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FCC Regulations - Part 97 Amateur Radio Service
[Revised 2001.]
- (a) An amateur station may transmit a CW emission on any
frequency authorized to the control operator.
- (b) A station may transmit a test emission on any frequency
authorized to the control operator for brief periods for
experimental purposes, except that no pulse modulation
emission may be transmitted on any frequency where pulse is
not specifically authorized and no SS modulation emission
may be transmitted on any frequency where SS is not
specifically authorized.
(c) A station may transmit the following emission types on
the frequencies indicated, as authorized to the control
operator, subject to the standards specified in §97.307(f)
of this part.
Wavelength
band | Frequencies | Emission Types
Authorized | Standards
See §97.307(f),
paragraph: |
| MF: | | | |
| 160 m | Entire band | RTTY, data | (3) |
| -do- | -do- | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| HF: | | | |
| 80 m | Entire band | RTTY, data | (3), (9) |
| 75 m | Entire band | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 40 m | 7.000-7.100 MHz | RTTY, data | (3), (9) |
| -do- | 7.075-7.100 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2), (9), (11) |
| -do- | 7.100-7.150 MHz | RTTY, data | (3), (9) |
| -do- | 7.150-7.300 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 30 m | Entire band | RTTY, data | (3) |
| 20 m | 14.00-14.15 MHz | RTTY, data | (3) |
| -do- | 14.15-14.35 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 17 m | 18.068-18.110 MHz | RTTY, data | (3) |
| -do- | 18.110-18.168 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 15 m | 21.0-21.2 MHz | RTTY, data | (3), (9) |
| -do- | 21.20-21.45 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 12 m | 24.89-24.93 MHz | RTTY, data | (3) |
| -do- | 24.93-24.99 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| 10 m | 28.0-28.3 MHz | RTTY, data | (4) |
| -do- | 28.3-28.5 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2), (10) |
| -do- | 28.5-29.0 MHz | Phone, image | (1), (2) |
| -do- | 29.0-29.7MHz | Phone, image | (2) |
| VHF: | | | |
| 6 m | 50.1-51.0 MHz | RTTY, data | (5) |
| -do- | -do- | MCW, phone, image | (2) |
| -do- | 51.0-54.0 MHz | RTTY, data, test | (5), (8) |
| -do- | -do- | MCW, phone, image | (2) |
| 2 m | 144.1-148.0 MHz | RTTY, data, test | (5), (8) |
| -do- | -do- | MCW, phone, image | (2) |
| 1.25 m | 219-220 MHz | Data | (13) |
| -do- | 222-225 MHz | MCW, phone, image,RTTY, data, test | (2), (6), (8) |
| UHF: | | | |
| 70 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test | (6), (8) |
| 33 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 23 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test | (7), (8), (12) |
| 13 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| SHF: | | | |
| 9 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 5 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 3 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test | (7), (8), (12) |
| 1.2 cm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| EHF: | | | |
| 6 mm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 4 mm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 2.5 mm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 2 mm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| 1 mm | Entire band | MCW, phone, image, RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
| - | Above 300 GHz | MCW, phone, image,RTTY, data, SS, test, pulse | (7), (8), (12) |
- (a) No amateur station transmission shall occupy more
bandwidth than necessary for the information rate and
emission type being transmitted, in accordance with good
amateur practice.
- (b) Emissions resulting from modulation must be confined to
the band or segment available to the control operator.
Emissions outside the necessary bandwidth must not cause
splatter or keyclick interference to operations on adjacent
frequencies.
- (c) All spurious emissions from a station transmitter must
be reduced to the greatest extent practicable. If any
spurious emission, including chassis or power line
radiation, causes harmful interference to the reception of
another radio station, the licensee of the interfering
amateur station is required to take steps to eliminate the
interference, in accordance with good engineering practice.
- (d) The mean power of any spurious emission from a station
transmitter or external RF power amplifier transmitting on a
frequency below 30 MHz must not exceed 50 mW and must be at
least 40 dB below the mean power of the fundamental
emission. For a transmitter of mean power less than 5 W, the
attenuation must be at least 30 dB. A transmitter built
before April 15, 1977, or first marketed before January 1,
1978, is exempt from this requirement.
