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E1F05

COMMISSION RULES · Miscellaneous rules: external RF power amplifiers; prohibited communications; spread spectrum; auxiliary stations; Canadian amateurs operating in the US; special temporary authority

E1F05§ 97.303E1F →

Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the contiguous 48 states and north of Line A?

  1. A440 MHz - 450 MHz
  2. B53 MHz - 54 MHz
  3. C222 MHz - 223 MHz
  4. D420 MHz - 430 MHz
Why Line A is a line roughly parallel to and south of the US-Canada border; stations north of it sit close enough to Canada that the 420-430 MHz segment is reserved to protect Canadian land mobile services. Under 97.303, amateurs north of Line A in the contiguous 48 states may not transmit in 420-430 MHz, though the rest of the 70 cm band (430-450 MHz) remains available.
Watch out The choice covering 440-450 MHz is tempting because it is also in the 70 cm band, but the restriction applies only to the bottom 10 MHz of the band, not the top.
Line A cuts off the bottom of 70 cm: 420-430 MHz is off limits near the Canadian border.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
47 CFR 97.303 Frequency sharing requirements.

The following paragraphs summarize the frequency sharing requirements that apply to amateur stations transmitting in the frequency bands specified in § 97.301 of this part. Each frequency band allocated to the amateur service is designated as either a secondary service or a primary service. A station in a secondary service must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations in a primary service.

(a) Where, in adjacent ITU Regions or sub-Regions, a band of frequencies is allocated to different services of the same category (i.e., primary or secondary services), the basic principle is the equality of right to operate. Accordingly, stations of each service in one Region or sub-Region must operate so as not to cause harmful interference to any service of the same or higher category in the other Regions or sub-Regions.

(b) Amateur stations transmitting in the 70 cm band, the 33 cm band, the 23 cm band, the 5 cm band, the 3 cm band, or the 24.05-24.25 GHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the United States Government in the radiolocation service.

(c) Amateur stations transmitting in the 76-81 GHz segment, the 136-141 GHz segment, or the 241-248 GHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the United States Government, the FCC, or other nations in the radiolocation service.

(d) Amateur stations transmitting in the 430-450 MHz segment, the 23 cm band, the 3.3-3.4 GHz segment, the 5.65-5.85 GHz segment, the 13 cm band, or the 24.05-24.25 GHz segment, must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by other nations in the radiolocation service.

(e) Amateur stations receiving in the 33 cm band, the 2400-2450 MHz segment, the 5.725-5.875 GHz segment, the 1.2 cm band, the 2.5 mm band, or the 244-246 GHz segment must accept interference from industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) equipment.

(f) Amateur stations transmitting in the following segments must not cause harmful interference to radio astronomy stations: 76-81 GHz, 136-141 GHz, 241-248 GHz, 275-323 GHz, 327-371 GHz, 388-424 GHz, 426-442 GHz, 453-510 GHz, 623-711 GHz, 795-909 GHz, or 926-945 GHz. In addition, amateur stations transmitting in the following segments must not cause harmful interference to stations in the Earth exploration-satellite service (passive) or the space research service (passive): 275-286 GHz, 296-306 GHz, 313-356 GHz, 361-365 GHz, 369-392 GHz, 397-399 GHz, 409-411 GHz, 416-434 GHz, 439-467 GHz, 477-502 GHz, 523-527 GHz, 538-581 GHz, 611-630 GHz, 634-654 GHz, 657-692 GHz, 713-718 GHz, 729-733 GHz, 750-754 GHz, 771-776 GHz, 823-846 GHz, 850-854 GHz, 857-862 GHz, 866-882 GHz, 905-928 GHz, 951-956 GHz, 968-973 GHz and 985-990 GHz.

(g) In the 2200 m and 630 m bands:

(1) Amateur stations in the 135.7-137.8 kHz (2200 m) and 472-479 kHz (630 m) bands shall only operate at fixed locations. Amateur stations shall not operate within a horizontal distance of one kilometer from a transmission line that conducts a power line carrier (PLC) signal in the 135.7-137.8 kHz or 472-479 kHz bands. Horizontal distance is measured from the station's antenna to the closest point on the transmission line.

