[vueko]

Seriously. People really need to understand that CTCSS and DCS aren't actually privacy features, but convenience features for filtering out _other_ people's transmissions a user isn't interested in. It's the exact opposite of privacy. I guess the marketing as "privacy codes" worsens the situation.

[solardev]

I just got my GPRS radio license and this was a really strange phenomenon to encounter. Apparently the FCC doesn't allow actual encrypted comms in this part of the spectrum, so the "privacy" codes, like you said, are really more just convenience codes, more noise cancelation than anything for privacy or security.

It was weird trying to explain this to my family, too. Basically just had to tell them "Nothing you say is private, and you should all say my call sign at the end of each transmission." We all felt like dorks, but it was super convenient in a place with no cell service.

[imroot]

Get an itinerant frequency -- $300, requires no coordination, and you can encrypt your comms.

One of the (ham) radio clubs that I'm a member of does this as a benefit for the group, and it's something that's nice to have: I can give my wife a radio and not worry about what she may or may not say if we have to take two separate cars when we road trip.

I've been meaning to do the process myself, but, I haven't had the time (and honestly, I'd want someone else to do the paperwork for me so I'm more likely to pay someone else to do it) recently, but, this might be the thing that prompts me to go and do it.

73 de K4IMW/WQZQ315

[jasonjayr]

I got my hands on one of those cheap UV-K5 Radios and the first thing I did was try to listen in to one of my FRS Radios and discovering all their channels & sub channels/privacy codes.

Discovered this list while learning & researching:

https://www.k0tfu.org/reference/frs-gmrs-privacy-codes-demys...

[runjake]

I was previously unaware of these particular radios.

You just inadvertently sent me down one hell of a rabbit hole.

It arrives Thursday.

[MarkusWandel]

Indeed the opposite. For example, a party of us was on a mountaintop going through the FRS/GMRS channels with CTSS off and heard another party. We were curious to ask them where they were, but they couldn't hear us until, manually stepping through the CTSS options, we found the one that enabled their receiver to hear us. It's not a privacy filter, it's a "don't bother me" filter.

[blackeyeblitzar]

What prevents people from transmitting encrypted information? Isn’t that just like speech that might travel over the airwaves?

[lxgr]

Technically nothing, but legally it's just not allowed in the US (neither for FRS/GMRS, nor for ham radio operators, with very few exceptions).

[red-iron-pine]

the content of the speech is protected. you can say "fuck this guy" where this guy could be anyone.

but you can't legally send encrypted over the radio, since those protocols are restricted by the FCC.

You won't catch a charge for what you said, but you might get fined for misuse of the radio band. its the same way you can't spray paint a slogan on the front of someone's business -- the content is fine, but the medium is not.

[sholladay]

What would you call them, then? “Isolation codes” or “subchannels”, maybe? I’ve seen some use of the former, but both are imperfect terms. I’ve yet to hear a suggestion that’s particularly better. A term that’s only slightly better won’t gain any traction.

[paulmd]

"squelch codes" probably conveys the meaning more correctly.

people understand the idiom that just because your radio has squelch set (too high, perhaps) that it doesn't mean someone else can't hear it.

otherwise, CTCSS codes works fine, that's the technical description of what it is. and actually they call them "squelch tones" there. it's only motorola that branded them as "private lines", that's their trademark for an adequately-described term. Much like Tesla "Full Self Driving"/"Autopilot", it's kind of a misnomer and definitely breeds (deserved) confusion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Tone-Coded_Squelch_...

[teeray]

“Selector codes” would be more descriptive. They select which conversations you want to hear.

[3np]

"Filter codes" would prob work