment. On 30 meters, phone and image transmissions are prohibited for all amateurs — only CW and data modes are allowed there. General class operators are specifically prohibited from transmitting between 7.125 and 7.175 MHz. A frequency of 21300 kHz is within the General portion of the 15-meter band. On 10 meters, General class operators may transmit CW anywhere in the entire band, and the portion above 29.5 MHz is available for repeater use. When the FCC designates amateur as a secondary service on a band, amateurs must not cause harmful interference to primary users and must accept interference from those primary users.

G1B: Antenna Regulations and Practice

Antenna structures not near a public-use airport may be built up to 200 feet above ground without notifying the FAA or registering with the FCC. Above that height, notification and registration are required. State and local governments may regulate amateur antenna structures, but under the PRB-1 policy, they must reasonably accommodate amateur communications and impose only the minimum practical restrictions to accomplish a legitimate governmental purpose. The FCC determines what constitutes "good engineering and good amateur practice" for matters not specifically covered by Part 97. Beacon stations are limited to 100 watts PEP output, and no more than one beacon may transmit on the same band from the same station location. The FCC-identified purpose of a beacon station is observation of propagation and reception. Automatically controlled beacons are only permitted on HF between 28.20 and 28.30 MHz. Occasional retransmission of weather and propagation forecast information from US government stations is permitted for all amateurs. Morse code practice transmissions are a permitted one-way operation. Abbreviations and procedural signals may be used as long as they do not obscure the meaning of a message. Communications with foreign amateurs are permitted unless that country's administration has notified the ITU that it objects to such contact.

G1C: Power and Emission Standards

Maximum transmitter power varies by band. On 10.140 MHz (30 meters), the limit is 200 watts PEP output. On the 12-meter, 10-meter, and 160-meter bands, the limit is 1500 watts PEP output. The FCC measures power as PEP (peak envelope power) output from the transmitter, not RMS output or input to the antenna. On the 60-meter band, USB emissions are limited to a maximum bandwidth of 2.8 kHz, and operators using an antenna other than a dipole must keep a record of their antenna's gain. Before using a new digital protocol on the air, operators must publicly document the technical characteristics of that protocol. A new digital protocol does not require FCC type-certification, an experimental license, or a rulemaking petition.

G1D: Licensing and Exams

The Volunteer Examiner (VE) system administers amateur license exams. VEs are accredited by a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC), not directly by the FCC. A VE must be at least 18 years old and hold an FCC-granted amateur license. A General class VE may administer only the Technician exam; administering General or Extra exams requires an Amateur Extra class license. Non-US citizens may become VEs if they hold an FCC-granted General class license or higher. At least three VEs of General class or higher must be present to administer a Technician exam. A Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) is valid for 365 days. A Technician holding a CSCE for General class may immediately operate on General or Technician class frequencies — they do not have to wait for the FCC database to update — but must identify with "AG" after their call sign whenever using General privileges until the upgrade appears in the database. When operating a US station remotely from outside the country, a US operator/primary station license is required. When remotely controlling a station located in South America from the US, only that country's regulations apply to the station's operation. A person who held a General, Advanced, or Amateur Extra license that was not revoked by the FCC may receive partial credit for those exam elements; after the two-year grace period expires, they must also pass the current Element 2 (Technician) exam to get a new General license.

G1E: Control and Operating Rules

Third-party traffic rules govern who may participate in amateur communications. A third party whose amateur license has been revoked is disqualified from participating in third-party messages. Third-party messages to countries with a formal Third-Party Agreement must relate to amateur radio, personal matters, or emergency and disaster relief. Third-party traffic may be sent via remote control under any circumstances where it would otherwise be permitted by FCC rules. Amateur stations may not communicate with non-licensed Wi-Fi stations anywhere in the 2.4 GHz band. Spread spectrum transmissions are limited to 10 watts PEP. North and South America are in ITU Region 2. Operators should avoid transmitting on 14.100, 18.110, 21.150, 24.930, and 28.200 MHz because a system of propagation beacon stations operates on those frequencies. Automatically controlled stations transmitting RTTY or data may communicate with other automatically controlled digital stations anywhere in the 6-meter or shorter wavelength bands, and in limited segments of some HF bands. When a 10-meter repeater retransmits a 2-meter signal from a Technician control operator, the control operator of the 10-meter repeater must hold at least a General class license. To contact a digital station operating under automatic control outside the automatic control band segments, the initiating station must be under local or remote control.

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