Ham radio power limits: 1,500 watts PEP and the lower caps

The overall ceiling and the minimum-power rule

Section 97.313 opens with a rule that is easy to skip: an amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications. That applies at every power level. The next paragraph sets the ceiling: no station may transmit with a transmitter power exceeding 1.5 kW PEP. That is the "1,500 watts" in the search query. The rule applies the ceiling to every amateur station, whatever the class of the control operator, and the lower caps below sit under it.

Lower caps by segment

Paragraph (c) imposes 200 watts PEP in three cases: on the 10.10-10.15 MHz segment (the 30 m band); on the 3.525-3.60 MHz, 7.025-7.125 MHz, 21.025-21.20 MHz and 28.0-28.5 MHz segments when the control operator is a Novice or Technician Class operator; and on 7.050-7.075 MHz when the station is within ITU Regions 1 or 3. The Technician-class HF segments in that list match the segments where section 97.301(e) lets Technician operators use HF, so a Technician on HF is always inside the 200 W cap.

Novice operators have two more limits on higher bands: 25 W PEP on the 1.25 m VHF band and 5 W PEP on the 23 cm UHF band. Other caps tie to location or band: 50 W PEP on the 219-220 MHz segment; 50 W PEP on 33 cm within 241 km of the White Sands Missile Range boundaries (the rule defines the boundaries by latitude and longitude lines in Texas and New Mexico); and 50 W PEP on 70 cm in the area specified in section 2.106(c)(270)(i), unless the FCC expressly authorizes more after agreement with the military area frequency coordinator.

The 60 m band uses ERP, not PEP

The 60 m band is regulated differently because it is shared. On 5.332, 5.348, 5.373 and 5.405 MHz the limit is 100 W effective radiated power (ERP). In the 5.3515-5.3665 MHz band the limit is 9.15 W ERP. To compute ERP, the transmitter PEP is multiplied by the antenna gain relative to a half-wave dipole, which the rule presumes to have a gain of 1 (0 dBd). Operators using other antennas must keep either the manufacturer's gain data or their own gain calculations in the station records.

A worked example: a 60 W transmitter into an antenna with 1.5 times the gain of a half-wave dipole produces 90 W ERP, inside the 100 W cap on the four channels but well over the 9.15 W ERP cap on 5.3515-5.3665 MHz, where you would need to hold the transmitter to about 6.1 W with that antenna (9.15 divided by 1.5).

Spread spectrum, LF and MF, and 4 mm

Any station transmitting a spread spectrum (SS) emission type may not exceed 10 W PEP transmitter output. The two lowest amateur bands carry both a power and a radiated-power cap: on 2200 m (135.7-137.8 kHz), 1.5 kW PEP and 1 W EIRP; on 630 m (472-479 kHz), 500 W PEP and 5 W EIRP, with a stricter 1 W EIRP limit for Alaskan stations within 800 kilometers of the Russian Federation. At 76-81 GHz (4 mm) the cap is a peak EIRP of 316 W. Earth and telecommand stations on 435-438 MHz may use 611 W ERP (1 kW EIRP) with a minimum antenna elevation angle above the horizon of 10 degrees.

How to apply the rules

1. Start with the band you plan to use and look for a band-specific cap in the widget above.
2. If none applies, the 1.5 kW PEP ceiling is the limit, but the minimum-power rule still applies.
3. Check the control operator's class if you are on 3.525-3.60, 7.025-7.125, 21.025-21.20 or 28.0-28.5 MHz.
4. On 60 m, work in ERP and keep antenna gain data in your station records.

The class-by-band limits are on the frequency bands page, and the emission types allowed in each segment are on the emission types page.

What the rule does not say

The text read does not define PEP or say how to measure it, so use part 97's definitions for that. It also sets no band-specific cap for license classes on bands not listed above; for those, the 1.5 kW PEP ceiling and the minimum-power rule are what the section provides.

Sources

• 47 CFR 97.313, Transmitter power standards (eCFR). Read November 2, 2026.
• 47 CFR 97.301, Authorized frequency bands (eCFR), for the band cross-reference. Read November 2, 2026.

Text read: the eCFR (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations) text of Title 47 as it stood on October 29, 2026, retrieved through the eCFR versioner API on November 2, 2026. The eCFR is an editorial compilation and is not the official legal edition; the Federal Register and the annual CFR are. Rules change, so confirm the current wording on the eCFR before relying on it. This page paraphrases the rule and does not replace it.