- (e) The mean power of any spurious emission from a station
transmitter or external RF power amplifier transmitting on a
frequency between 30-225 MHz must be at least 60 dB below
the mean power of the fundamental. For a transmitter having
a mean power of 25 W or less, the mean power of any spurious
emission supplied to the antenna transmission line must not
exceed 25 µW and must be at least 40 dB below the mean power
of the fundamental emission, but need not be reduced below
the power of 10 µW. A transmitter built before April 15,
1977, or first marketed before January 1, 1978, is exempt
from this requirement.
- (f) The following standards and limitations apply to
transmissions on the frequencies specified in §97.305(c) of
this Part.
- (1) No angle-modulated emission may have a modulation index
greater than 1 at the highest modulation frequency.
- (2) No non-phone emission shall exceed the bandwidth of a
communications quality phone emission of the same modulation
type. The total bandwidth of an independent sideband
emission (having B as the first symbol), or a multiplexed
image and phone emission, shall not exceed that of a
communications quality A3E emission.
- (3) Only a RTTY or data emission using a specified digital
code listed in §97.309(a) of this Part may be transmitted.
The symbol rate must not exceed 300 bauds, or for frequency-
shift keying, the frequency shift between mark and space
must not exceed 1 kHz.
- (4) Only a RTTY or data emission using a specified digital
code listed in §97.309(a) of this Part may be transmitted.
The symbol rate must not exceed 1200 bauds. For frequency-
shift keying, the frequency shift between mark and space
must not exceed 1 kHz.
- (5) A RTTY, data or multiplexed emission using a specified
digital code listed in §97.309(a) of this Part may be
transmitted. The symbol rate must not exceed 19.6 kilobauds.
A RTTY, data or multiplexed emission using an unspecified
digital code under the limitations listed in §97.309(b) of
this Part also may be transmitted. The authorized bandwidth
is 20 kHz.
- (6) A RTTY, data or multiplexed emission using a specified
digital code listed in §97.309(a) of this Part may be
transmitted. The symbol rate must not exceed 56 kilobauds. A
RTTY, data or multiplexed emission using an unspecified
digital code under the limitations listed in §97.309(b) of
this Part also may be transmitted. The authorized bandwidth
is 100 kHz.
- (7) A RTTY, data or multiplexed emission using a specified
digital code listed in §97.309(a) of this Part or an
unspecified digital code under the limitations listed in §97.309(b) of this Part may be transmitted.
- (8) A RTTY or data emission having designators with A, B, C,
D, E, F, G, H, J or R as the first symbol; 1, 2, 7 or 9 as
the second symbol; and D or W as the third symbol is also
authorized.
- (9) A station having a control operator holding a Novice or
Technician Class operator license may only transmit a CW
emission using the international Morse code.
- (10) A station having a control operator holding a Novice
Class operator license or a Technician Class operator
license and who has received credit for proficiency in
telegraphy in accordance with the international requirements
may only transmit a CW emission using the international
Morse code or phone emissions J3E and R3E.
- (11) Phone and image emissions may be transmitted only by
stations located in ITU Regions 1 and 3, and by stations
located within ITU Region 2 that are west of 130° West
longitude or south of 20° North latitude.
- (12) Emission F8E may be transmitted.
- (13) A data emission using an unspecified digital code under
the limitations listed in § 97.309(b) of this Part also may
be transmitted. The authorized bandwidth is 100 kHz.
- (a) Where authorized by §97.305(c) and 97.307(f) of this
Part, an amateur station may transmit a RTTY or data
emission using the following specified digital codes:
- (1) The 5-unit, start-stop, International Telegraph Alphabet
No. 2, code defined in International Telegraph and Telephone
Consultative Committee Recommendation F.1, Division C
(commonly known as Baudot).
- (2) The 7-unit code, specified in International Radio
Consultative Committee Recommendation CCIR 476-2 (1978),
476-3 (1982), 476-4 (1986) or 625 (1986) (commonly known as
AMTOR).
- (3) The 7-unit code defined in American National Standards
Institute X3.4-1977 or International Alphabet No. 5 defined
in International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative
Committee Recommendation T.50 or in International
Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO
646 (1983), and extensions as provided for in CCITT
Recommendation T.61 (Malaga-Torremolinos, 1984) (commonly
known as ASCII).
- (4) An amateur station transmitting a RTTY or data emission
using a digital code specified in this paragraph may use any
technique whose technical characteristics have been
documented publicly, such as CLOVER, G-TOR, or PacTOR, for
the purpose of facilitating communications.
