Ham radio and encryption

Why does --set-ham disable encryption? Amateur radio encryption is illegal only in some countries.

Where do you think encryption is allowed for amateur radio? The regulations are pretty consistent world wide.

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Hey! I will answer that question, encryption for HAMs is allowed in Poland.
Its really unfortunate that we are punished like that just because most countries do not like encryption. Can we change that please?

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Amateur radio is unencrypted worldwide, the exceptions like controlling satellites don’t apply to meshtastic.

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Encryption in different forms is allowed in Europe. I’m familiar with Polish law and it’s allowed here. For some applications it’s allowed in Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway.

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Which exception do you think would apply to meshtastic? Generally we are going to be conservative not aggressive with how this is interpreted. Need to see the actual regulations.

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In the Netherlands it’s not allowed for amateur radio, see: wetten.nl - Regeling - Regeling gebruik van frequentieruimte met meldingsplicht 2015 - BWBR0036375 article 10f: “informatie wordt niet versleuteld verzonden” (“information cannot be sent encrypted”).

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I would like to use the lower LoRa band (169mhz band) in NZ which is free for anyone to use without a license.

Am I correct in thinking that I have to enable HAM mode in Meshtastic to be able to override the frequency to use the 169 band on the SX1276 chip?

If so, I’ll probably need to fork this project and open up that setting without setting HAM mode.

Cheers

You cannot see regulations that do not exist. The law does not list things that are not prohibited, only those that are.

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If there is an exception allowing encryption , it is written down.

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Respectfully, that’s not how law is written nearly everywhere. What is prohibited is written, and specific exemptions to that prohibition are included in the text. If there is no specific prohibition on encryption in the amateur service in Poland, or New Zealand, there won’t be a section of the law called “These things are okay.” US law doesn’t work that way either.

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Hello!
I’m also a HAM from Poland (callsign SP0KS) and yes encryption is not prohibited by UKE (our telecommunications agency), thus it’s allowed if the law worked the other way around I reckon it would be like living in 1984.

Edit:
Known response from UKE

Szanowny Panie,

Nie istnieje przepis, który dotyczyłby kodowania lub szyfrowania łączności amatorskiej na terytorium kraju.

Pozdrawiam,

Magdalena Michoń-Kraszewska

Biuro Dyrektora Generalnego

Urząd Komunikacji Elektronicznej

www.uke.gov.pl

It’s bascially saying that encrypted communication is allowed operating in country.
@garth

end-users (ie. “you”) are responsible for adhering to local laws, rules and regulations.

if encryption is allowed, don’t use is_licensed mode.

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Plus it is easier and often better to error o nthe side of caution lest an end user screw something up and run into legal trouble that was easy to avoid.

Former ham, as I had let my license lapse and had not seen fit to re-test…

I do wish unlicensed use was given a longer leash.

915 MHz is the center frequency of the band bounded by 902 and 928 MHz. Within this band, FCC regulations allow 50 mV/m electrical field strength, at a distance of 3 meters from the transmitting antenna.

That, as example. I wish we had more to work with unlicensed, but it is what it is and it is what we have to work with.

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is there to harmonize bands and agreements of the radio spectrum for amateur radio experimentation. https://www.iaru.org/ For a global consensus on encryption it’s best to start there. There may be countries that may take an independent stance on some aspects, but that is down to the discretion of the countries that allow amateur radio.

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Respectfully, that’s not how law is written nearly everywhere. What is prohibited is written, and specific exemptions to that prohibition are included in the text. If there is no specific prohibition on encryption in the amateur service in Poland, or New Zealand, there won’t be a section of the law called “These things are okay.” US law doesn’t work that way either.

There is specification for New Zealand:

Communications must not be encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning, except for
control signals by the operators of remotely controlled amateur stations.

Taken from the rules posted by RSM NZ (pdf link): https://www.rsm.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/documents/gazette/general-user-radio-licence-for-amateur-radio-operators-notice-2023.pdf

And so… It says what IS prohibited, not what ISN’T. Which is exactly what I said.

You specifically called out New Zealand as not having specific prohibition on encryption. I pointed out that statement was incorrect as NZ does have specific prohibition on encryption. No need to get angry about it. I simply pointed out the actual law here so no one gets confused.

Encryption is not permitted in the terms of the UK Amateur Radio licence either.

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Read it again. I didn’t say NZ has no prohibition on encryption, i said “what is allowed is not codified in the law, only what is prohibited.” If you’re going to ‘Well ACKSHUALLY,” you should make sure you read the original post you’re M’ladying.