Citizens Band (“CB”) has been around for a long time. Popularized in the 1970’s and 1980’s through songs, TV, and movies, it is still a widely used mode of communications due to it’s generally low equipment cost and the lack of a license requirement. CB radios are typically mobile or base station radios. Handhelds do exist, but they can be cumbersome due to the requirement of a large antenna.

CB radio does not offer the ability to encrypt transmissions. Everything transmitted can be heard by everyone else with a CB radio or a receiver that picks up CB transmissions. Furthermore, CB radio often feels like the “wild west”, where the operator with the loudest signal is the one who runs a channel.

Family Radio Service (“FRS”) and General Mobile Radio Service (“GMRS”) radios are very inexpensive and easy to purchase. Typically, the radios come in handheld format, although there are some mobile GMRS radios. (FRS does not allow for mobile radios.) Like CB radio, there is generally no license required to use FRS or GMRS, unless you are interested in putting up a complex GMRS system.

There is no privacy on FRS or GMRS. While both systems offer “privacy codes” on their radios, these are simply sub-audible tones that mask transmissions from radios that do not have that same code enabled on the channel. That is easily circumvented by setting the radio to monitor that code or by setting the radio to monitor all communications.

Amateur radio (“ham radio”) is the oldest system available for citizens to use, having been around since the early 1900’s. And, the wide range of different modes of communications, coupled with the multitude of different operating frequencies, makes ham radio one of the most reliable means of communications when nothing else works. Ham radio even offers data transmission types, something not found in CB or FRS/GMRS radios.

The problem with ham radio is two-fold.

You must have a license issued by the FCC to legally operate on any frequency reserved for ham radio use. Obtaining a license requires passing an exam.

There is also no privacy in ham radio. Encryption is not permitted on ham bands, whether voice or data.

Shielded Signals uses discrete business frequencies assigned to us by the FCC. Our license allows us to provide our members with radios that provide unique encryption keys assigned to your family or entity. This keeps your transmissions private and unable to be monitored, even by any other members of Shielded Signals not authorized by you to be assigned your encryption key.

You control your key. Your family or your entity controls who is allowed to use your encryption key. We just put it on the radios you purchase from us, whether it be a handheld radio or a mobile/base radio.

We will also help you get set up on a system called “Meshtastic,” allowing you to text your friends or family members without the use of the cellular network or the internet. If desired, your communications can be encrypted, keeping your text transmissions safe from interception.