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| Science & Technology |
| The Anti-ICE Signal Chat Group Is Discovered, So It Moves to (Illegal) Ham Radio? Ummmm, Yeah. |
| 2026-02-01 |
| [PJMedia] Our own Jamie Wilson brought this to my attention yesterday. I was away from home and hadn't had the chance to look at this with any depth until late last night. This story ended up in my box because I'm a ham radio Operator. I guess my being a ham myself gives me an edge here. (Shrug) OK, challenge accepted. I'll try to keep this as non-techie as I can.
My gut level reaction would be arranging for a few dozen pagers from the Israel Defense Forces. I gather they have a few extra that they're not going to use. OK, perhaps not. The calmer half of me, which usually wins out, comes up with several points, though, that are worth considering. The reference to the IDF does bring to mind a parallel. Hezbollah tried using the same UV-5R units as she displays on the video. Guess who tapped into the network before the echo died from the first transmission. Anyone who thinks the anti-ICE crowd is going to fare any better is fooling himself. Let's get specific: The radio she's talking about. and displaying, is, as I say, a fairly common Baofeng UV-5R. It's a dual band unit, able to run on both VHF and UHF frequencies. She's correct, the units are cheap and fairly plentiful.You can pick them up for $30 or $40 on Amazon. I own a few myself. However... Notice that the one she's holding doesn't have an antenna on it. It's not going to work that way. I wonder if she even knows that. Well, admittedly, it would send a smoke signal (poof!), but that's all. Technology is obviously not a strong point in her bag of tricks. Which, by the way, presents another roadblock to the plan. While the things can be programmable on the fly from the front panel, it's not a chore for the uninitiated. Indeed, I know a few hams who are above their level trying to program those things without a computer hookup. For the people trying to keep ICE from doing their job? Trust me when I tell ya, it ain't gonna happen. Notice also, it is illegal to transmit on them unless you have a ham radio license. I suppose that since they're encouraging illegal activity to begin with, breaking the law as regards using the radios won't be considered a big deal. Until they get busted. Here are the Federal regs that apply (and I'm quite sure I'm not listing them all): Regs at link. No doubt they mean something to you legal and law enforcement types. I accept that not getting a ham license would be A Bad Thing. Unlike the internet-based Signal chat spaces they were using previously, anyone with a similar radio can hear the traffic. It's not encrypted. And certainly that UV-5R doesn't support encryption at the $30 price point.It is also illegal to transmit information on law enforcement activities unless you are a part of that operation. That’s both a federal and state law. So now they not only have to deal with ICE and the FBI, but now the FCC as well? LOL. Believe me, that's not a smart move. Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start on his third quart... perhaps a larger threat is that ham operators tend to be very protective of their turf. Within the ham bands, there's a whole host of operators, who will be quite willing to bring their equipment and skills to bear to trace such illegal signals for the feds. As for raw numbers, Minnesota as of today has about 11,000 licensed hams, and a number of ham radio clubs, mostly centered in Minneapolis. Let's examine how this might be a problem for our Stop ICE mobs: There are large groups of hams across the country that do something called "Fox Hunting"... which is a ham radio sport of some antiquity. At it's most basic, it's hunting down the source of a weak signal, using specialized equipment. It's an activity I've personally participated in several times. Got rather good at it, too. Won such contests several times, over the years. Probably 95% of licensed ham operators are conservatives. Trust me when I tell you, that's not going to go down well for the rioters. And that's leaving aside the ability of the FCC in signal tracking. I suspect that even non-techies can see how this is going to work out. Related: Ham radio 06/19/2025 US hit by blackouts as sun releases colossal burst of radiation... and experts warn more is to come Ham radio 05/28/2023 No cellphone? No problem! The vintage radio enthusiasts prepping for disaster Ham radio 04/10/2023 Six killed in Syria while picking truffles |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2026-02-01 06:28 |
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2026-02-01 06:21 |
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| Posted by: Frank G 2026-02-01 06:16 |