Encrypted Ham Radio For Preppers?

Part 2 of My Prepper Series. This time we're exploring Tactics for Mission critical comms and OPSEC. Defeating enemy intel, Budget Encryption, Channel hopping and more. This is the meat and potatoes of SHTF prepper Communications.

Show Notes:
Join Me every Monday at Noon Mountain Time (1800 UTC) for the 2 Alpha Ham Radio Podcast Live. I'll bring in short subjects that we can dive in and look at, you can bring up subjects to discuss. You can also join me as a guest on the show.
Wires X: Youtubers 40448
FCS Reflector: Youtubers 003/48

[thetechq]

You should really reduce your power before you reduce your antenna. There is no downside to cutting your power output if your intended recipient can get your message.

[BackwoodsLaw]

Just saw this today, good advice. Similar to things we were taught in the Army, where we did have code keys we could use depending on the comms plan. If someone can not afford the higher end gear, another thing you mentioned would be ideal and we used it all the time to piss off the Range cadre and OPFOR when we were in the box at training areas. Before we would head to the field, the Squad Leaders and Comms NCO would meet up with the Platoon leader and Sgt. to create what we called at the time 'burst messages' simple one letter and numbers to just say in a few seconds on the radio, in the clear, that would not mean anything to anyone with out our date/time cards we made up. We would change up every 24 hours, or if someone was compromised by being made a POW by the range staff, we had a special code only we knew in our heads so we could change up the current card in use and no one would know we swapped out what was working just a little while ago. You can go deep into it, as you said, if everyone agrees it might be needed. The downside is, if people are not comfortable with the gear and able to adjust on the fly it could get pretty daunting too.

[johnk]

Good video Bob. I've said for a long time that digital can make you a target when everyone else is using FM. The point of using FM for most comms and digital when necessary is the way to go. I'd much rather have my regular comms mixed into the sea of Baofeng bucket mouths, maybe using some pre planned code phrases. Don't forget that even though you can't copy what is being said on digital with a regular FM radio, digital can still be Direction Found. This is a skill that will become very necessary when things go sideways. I think there is a lot more that can be said in future videos. How to use antennas such as a small yagi to cut down the number of people who can hear your longer range transmissions. Then there is Meshtastic. Great way to send texts with AES 256 encryption. Short bursts of spread spectrum in the 900 Mhz band. And you can set up a very wide area Mesh Network if you have the people in place. The use of HF with NVIS is also much harder to DF, and less people will be there to tune into you more localized comms. Not 100% reliable though. In any case, you must get out and use your radios. Find the limitations. What works, what does not. Can you make the contact you need to in the areas you will be operating in. If not, what will it take to make the contact. Maybe a roll up J Pole in a tree, maybe a portable yagi, UHF for a more compact antenna. . Maybe higher power. Maybe a different mode or band. Getting to higher ground. Having a yagi at both ends of the comms. Always use the least amount of power necessary to make the contact. Get away from your home or base when making contacts that are or sound anything different than the normal BS chatter, you don't want to be DF'ed. Make a radio plan and have a PACE plan in place. Being aware of the topography you are using your radio in. The more elevation you are at, the more people who will hear you. Radio is a fantastic way to communicate, but can fail you when you need it most. Planning and practice makes this less likely to happen. Thanks Bob ! Greetings from a Ret LEO from Kali who also moved to the free state of Idaho and loves being here. P.S. All you Kali transplants, be careful. Not all Republicans are real Republicans here. Find your Republican who runs and is a FREEDOM Candidate. We have a RINO problem in Idaho.

[Modern_Warrior_School]

A couple other things to consider: frequency hopping used to really fool people, but now a $30 SDR can monitor a wide section of the band (if not the entire band) at once. It wouldn't take too much effort for when you say "switch to channel three" for an adversary to pick up on which frequency suddenly became active immediately afterwards. Additionally, even if they can't interpret your conversation, they can still triangulate your signal, which is a semi-popular sport in ham radio. So the best method of securing your comms is simply staying off of them except when necessary. I'm actually in the middle of writing a book as an introduction to communications and communications security for the preparedness community where I'll go in great depth on this topic.

[SteelWolf]

Good Video. You're giving nothing away really. Lots of youtubers have "spilled the beans" on "how to tactical".

[wagon]

Your suggestions are great. I have also planned to use digital voice if the SHTF happens. What we are doing is "technically" illegal, because our purpose is to obscure the contents of the information. Using code names is also illegal for the same reason. No one is going to care after ATSHTF. Until then I am just experimenting with digital radio.

The other suggestions about SECCOM are also very good! However, remember digital modes are foolproof and they can still be RDF. But K6UDA suggestions about frequency hooping, low power, short xmits, etc will go a long way.

[ducktapepilot]

Great video! I really enjoy your videos about comms for preppers.

[pale_]

I got both DSTAR and YSF. Planing on getting into DMR and others eventually. Packet and Data modes is another viable option as well. Some mobiles with crossband repeater capability is another great asset to have.

