The rules in Part 97 provide an amateur radio service having a fundamental purpose expressed in five principles: (a) Recognition and enhancement of the value of the amateur service to the public, particularly emergency communications. (b) Continuation and extension of the amateur's ability to advance the radio art. (c) Encouragement of skills in both communication and technical phases. (d) Expansion of the reservoir of trained operators, technicians, and electronics experts. (e) Continuation of the amateur's ability to enhance international goodwill.

Amateur service: A radiocommunication service for self-training, intercommunication, and technical investigations by duly authorized persons interested in radio technique solely with a personal aim and without pecuniary interest.

Control operator: An amateur operator designated by the licensee of a station to be responsible for the transmissions from that station to assure compliance with FCC Rules.

Control point: The location at which the control operator function is performed.

Beacon: An amateur station transmitting communications for the purposes of observation of propagation and reception or other related experimental activities.

Repeater: An amateur station that simultaneously retransmits the transmission of another amateur station on a different channel or channels.

Third party communications: A message from the control operator (first party) of an amateur station to another amateur station control operator (second party) on behalf of another person (third party).

RACES: Radio amateur civil emergency service — a radio service using amateur stations for civil defense communications during periods of local, regional, or national civil emergencies.

CSCE: Certificate of successful completion of an examination.

ULS: Universal Licensing System — the FCC's consolidated database, application filing system, and processing system.

HF: 3–30 MHz • VHF: 30–300 MHz • UHF: 300–3000 MHz • PEP: Peak envelope power.

The station apparatus must be under the physical control of a person named in an amateur station license grant on the ULS consolidated license database before the station may transmit. Three types of license grants exist: operator/primary, club station, and military recreation station.

§ 97.25: An amateur service license is normally granted for a 10-year term.

§ 97.21(b): A person whose license has expired may apply for renewal during a 2-year filing grace period. Until renewed, no privileges are conferred.

§ 97.9: Classes of amateur operator license: Novice, Technician, General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra. No new Novice or Advanced Class licenses are issued (§97.17).

§ 97.101(a): In all respects not specifically covered by FCC Rules, each amateur station must be operated in accordance with good engineering and good amateur practice.

§ 97.101(d): No amateur operator shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communication or signal.

§ 97.103: The station licensee is responsible for proper operation. When the control operator is different from the licensee, both persons are equally responsible.

§ 97.105(b): A station may only be operated in the manner and to the extent permitted by the privileges authorized for the class of operator license held by the control operator.

§ 97.109: Station control types: Local control (operator physically at control point), Remote control (operator at control point via link), Automatic control (no operator required at control point — limited to specific station types).

No amateur station shall transmit:

Each amateur station must transmit its assigned call sign on its transmitting channel at the end of each communication, and at least every 10 minutes during a communication, for the purpose of clearly making the source of the transmissions known.

The call sign must be transmitted by a CW emission, by a phone emission in the English language (phonetic alphabet encouraged), by a RTTY emission, or by an image emission. No station may transmit unidentified communications.

§ 97.119(e): When the operator license class held by the control operator exceeds that of the station licensee, an indicator consisting of the control operator's call sign must be included after the station call sign.

§ 97.301(a) — Technician/General/Advanced/Extra (VHF/UHF/SHF):

§ 97.301(e) — Technician Class HF privileges (limited):

§ 97.307(f)(9)/(10): A Technician Class control operator may only transmit CW using international Morse code on HF bands (except 10 m phone 28.3–28.5 MHz and emissions J3E and R3E).

(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)(2): No station may transmit exceeding 200 W PEP on 3.525–3.60 MHz, 7.025–7.125 MHz, 21.025–21.20 MHz, and 28.0–28.5 MHz when the control operator is a Novice or Technician Class operator.

§ 97.403: No provision of these rules prevents the use by an amateur station of any means of radiocommunication at its disposal to provide essential communication needs in connection with the immediate safety of human life and immediate protection of property when normal communication systems are not available.

§ 97.407 (RACES): No station may transmit in RACES unless it is an FCC-licensed station certified by a civil defense organization as registered with that organization. No person may be the control operator of a RACES station unless holding an FCC amateur operator license and enrolled in a civil defense organization.

§ 97.501: Technician Class requires passing Element 2. General requires Elements 2 and 3. Amateur Extra requires Elements 2, 3, and 4.

§ 97.503(a): Element 2 consists of 35 questions concerning the privileges of a Technician Class operator license. The minimum passing score is 26 questions answered correctly.

§ 97.509: Each examination must be administered by a team of at least 3 Volunteer Examiners (VEs) at an examination session coordinated by a VEC. VEs must hold at least General Class to administer the Technician exam.

§ 97.523: All VECs must cooperate in maintaining one question pool for each element. Each question pool must contain at least 10 times the number of questions required for a single examination and must be published and made available to the public prior to use.

§ 97.527: VEs and VECs may be reimbursed by examinees for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in preparing, processing, administering, or coordinating an examination.