Part 97
| Part 97 | |
|---|---|
| Full citation | Title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 97 |
| Written and enforced by | Federal Communications Commission (FCC) |
| Covers | The US amateur radio service |
| Structure | Six subparts, A to F |
| Key sections | |
| Basis and purpose | §97.1 |
| Prohibited transmissions | §97.113 |
| Third-party communications | §97.115 |
| Station identification | §97.119 |
| Technical | |
| Frequencies by license class | §97.301 |
| Power limits | §97.313 |
Part 97 is the body of federal rules that governs amateur radio in the United States. Formally Part 97 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), it is written and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It sets out who may hold a license, which frequencies and modes each license class may use, how stations identify themselves, what may and may not be transmitted, and how license exams are run. Every license exam includes questions on it, and the current text is published online in the electronic CFR (eCFR).
Structure
Part 97 is divided into six subparts. Within each subpart the sections are numbered in odd steps, and the hundreds digit shows the subpart: §97.1 to §97.31 are Subpart A, §97.101 and up are Subpart B, §97.201 and up are Subpart C, and so on. Rules are cited by section, as in "§97.119" for station identification.
| Subpart | Sections | What it covers | Often cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: General provisions | 97.1–97.31 | Purpose, definitions, station and operator licenses, station location, antenna structures, applications, vanity call signs, renewal, mailing and email addresses, license term, and cancellation after a licensee's death | 97.3 (definitions), 97.15 (antenna structures), 97.23 (addresses) |
| B: Station operation standards | 97.101–97.121 | Good operating practice, licensee and control operator duties, reciprocal operation by visiting hams, station control, authorized and prohibited transmissions, third-party and international communications, identification, restricted operation | 97.113, 97.115, 97.119 |
| C: Special operations | 97.201–97.221 | Auxiliary, beacon, repeater, space, earth and telecommand stations, control of model craft, telemetry, message forwarding systems and automatically controlled digital stations | 97.205 (repeaters), 97.221 (automatic digital stations) |
| D: Technical standards | 97.301–97.317 | Frequencies by license class, sharing with other services, emission types and standards, data codes, spread spectrum, power limits, and certification of external amplifiers | 97.301, 97.305, 97.307, 97.313 |
| E: Providing emergency communications | 97.401–97.407 | Operation during disasters, safety of life and property, stations in distress, and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) | 97.403, 97.407 |
| F: Qualifying examination systems | 97.501–97.527 | License requirements, exam elements and credit, preparing and giving exams, volunteer examiners and their coordinators, question pools, and reimbursement of examiners' expenses | 97.505 (element credit), 97.523 (question pools) |
Subpart A is the paperwork: who needs a license, what the terms mean, and how to apply, renew and keep the FCC's records current. Every license record must now include an email address as well as a mailing address, and a license can be revoked or suspended if FCC correspondence comes back undeliverable because the email address is wrong (§97.23). Subpart B holds the everyday operating rules described below. Subpart C covers stations that do something other than ordinary two-way contacts, many of them under automatic control. Subpart D is the technical core, with the band-by-band privileges for each license class, the modes allowed in each segment, signal-quality standards and the power limits. Subpart E covers emergencies, and Subpart F sets out the volunteer exam system described under Getting licensed.
Part 97 sets the legal limits. The finer division of each band into CW, data and voice areas is left to the voluntary band plan.
Basis and purpose
Section 97.1 lists five principles the rules exist to serve: the value of amateur radio to the public as a "voluntary noncommercial communication service," particularly for emergency communications; the amateur's ability to advance the radio art; rules that encourage better communication and technical skills; a growing reservoir of trained operators, technicians and electronics experts; and the amateur's ability to enhance international goodwill. These principles explain much of the rest of Part 97, such as the ban on commercial use.
Key operating rules
- Control operator. Every transmitting station must have a control operator, a licensed amateur responsible for what it transmits. A station may use only the privileges of the control operator's license class. Control may be local, remote, or, for certain stations such as repeaters, automatic.
- Station identification (§97.119). A station must transmit its assigned call sign at the end of each communication and at least every 10 minutes during it. On voice the call sign is given in English, and use of a standard phonetic alphabet is encouraged. CW identification is also permitted. Unidentified transmissions are prohibited.
- Power (§97.313). A station must use the minimum power necessary to carry out the communication. The maximum for any class is 1,500 W peak envelope power (PEP), with lower limits on some bands and for Technicians on HF. Stations must also meet the FCC's RF exposure rules.
- Interference. No amateur may willfully or maliciously interfere with any radio communication.
- Emergencies. When normal communications are unavailable, an amateur may use any means necessary to communicate for the immediate safety of life and property.
Prohibited transmissions
Section 97.113 lists what amateurs may not transmit. In summary:
- Communications for hire, or in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary (financial) interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. Narrow exceptions cover occasional sales of personal radio equipment, teachers using a station in the classroom, and certain emergency drills.
- Music using a voice (phone) emission, apart from narrow exceptions such as certain retransmissions from spacecraft.
- Communications intended to facilitate a criminal act.
- Messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning (§97.113(a)(4)). Digital modes are allowed when their technical characteristics are publicly documented, since anyone can then decode them. The main exceptions are control signals for space stations and radio-controlled models.
- Obscene or indecent language, and false or deceptive messages, signals or identification.
- Broadcasting to the general public, and most one-way transmissions, with exceptions such as code practice, information bulletins, beacons and telemetry.
- Regular communications that could reasonably be handled by another radio service.
Third-party traffic
A third-party communication is a message passed by amateurs on behalf of someone else, or an unlicensed person speaking over an amateur station, as at a Field Day demonstration. Under §97.115 the control operator must be present and supervising throughout. Third-party traffic may go to any station within US jurisdiction, but to a foreign station only if that country has a third-party agreement with the United States, the communication is an emergency or disaster-relief message, or the third party is eligible to be a control operator. A person whose license has been revoked or suspended may not take part.
The FCC's role
The FCC writes the rules, issues licenses and enforces compliance. Licensing runs through the Universal Licensing System (ULS), the online database where licenses are granted and renewed and call signs are listed; applicants first obtain an FCC Registration Number (FRN). The FCC delegates exams to volunteer examiners under Subpart F.
Rules change through public rulemaking: a petition or FCC proposal, a period of public comment, and a final order. The ARRL and individual hams regularly file comments.
Rules also change to follow international agreements. In an order published in the Federal Register on January 14, 2026, and effective February 13, 2026, the FCC added the worldwide 5351.5–5366.5 kHz segment to the 60-meter band for General class and higher, limited to 9.15 watts ERP, and dropped the old 5358.5 kHz channel, which falls inside it.
The FCC also removes rules that no longer serve a purpose. In its "Delete, Delete, Delete" proceeding (GN Docket 25-133), it deleted four obsolete Part 97 provisions effective February 10, 2026: §97.27, which repeated the FCC's power under the Communications Act to modify licenses; §97.29, an outdated procedure for replacing paper license documents; §97.315(b)(2), which grandfathered HF amplifiers bought before April 28, 1978; and §97.521(b) and Appendix 2, which described old VEC regions. In a separate order adopted on January 29, 2026 (GN Docket 25-166), the FCC required many licensees to report whether they are controlled by a "foreign adversary," but after the ARRL urged an exemption it placed Amateur Radio Service licenses in a group exempt from the initial reporting, finding that the national-security risk from them is minimal. Violations are handled by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, whose responses range from warning letters to fines and license revocation.
See also
External links
- Part 97 in the electronic Code of Federal Regulations