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Your Technician license, made simple. Think of radio frequencies as one long road. Your license says which stretches you can drive on, and the band plan is the lane markings.
- Close to home: all yours. 6 m, 2 m, 1.25 m and 70 cm, with any mode. This is where handhelds and repeaters live.
- Around the world: a few slices. Voice on 28.300 to 28.500 MHz, data like FT8 on 28.000 to 28.300 MHz, and Morse code on parts of 80, 40 and 15 meters.
- Follow the band plan. FCC rules say where you may transmit. The band plan is the habit everyone follows inside each band.
- Make your first call. Call on 146.520 MHz, the national FM simplex calling frequency. When someone answers, move to another frequency to talk.
In the pictures
- A first call on a handheld tuned to 146.520: “KJ5LQM, listening on 146.520.”
Key terms
- Band: a stretch of frequencies set aside for hams, like 2 meters.
- Band plan: the agreed lanes inside a band.
- Simplex: radio to radio, with no repeater.
- HF: the long-distance bands.
Good to know
- Keep 145.8 to 146.0 and 435 to 438 MHz clear for satellites.
- Power limit: 200 W PEP on your HF slices and 1,500 W PEP elsewhere.
- Say your call sign every 10 minutes and at the end of a contact.
- Your local repeater list beats any chart.
In short: Everything from 6 meters up is yours. Follow the local habits, and say hello on 146.520.
Checked October 2026 against FCC Part 97 and the ARRL band plan.