(2) Prior to commencement of operations in the 135.7-137.8 kHz (2200 m) and/or 472-479 kHz (630 m) bands, amateur operators shall notify the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) of their intent to operate by submitting their call signs, intended band or bands of operation, and the coordinates of their antenna's fixed location. Amateur stations will be permitted to commence operations after the 30-day period unless UTC notifies the station that its fixed location is located within one kilometer of PLC systems operating in the same or overlapping frequencies.

(3) Amateur stations in the 135.7-137.8 kHz (2200 m) band shall not cause harmful interference to, and shall accept interference from:

(i) Stations authorized by the United States Government in the fixed and maritime mobile services;

(ii) Stations authorized by other nations in the fixed, maritime mobile, and radionavigation service.

(4) Amateur stations in the 472-479 kHz (630 m) band shall not cause harmful interference to, and shall accept interference from:

(i) Stations authorized by the FCC in the maritime mobile service;

(ii) Stations authorized by other nations in the maritime mobile and aeronautical radionavigation services.

(5) Amateur stations causing harmful interference shall take all necessary measures to eliminate such interference—including temporary or permanent termination of transmissions.

(h) Amateur stations transmitting on frequencies in the 60 m band must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by:

(1) The United States (NTIA and FCC) and other nations in the fixed service; and

(2) Other nations in the mobile except aeronautical mobile service.

(3) In the 5330.5-5406.4 kHz band (60 m band), amateur stations may transmit only in the 5351.5-5366.5 kHz band and on the four center frequencies specified in the table below. For the discrete channels, control operators of stations transmitting phone, data, and RTTY emissions (emission designators 2K80J3E, 2K80J2D, and 60H0J2B, respectively) may set the carrier frequency 1.5 kHz below the center frequency as specified in the table below. For CW emissions (emission designator 150HA1A), the carrier frequency is set to the center frequency. For all 60 m spectrum, Amateur operators shall ensure that their emissions do not occupy more than 2.8 kHz.

(i) Amateur stations transmitting in the 7.2-7.3 MHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, international broadcast stations whose programming is intended for use within Region 1 or Region 3.

(j) Amateur stations transmitting in the 30 m band must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations by other nations in the fixed service. The licensee of the amateur station must make all necessary adjustments, including termination of transmissions, if harmful interference is caused.

(k) For amateur stations located in ITU Regions 1 and 3: Amateur stations transmitting in the 146-148 MHz segment or the 10.00-10.45 GHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations of other nations in the fixed and mobile services.

(l) In the 219-220 MHz segment:

(1) Use is restricted to amateur stations participating as forwarding stations in fixed point-to-point digital message forwarding systems, including intercity packet backbone networks. It is not available for other purposes.

(2) Amateur stations must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by:

(i) The FCC in the Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS), the 218-219 MHz Service, and the 220 MHz Service, and television stations broadcasting on channels 11 and 13; and

(ii) Other nations in the fixed and maritime mobile services.

(3) No amateur station may transmit unless the licensee has given written notification of the station's specific geographic location for such transmissions in order to be incorporated into a database that has been made available to the public. The notification must be given at least 30 days prior to making such transmissions. The notification must be given to: The American Radio Relay League, Inc., 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494.

(4) No amateur station may transmit from a location that is within 640 km of an AMTS coast station that operates in the 217-218 MHz and 219-220 MHz bands unless the amateur station licensee has given written notification of the station's specific geographic location for such transmissions to the AMTS licensee. The notification must be given at least 30 days prior to making such transmissions. The location of AMTS coast stations using the 217-218/219-220 MHz channels may be obtained as noted in paragraph (l)(3) of this section.

(5) No amateur station may transmit from a location that is within 80 km of an AMTS coast station that uses frequencies in the 217-218 MHz and 219-220 MHz bands unless that amateur station licensee holds written approval from that AMTS licensee. The location of AMTS coast stations using the 217-218/219-220 MHz channels may be obtained as noted in paragraph (l)(3) of this section.

