Who may be the control operator of an auxiliary station?

Auxiliary stations are used to transmit point-to-point communications within a system of cooperating amateur stations, such as a repeater link. According to FCC Part 97.201, any amateur operator except a Novice class operator can be the control operator of an auxiliary station. Since the Novice class is the only one excluded from this privilege, the allowed classes are Technician, General, Advanced, and Amateur Extra. Even though no new Novice or Advanced licenses are issued, existing ones remain valid, which is why the rules still explicitly account for them.