Bands, Privileges, Band Edges & Power

1. Know where your Technician privileges actually are

Technicians have broad privileges above HF, but HF privileges are more limited. For phone on HF, the key slice is the 10-meter segment from 28.300 MHz to 28.500 MHz; in other words, Technician HF phone privileges are on the 10-meter band only.

Some pool frequencies are worth recognizing on sight: 52.525 MHz is in the 6-meter band, and 146.52 MHz is in the 2-meter band. Technicians may use digital modes such as FT8 on authorized portions of 10 meters, 6 meters, and 2 meters. The segments 50.0–50.1 MHz and 144.0–144.1 MHz are limited to CW.

2. Satellites, SSB, and shared spectrum

For VHF contacts with the International Space Station, any amateur with a Technician class or higher license may operate when the uplink frequency and mode are within that operator’s privileges. Above 50 MHz, SSB phone may be used in at least some segment of all of the amateur bands where it is authorized.

When Amateur Radio is secondary in a band segment, you may encounter non-amateur stations there and must avoid interfering with them. Secondary status is about spectrum priority, not about your license being less valid.

3. Give yourself room at a band edge

Do not set the transmitter exactly on a band or sub-band edge. A little margin protects against calibration error in the frequency display, keeps modulation sidebands inside the authorized segment, and allows for transmitter frequency drift. The whole transmitted signal has to stay legal, not just the number shown on the display.

4. Power limits

In the Technician HF segments, the maximum is 200 watts peak envelope power (PEP). Above 30 MHz, except where a specific restriction says otherwise, the maximum is 1500 watts PEP. A legal maximum is not a target; normal good practice is still to use only the power needed for reliable communication.