[nealfry]

I'll Always Love you
Hayden Leslie Panettiere.

[BobBob-ilku]

Anytone 878 $220
tyt md-uv390 plus (New model) $120
Both aes-256 encrypted dual band hard to beat for the $

[SteelWolf]

Maybe in twin falls at your house the favorite is fusion. In South Eastern Idaho The favorite around here at my house is DMR. Don't know what the local club users prefer as their meeting is the same night/time as my Scottish Rite Lodge meeting. Don't think they even run a net anymore. But that is a good point. I picked Yeasu because that what alot of the ARES members were using. FT-897-D, FT-2980R, VX-8 Been eyeing an Icom7300 or the FT-??? something you recommended last year. I do like the bigger screens.

[Wayne_VKECS]

G'day Bob.

Another great video love ya work, our family ( who are all licensed ) have practiced tactical communications & telecommunications using not only using different digital modes but totally different bands including cross banding ( Tx'ing to a colleague using one digital mode on one band whilst they TX's back to you on a totally different band using a different digital digital mode all using the minimum power a (decreased foot print ) & if possible high gain small angle or radiation directional antennas " if going from from a Location to a location " this goes along way towards getting away from the SDR's, being an SDR user myself I know that none of the SDR's on the market can openly out of the box decode digital but instead use or relies on " hard to use decoding software.

Even the best SDR setups with some of the best operators using the best equipment struggle to always decode in good clear quality digital comms, further more SDR's can only monitor at max a 10Mhz spread of spectrum at any one time so if for example they are speed scanning & you are cross banding ( to use a term ) between 2M's & 70cm's using say Dstar for the uplink & Fusion for the down link & every 1/2 hr you are frequency hopping & or changing digital modes including DMR & Apco just to name 2 of many for example you have a pretty good chance of staying off the radar.

It's all about saying as little as possible as quick as possible using the minimum of power without actually saying anything that anyone can actually reference or understand, never refer to people as names or call signs, never refer to places as the place name or give any clues as to the location of the place.

Also if the SHsTF not only do we have the above but we also have memorized places, roads & other things that OTA are just referred to as code phrases, Packet and Data modes are also good options if you have the ready hardware.

You are absolutely on the money Bob when you say use the system or the mode that is least used in your area, here in Australia besides DMR, Dstar & Fusion we also have access to Apco, NXDN & Tetra the last 2 whilst not being impossible to decode are harder for SDR's to decode especially when you add the likes minimum of power, directional antennas, code phrases, keeping Tx's to a minimum ect, then there are they of us that are commercially licensed and have access to commercial radios' using commercially licensed frequencies licensed to other entities using commercial grade AES256 & more.

With regards to DF'ing besides all the above including directional antennas, cross banding, minimizing your foot print & using different digital modes & frequencies if you have some smarts about you, you can also put your self in a position where you are scattering & or blocking your signal from a particular direction or directions maybe you can be behind a large tree or building where your signal is blocked from a particular directional, maybe you can be in a building of some type that lessens your signal or reflects or scatters your signal or maybe you can be in the lee or the low side of a large hill or mountain that again blocks your signal from a large portion of the compass.

Just like @qinarizonaful below I'm also a commercial drone operator & are currently looking at various types of comms that can be quickly Tx'd to / from or through a drone to / from a location.

The whole prepper thing is a bottomless well, in exercises we've done things like hike to a location, make our tactical comms & then quickly vanish again

Love where this is going & being a part of the discussion, .

Keep up the great video K6UDA & hope to have the pleasure of hearing you on the air one day & Chatting OTA.

Rgs
Wayne VK3ECS

[Swamp-Fox]

Great topic! Looking forward to more content like this in the future!

[douggalt]

Good job Bob. Thanks for sharing your top secret stuff with us.

[CzechSixTv]

Funny thing is, I just got a handful of Kenwood NX-300's for a steal. The 450-520mHz version even have a Part 95A(old GMRS) grant. Analog on GMRS only though, you can't use the NXDN digital mode or the scrambler. Sadly the 406-470mHz version doesn't have a 95A grant and I would NEVER use a radio like that on GMRS frequencies. I'm certainly not saving up for an NXR-810 repeater either...

[Fireguy-]

Another video with excellent info. I've done what you have suggested with Anytone ATD-878s in digital mode. the radio also offers several encryption modes. Good stuff.

[edwardyanceyjr]

Well said my brother!! Great video. I use D-STAR on the Kenwood TH-D74 for the ability to use digital COMs on 1.25 meters. D-STAR on 220 MHz really keeps the prying ears at bay. LOL!!

[hamradiofrequencies]

The Kenwood D-74 does D-Star on 6 meters....now that is unique to most radios!!
How many radiosTX and receive D* on

[AtomkeySinclair]

CW and a one-time pad will beat all these solutions. Thanks for your content.

[danieltimisan]

can you use encryption on C4FM ? I know DMR has option for encryption
thanks