Ham Band Plan & Licence Privileges
A Technician holds 22.5% of HF by bandwidth but 7% of the phone — and all of it is one segment on 10 metres.
What each class actually holds
Band by band
Your segments in detail
The Technician number is the surprising one
A Technician holds 22.5 per cent of US amateur HF measured by bandwidth, which sounds like a reasonable start. Measured by phone spectrum it is 7.0 per cent — a disparity of 3.2 to one — and all 200 kilohertz of that voice privilege is a single segment on a single band, 28.300 to 28.500 megahertz. Every other Technician HF privilege is CW and data only. The licence is not so much restricted as pointed at one band.
And that band has a solar cycle attached. Ten metres opens spectacularly near solar maximum and closes for years at minimum, so a Technician's entire HF voice capability appears and disappears on an eleven-year rhythm that has nothing to do with them. Ten metres is also 45 per cent of all US amateur HF spectrum on its own — every other HF band combined, nine of them from 160 through 12 metres, comes to only 1.22 times it. The allocation is dominated by the band that spends years unusable, which is worth knowing before reading anything into raw megahertz totals.
By contrast, "a General gets most of HF" turns out to be simply true: 86.8 per cent by bandwidth and 86.0 per cent of the phone spectrum. What is closed to them is 500 kilohertz, half Extra-only and half needing Advanced or above. But four of the seven Extra-only slices begin at exactly the bottom edge of their band — 3500, 7000, 14000 and 21000 — which is precisely where the DX operates. The upgrade buys 13 per cent of the spectrum and close to all of the contested part of it.
How to use
- Pick your licence class and enter a frequency in kilohertz.
- Switch the mode to phone — many segments allow CW and data only.
- Check the band table before assuming an upgrade buys what you want.
- Verify against current Part 97 rules; they change, and 60 metres just did.
Frequently asked questions
What HF privileges does a Technician licence give?
Four bands, and less voice than the bandwidth suggests. A Technician holds 22.5 per cent of US amateur HF measured by bandwidth but 7.0 per cent measured by phone spectrum — a disparity of 3.2 to one. The CW and data segments are 3.525 to 3.600, 7.025 to 7.125 and 21.025 to 21.200, and the only phone is 28.300 to 28.500.
Can a Technician talk on HF?
On 200 kilohertz of a single band, 28.300 to 28.500 megahertz on 10 metres, and nowhere else on HF. Everything else a Technician holds below 30 megahertz is CW and data only. It is a real privilege rather than a token one, but it depends entirely on 10 metres being open, which is a function of the solar cycle rather than of anything you can control.
Why does 10 metres matter so much to a Technician?
Because it is their entire HF voice capability, and it opens and closes on an eleven-year rhythm. Near solar maximum the band supports worldwide contacts on modest power and simple antennas; near minimum it can be effectively shut for years at a stretch. Anyone told that a Technician licence gets them on HF should know the honest answer depends on where the sun is in its cycle.
Does a General licence get most of HF?
Yes, and by a wider margin than people expect — 86.8 per cent of the spectrum by bandwidth and 86.0 per cent of the phone spectrum. What remains closed is 500 kilohertz, half of it Extra-only and half needing Advanced or above. In practical terms a General has access to every HF band and most of every one of them.
Is upgrading from General to Extra worth it?
It depends whether you chase DX. The extra spectrum is only 13 per cent, but four of the seven Extra-only segments begin at exactly the bottom edge of their band — 3500, 7000, 14000 and 21000 kilohertz — and the bottom of the band is where rare DX stations operate and where pileups form. The upgrade buys a small slice of spectrum and a large slice of the contested part.
What is the Advanced class?
A licence class that has not been issued since 1999 but which existing holders keep. It sits between General and Extra, with about 250 kilohertz that a General cannot use, and its population only shrinks. If you hold one it still works; if you do not, the practical upgrade path today runs from Technician to General to Extra.
Why can I not use phone on 30 metres?
Because voice is prohibited there for every licence class, including Amateur Extra. It is a mode restriction rather than a privilege one — the band is 50 kilohertz shared with other services on a secondary basis, and the amateur allocation is CW and data only by rule. This surprises people who assume an upgrade would unlock it. Nothing unlocks it.
What is unusual about the 60 metre band?
Almost everything, and it changed again in February 2026. It is now a 15 kilohertz segment at 9.15 watts effective radiated power plus four separate 2.8 kilohertz channels at 100 watts — one band with two power limits, part channelised and part not. It is also a band where amateurs are secondary users and are expected to give way to the primary service.
How much of amateur HF is the 10 metre band?
Forty-five per cent of it, which is more than most operators would guess. At 1700 kilohertz wide it is more than three times the next widest band, and every other HF band combined — nine of them from 160 through 12 metres — comes to only 1.22 times 10 metres on its own. Any comparison of total spectrum between licence classes is dominated by this one band.
What is the difference between the rules and the band plan?
The rules are law and the band plan is etiquette. Part 97 sets which frequencies each class may transmit on and in what mode; the ARRL and IARU band plans say where SSB, CW, FT8 and beacons conventionally live inside those limits. The band plan carries no legal force and a great deal of social weight — operating against it is legal and will still make you unpopular.
Do these privileges apply outside the United States?
No. This is FCC Part 97, and other administrations draw the boundaries differently — the UK, Germany and Japan each structure their classes in their own way, and some countries have HF allocations the United States does not. If you are operating abroad, under reciprocal arrangements or otherwise, the host country rules apply rather than your own.
How often do these allocations change?
Rarely, but not never, and 60 metres changed in February 2026. Changes usually follow a World Radiocommunication Conference and then take a year or more to appear in national rules, so a chart printed a few years ago is usually right and occasionally wrong at an edge. Check the current Part 97 text before relying on a band boundary for anything that matters.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.