HERMES radio enables voice and data communication over vast distances

HERMES radio enables voice and data communication over vast distances spectrum.ieee.org

It sends encrypted signals with no satellites or relay towers required

189 points•SamuraiLion•9 days ago•71 comments•

#x2f #hermes #radio #communication #vast #enables #data #voice

https://hermes.radio/

https://www.rhizomatica.org/

71 comments

wmchen9 days ago

Original project page: https://hermes.radio/ (Code: https://mercury.hermes.radio/)

Organization page: https://www.rhizomatica.org/about/

My initial thought is that this is a cool way to try and get more resilient communications technology in the hands of those who need it most in the Global South, and it's awesome it was successfully used for a Pan Pan.

This reminds me of WinLink (an analogue to email on amateur radio), which I've heard is used by some Mariners. [1]

I'm aware that HERMES is essentially a SDR bundle/communication terminal (for a lack of a better term for a Raspberry Pi, a screen and an SDR), so it's not really re-discovering a well known amateur radio concept, but the hardware setup sounds a bit brittle on first glance, for what is essentially an emergency/critical communication application.

[1]: https://winlink.org/

mesh9 days ago

This is a cool project, but fyi, in the US, this would require a license to broadcast (not receive), and I am pretty sure encryption, even with a license, is not legal (again, when broadcasting from US).

And then only on certain bands:

https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Band%20Chart/Hamb...

rckoepke9 days ago

Just FYI, LoRa / LoRaWAN (Part 15) explicitly allow even unlicensed operators to utilize encryption. WiFi and Bluetooth, similarly, of course (also under Part 15). And surprisingly long range wireless network bridging like the Ubiquiti Building Bridge XG over 5GHz and 60GHz to bridge two building's LANs up to 500meters away. Part 15 also covers the unlicensed usage of the 900MHz band popular for citizen mesh networks at 2-15Mbps.

MURS (Part 95J) allows unlicensed operators to utilize encryption for digital data transmission as long as it's not encrypting voice communications, though it disallows store-and-forward packet operation and repeaters which makes doing anything similar to Reticulum/Meshtastic rather difficult.

For $400-800 nearly anyone can get a FCC Part 90 Nationwide Itinerant Data License which would allow them to do most of the "fun stuff" they might like to do for just $45-75/year, which is pretty darn affordable. Part 90 explicitly allows encryption, both of voice and data.

FCC Part 96 (CBRS) allows "unlicensed" (licensed-by-rule) operators to run their own private LTE/5G cell sites, if you have a WAN connection like Starlink or whatever. Obviously encryption is allowed.

Encryption is really only hard-banned for "amateur" radio (Part 97), and voice rules of Part 95 (i.e. CB / FRS / GMRS).

jcrawfordor9 days ago

I would expect this system to ultimately be used under a commercial HF license rather than an amateur license, given the feature set and that it seems to have much more in common with military systems like ALE than amateur practice. That said, because of the scarce supply of HF bandwidth, commercial HF licenses are quite restrictive in the US. For the most part, you are only allowed to apply for one if you are an infrastructure operator that needs a contingency communications capability for disaster response. That said, the FCC has permitted experimental licenses for some commercial applications like high frequency trading, so perhaps the situation will become less restrictive over time.

That said, commercial licenses are not per-operator like amateur licenses, so you would potentially only need one to cover the entire network. Some of this is ultimately negotiated.

bityard9 days ago

Correct. Encryption (or more specifically, obscuring the meaning of a message) is generally not allowed for amateur radio stations except in very narrow circumstances. So any hams using this would have to turn the encryption off.

However, it looks like this stack has encryption available as an option for stations who are transmitting sensitive data and are NOT operating under an amateur license. (Probably government-sanctioned communications or emergency humanitarian efforts.)

edg50009 days ago

For drones, at least in the EU, encryption is mandatory.

nowittyusername9 days ago

what would happen if you were to break that law? like im talking enforcement here not whats on the books.. for example torrenting and uploding copyrighted files is illegal but most people dont give a shit as enforecement is almost non existant. i know radio is taken more seriously then torrenting but this must also be very low on priority for the government unless you are jamming people or somehow stand out enough for anyone to care or notice....

zikduruqe9 days ago

> except in very narrow circumstances

Usually it is for the uplink control for satellites. That you'd like to keep encrypted, so that someone does not hack your bird.

_whiteCaps_9 days ago

Going to be super pedantic here - in ham radio you don't broadcast, you transmit.

kanbankaren9 days ago

What is the difference between the two?

A ham operator might put out 20W of ERP while a radio station operates at 100W though international broadcasters use upto 500 kW.

mesh9 days ago

Yes! Broadcasting is prohibited!

(and this all reminded I need to renew my license which I haven't used in about 8 years! Looks like I also need a refresher!)

j_not_j9 days ago

If it's a matter of life and death, such as offshore fishing, you probably want a real commercial service.

Like Garmin (Iridium based texts back and forth) or Zoleo. These are physical units that may offer texts or just a simple "sos" button.

Or a recent iPhone will communicate with Starlink, or T-Mobile offers a similar system for Android phones and is also based on Starlink. These can exchange texts which is much more reassuring than a simple sos button.

Of course offerings outside the US may be limited or entirely absent.

reaperducer9 days ago

If it's a matter of life and death, such as offshore fishing, you probably want a real commercial service.

Like Garmin (Iridium based texts back and forth) or Zoleo. These are physical units that may offer texts or just a simple "sos" button.

Prohibitively expensive, and also not available to 90% of the planet's commercial fishermen.

For them, an iPhone can be an entire year's profit.

The people in TFA aren't going to be featured on The Deadliest Crab.

markdown9 days ago

These are essential for remote solo hiking.

SamBorick8 days ago

Hi, I'm an actual licensed ham radio operator.

'Encryption' in the ham space is defined as intentionally obscuring a message. Encoding data in a format is an extremely common practice. As long as the intent isn't to actually obscure your message, pretty much any digital format you can dream up is fine. The main method of email over HF, WinLink, is proprietary so IMO they don't even comply, but the FCC hasn't done anything so apparently it's fine.

Enforcement in this space looks like hams reporting bad behavior to the FCC, and if the FCC decides to enforce they send a nasty letter, escalating until the offender's license gets revoked if they don't stop.

This specific project is very cool. There's a lot of amateur radio emergency communications groups (EmComm) who use WinLink heavily, and IMO it would be better to use something open source.

All the more reason to get my sBitx set up and play around with this.

BlackRabbit19 days ago

> Why did you build in encryption that amateur-radio regulations in many countries don’t allow?

Encryption (in terms of hiding messages) is forbidden mostly.

But everything else is allowed: hashes, signing, etc.

Even the legislators really understand it. They are allowing encryption for remote controlling ham satellites. With proper signing even that would not be necessary (with only exception of key rotations maybe).

Read the full thread on Hacker News →

71 comments

Related stories