- (b) Where authorized by §§97.305(c) and 97.307(f) of this
Part, a station may transmit a RTTY or data emission using
an unspecified digital code, except to a station in a
country with which the United States does not have an
agreement permitting the code to be used. RTTY and data
emissions using unspecified digital codes must not be
transmitted for the purpose of obscuring the meaning of any
communication. When deemed necessary by an EIC to assure
compliance with the FCC Rules, a station must:
- (1) Cease the transmission using the unspecified digital
code;
- (2) Restrict transmissions of any digital code to the extent
instructed;
- (3) Maintain a record, convertible to the original
information, of all digital communications transmitted.
- (a) SS emission transmissions by an amateur station are
authorized only for communications between points within
areas where the amateur service is regulated by the FCC and
between an area where the amateur service is regulated by
the FCC and an amateur station in another country that
permits such communications. SS emission transmissions must
not be used for the purpose of obscuring the meaning of any
communication.
- (b) A station transmitting SS emissions must not cause
harmful interference to stations employing other authorized
emissions, and must accept all interference caused by
stations employing other authorized emissions.
- (c) When deemed necessary by a District Director to assure
compliance with this Part, a station licensee must:
- (1) Cease SS emission transmissions;
- (2) Restrict SS emission transmissions to the extent
instructed; and
- (3) Maintain a record, convertible to the original
information (voice, text, image, etc.) of all spread
spectrum communications transmitted.
- (d) The transmitter power must not exceed 100 W under any
circumstances. If more than 1 W is used, automatic
transmitter control shall limit output power to that which
is required for the communication. This shall be determined
by the use of the ratio, measured at the receiver, of the
received energy per user data bit (Eb) to the sum of the
received power spectral densities of noise (N0) and co-
channel interference (I0). Average transmitter power over 1
W shall be automatically adjusted to maintain an Eb/(N0 +
I0) ratio of no more than 23 dB at the intended receiver.
- (a) An amateur station must use the minimum transmitter
power necessary to carry out the desired communications.
- (b) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 1.5 kW PEP.
- (c) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 200 W PEP on:
- (1) The 3.675-3.725 MHz, 7.10-7.15 MHz, 10.10-10.15 MHz and
21.1-21.2 MHz segments;
- (2) The 28.1-28.5 MHz segment when the control operator is a
Novice Class operator or a Technician Class operator who has
received credit for proficiency in telegraphy in accordance
with the international requirements; or
- (3) The 7.050-7.075 MHz segment when the station is within
ITU Regions 1 or 3.
- (d) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 25 W PEP on the VHF 1.25 m band when the control
operator is a Novice operator.
- (e) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 5 W PEP on the UHF 23 cm band when the control
operator is a Novice operator.
- (f) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 50 W PEP on the UHF 70 cm band from an area
specified in footnote US7 to § 2.106 of Part 2, unless
expressly authorized by the FCC after mutual agreement, on a
case-by-case basis, between the District Director of the
applicable field facility and the military area frequency
coordinator at the applicable military base. An Earth
station or telecommand station, however, may transmit on the
435-438 MHz segment with a maximum of 611 W effective
radiated power (1 kW equivalent isotropically radiated
power) without the authorization otherwise required. The
transmitting antenna elevation angle between the lower half-
power (-3 dB relative to the peak or antenna bore sight)
point and the horizon must always be greater than 10°.
- (g) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 50 W PEP on the 33 cm band from within 241 km of
the boundaries of the White Sands Missile Range. Its
boundaries are those portions of Texas and New Mexico
bounded on the south by latitude 31° 41' North, on the east
by longitude 104° 11' West, on the north by latitude 34° 30'
North, and on the west by longitude 107° 30' West.
- (h) No station may transmit with a transmitter power
exceeding 50 W PEP on the 219-220 MHz segment of the 1.25 m
band.
- (a) No more than 1 unit of 1 model of an external RF power
amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz may be
constructed or modified during any calendar year by an
amateur operator for use at a station without a grant of
certification. No amplifier capable of operation below 144
MHz may be constructed or modified by a non-amateur operator
without a grant of certification from the FCC.
- (b) Any external RF power amplifier or external RF power
amplifier kit (see §2.815 of the FCC Rules), manufactured,
imported or modified for use in a station or attached at any
station must be certificated for use in the amateur service
in accordance with Subpart J of Part 2 of the FCC Rules.