(m) In the 70 cm band:

(1) No amateur station shall transmit from north of Line A in the 420-430 MHz segment. See § 97.3(a) for the definition of Line A.

(2) Amateur stations transmitting in the 420-430 MHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the FCC in the land mobile service within 80.5 km of Buffalo, Cleveland, and Detroit. See § 2.106, footnote US230 for specific frequencies and coordinates.

(3) Amateur stations transmitting in the 420-430 MHz segment or the 440-450 MHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by other nations in the fixed and mobile except aeronautical mobile services.

(n) In the 33 cm band:

(1) Amateur stations must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by:

(i) The United States Government;

(ii) The FCC in the Location and Monitoring Service; and

(iii) Other nations in the fixed service.

(2) No amateur station shall transmit from those portions of Texas and New Mexico that are bounded by latitudes 31°41′ and 34°30′ North and longitudes 104°11′ and 107°30′ West; or from outside of the United States and its Region 2 insular areas.

(3) No amateur station shall transmit from those portions of Colorado and Wyoming that are bounded by latitudes 39° and 42° North and longitudes 103° and 108° West in the following segments: 902.4-902.6 MHz, 904.3-904.7 MHz, 925.3-925.7 MHz, and 927.3-927.7 MHz.

(o) Amateur stations transmitting in the 23 cm band must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by:

(1) The United States Government in the aeronautical radionavigation, Earth exploration-satellite (active), or space research (active) services;

(2) The FCC in the aeronautical radionavigation service; and

(3) Other nations in the Earth exploration-satellite (active), radionavigation-satellite (space-to-Earth) (space-to-space), or space research (active) services.

(p) In the 13 cm band:

(1) Amateur stations must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by other nations in fixed and mobile services.

(2) Amateur stations transmitting in the 2305-2310 MHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the FCC in the fixed, mobile except aeronautical mobile, and radiolocation services.

(q) [Reserved]

(r) In the 5 cm band:

(1) Amateur stations transmitting in the 5.650-5.725 GHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by other nations in the mobile except aeronautical mobile service.

(2) Amateur stations transmitting in the 5.850-5.925 GHz segment must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the FCC and other nations in the fixed-satellite (Earth-to-space) and mobile services and also stations authorized by other nations in the fixed service. In the United States, the use of mobile service is restricted to operations in the Intelligent Transportation System radio service.

(s) [Reserved]

(t) Amateur stations transmitting in the 2.5 mm band must not cause harmful interference to, and must accept interference from, stations authorized by the United States Government, the FCC, or other nations in the fixed, inter-satellite, or mobile services.

The Table of Frequency Allocations contains the complete, unabridged, and legally binding frequency sharing requirements that pertain to the Amateur Radio Service. See 47 CFR 2.104, 2.105, and 2.106. The United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are in Region 2 and other U.S. insular areas are in either Region 2 or 3; see appendix 1 to part 97.

eCFR text as of 1 Sep 2026 · read on ecfr.gov
← E1F04 All of E1F E1F06 →

The rest of E1F

  1. E1F01 On what frequencies are spread spectrum transmissions permitted?
  2. E1F02 What privileges are authorized in the US to persons holding an amateur service license granted by the governm…
  3. E1F03 Under what circumstances may a dealer sell an external RF power amplifier capable of operation below 144 MHz …
  4. E1F04 Which of the following geographic descriptions approximately describes "Line A"?
  5. E1F05 Amateur stations may not transmit in which of the following frequency segments if they are located in the con…
  6. E1F06 Under what circumstances might the FCC issue a Special Temporary Authority (STA) to an amateur station?
  7. E1F07 When may an amateur station send a message to a business?
  8. E1F08 Which of the following types of amateur station communications are prohibited?
  9. E1F09 Which of the following cannot be transmitted over an amateur radio mesh network?
  10. E1F10 Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?
  11. E1F11 Which of the following best describes one of the standards that must be met by an external RF power amplifier…
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