Amateur Radio Service rules and regulations (47 C.F.R. Part 97)
This section covers the Part 97 rules the Technician exam tests: license privileges, control-operator responsibility, station identification duties, prohibited communications, third-party traffic, and emergency operation. Most questions are scenario-based, so the key skill is identifying whose license governs a transmission.
License privileges and control operator
A Technician has full amateur privileges above 50 MHz and limited HF privileges: CW/data on parts of 80 m, 40 m, 15 m, and 10 m, plus phone on 10 m from 28.300 to 28.500 MHz. Maximum transmitter power is 1,500 W PEP. The control operator is responsible for the station's transmissions and must hold privileges covering the frequency and mode in use. A station may be owned by one licensee and operated by another, but the control operator's license class sets the limits.
Identification and prohibited communications
The control operator must ensure proper station identification under §97.119 and must avoid prohibited communications: no broadcasting, music, business communications, obscene or indecent language, or encrypted messages except limited control commands. Third-party messages are allowed domestically when no pecuniary interest is involved; international third-party traffic is allowed only under a treaty arrangement, such as with Canada. Distress communications may use any available means.
Worked example
A Technician is visiting a General-class friend. The friend's station is capable of 20 m SSB. The friend steps outside and the Technician transmits on 14.250 MHz. Is this legal? No. The control operator at the control point must be qualified for the transmission. The Technician may talk on 20 m only while a General, Advanced, or Extra licensee is present and acting as control operator. The equipment's capability does not extend the Technician's privileges.
Traps
The station owner's license class does not authorize a guest operator. "Business communication" means communication for pecuniary interest, not a brief incidental mention of one's job. The 1,500 W limit is PEP, not average or carrier power. International third-party rules depend on the country and treaty status, not on the band. Do not assume that a station's capabilities define what a visiting operator may transmit.