This requirement does not apply if one or more of the
following conditions are met:
- (1) The amplifier is not capable of operation on frequencies
below 144 MHz. For the purpose of this part, an amplifier
will be deemed to be incapable of operation below 144 MHz if
it is not capable of being easily modified to increase its
amplification characteristics below 120 MHz and either:
- (i) The mean output power of the amplifier decreases, as
frequency decreases from 144 MHz, to a point where 0 dB or
less gain is exhibited at 120 MHz; or
- (ii) The amplifier is not capable of amplifying signals
below 120 MHz even for brief periods without sustaining
permanent damage to its amplification circuitry.
- (2) The amplifier was manufactured before April 28, 1978,
and has been issued a marketing waiver by the FCC, or the
amplifier was purchased before April 28, 1978, by an amateur
operator for use at that amateur operator's station.
- (3) The amplifier was:
- (i) Constructed by the licensee, not from an external RF
power amplifier kit, for use at the licensee's station; or
- (ii) Modified by the licensee for use at the licensee's
station.
- (4) The amplifier is sold by an amateur operator to another
amateur operator or to a dealer.
- (5) The amplifier is purchased in used condition by an
equipment dealer from an amateur operator and the amplifier
is further sold to another amateur operator for use at that
operator's station.
- (c) Any external RF power amplifier appearing in the
Commission's database as certificated for use in the amateur
service may be marketed for use in the amateur service.
- (a) To receive a grant of certification, the amplifier must
satisfy the spurious emission standards of §97.307(d) or (e)
of this Part, as applicable, when the amplifier is:
- (1) Operated at its full output power;
- (2) Placed in the "standby" or "off" positions, but still
connected to the transmitter; and
- (3) Driven with at least 50 W mean RF input power (unless
higher drive level is specified).
- (b) To receive a grant of certification, the amplifier must
not be capable of operation on any frequency or frequencies
between
24 MHz and 35 MHz. The amplifier will be deemed incapable
of such operation if it:
- (1) Exhibits no more than 6 dB gain between 24 MHz and 26
MHz and between 28 MHz and 35 MHz. (This gain will be
determined by the ratio of the input RF driving signal (mean
power measurement) to the mean RF output power of the
amplifier); and
- (2) Exhibits no amplification (0 dB gain) between 26 MHz and
28 MHz.
- (c) Certification may be denied when denial would prevent
the use of these amplifiers in services other than the
amateur service. The following features will result in
dismissal or denial of an application for certification:
- (1) Any accessible wiring which, when altered, would permit
operation of the amplifier in a manner contrary to the FCC
Rules;
- (2) Circuit boards or similar circuitry to facilitate the
addition of components to change the amplifier's operating
characteristics in a manner contrary to the FCC Rules;
- (3) Instructions for operation or modification of the
amplifier in a manner contrary to the FCC Rules;
- (4) Any internal or external controls or adjustments to
facilitate operation of the amplifier in a manner contrary
to the FCC Rules;
- (5) Any internal RF sensing circuitry or any external
switch, the purpose of which is to place the amplifier in
the transmit mode;
- (6) The incorporation of more gain in the amplifier than is
necessary to operate in the amateur service; for purposes of
this paragraph, the amplifier must:
- (i) Not be capable of achieving designed output power when
driven with less than 40 W mean RF input power;
- (ii) Not be capable of amplifying the input RF driving
signal by more than 15 dB, unless the amplifier has a
designed transmitter power of less than 1.5 kW (in such a
case, gain must be reduced by the same number of dB as the
transmitter power relationship to 1.5 kW; This gain
limitation is determined by the ratio of the input RF
driving signal to the RF output power of the amplifier where
both signals are expressed in peak envelope power or mean
power);
- (iii) Not exhibit more gain than permitted by paragraph (c)(6)(ii) of this Section when driven by an RF input signal
of less than 50 W mean power; and
- (iv) Be capable of sustained operation at its designed power
level.
- (7) Any attenuation in the input of the amplifier which,
when removed or modified, would permit the amplifier to
function at its designed transmitter power when driven by an
RF frequency input signal of less than 50 W mean power; or
- (8) Any other features designed to facilitate operation in a
telecommunication service other than the Amateur Radio
Services, such as the Citizens Band (CB) Radio Service.
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