There’s also truncing, but some scanners support that. I imagine the op was referring to baofengs from Amazon or something which opens another can of worms
FYI: There are apps that convert a string of text to sounds that can be played over a radio then you use the same app on the other end to decode it. RATTLEGRAM is open source and available on both iOS and Android (F-Droid also have it). You can encrypt the text before copy pasting it over to RATTLEGRAM. Secure Space Encryptor is an open source app that does text encryption (also known as “Paranoia Text Encryption” on iOS), just gotta share a secret password beforehand shared via a secure channel.
So (1) type text (2) encrypt it (3) copy paste the ciphertext to rattlegram, max the volume, play that sound over the radio (4) the person at the other end also use RATTLEGRAM to decode the message and get the ciphertext (5) use the same text encryption app to decrypt the ciphertext… Voila, ez encrypted radio communications over cheap baofengs (assuming your phone isn’t compromised, but you can load those apps on an airgapped android phone)
Legal Disclaimer: FCC Regulations does not allow encryption over Amateur Radio frequencies. This is for informational purposes only.
There’s also truncing, but some scanners support that. I imagine the op was referring to baofengs from Amazon or something which opens another can of worms
Tell me about that can; I have some of those baofengs.
FYI: There are apps that convert a string of text to sounds that can be played over a radio then you use the same app on the other end to decode it. RATTLEGRAM is open source and available on both iOS and Android (F-Droid also have it). You can encrypt the text before copy pasting it over to RATTLEGRAM. Secure Space Encryptor is an open source app that does text encryption (also known as “Paranoia Text Encryption” on iOS), just gotta share a secret password beforehand shared via a secure channel.
So (1) type text (2) encrypt it (3) copy paste the ciphertext to rattlegram, max the volume, play that sound over the radio (4) the person at the other end also use RATTLEGRAM to decode the message and get the ciphertext (5) use the same text encryption app to decrypt the ciphertext… Voila, ez encrypted radio communications over cheap baofengs (assuming your phone isn’t compromised, but you can load those apps on an airgapped android phone)
Legal Disclaimer: FCC Regulations does not allow encryption over Amateur Radio frequencies. This is for informational purposes only.
Legal trouble with the FCC (which I believe is a federal level crime) as another poster mentioned.