Comment on In some countries (such as the USA), sending encrypted communications via Amateur Radio is illegal, but how likely will the government actually enforce it, and how severe would the consequences be?

SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

For those who are unfamiliar encrypted or not radio signals can still be tracked down. Normal traffic is like everyone in a room speaking English and we all understand each other. Encrypted traffic is like speaking in a gibberish mess that only a few can understand. BUT everyone in the room can still hear me say it.

Triangulation is a thing. If you become a pest licenced operators (see radio fox hunting) and maybe the FCC themselves will be able to direction find you easily if you aren’t careful. $7-10k is the going rate for fines for this stuff if it came to that.

fun fact lora bands (the ones meshtastic uses) are mostly outside of amateur bands and can run encrypted traffic. They don’t transmit very far on their own though, they need other meshtastic devices to bounce messages over longer distances

Maybe if you are in a rural area you can try it with basic FRS/GMRS walkie talkies where there isn’t a licencing requirement and by extension maybe a bit more leniance if you claimed you didn’t know it was against the rules.

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