Observing Band Edges

ARRL Club Newsletter
Copied from ARRL Club Newsletter

February 23, 2007 Elmer's Corner --
Observing Band Edges

There is sure to be a lot of new HF activity when the new regulations take effect on February 23. Please remember that operators are required to keep their entire transmitted signal within the band limits. This means that if you are operating SSB mode your signal is typically 2.8 kHz wide so a rule of thumb is to stay 3 kHz from the edge of the band. For example if a Technician class operator wants to operate SSB on the 10 meter band then the operator should not operate any lower than 28.303 MHz or any higher than 28.497 MHz in order to stay within the band limits.
Band edges also need to be observed when operating CW, RTTY, Data and all modes permitted in the Amateur service.

Overdriving an SSB transmitter make your signal unreadable and it will cause splatter that can be outside of the band. It is not just good amateur practice to produce clean transmitted signals--it's also the law, part 97.303.