I have a background in military communications...and while it's been awhile, only the technology has changed. Laws and capabilities remain nearly the same.
1. Ham Radio - Your location will be known within 15minutes of being identified as a broadcast they "want". To beat them, you must keep open a "listen/broadcast" channel. NEVER broadcast for more than 2-3minutes every 8 hours. NEVER.
The telephone network essentially belongs to Uncle Sam. The Defense Communications Agency will seize it as critical infrastructure at Declaration of Emergency. However, they'll probably just listen there. Telephones are critical for basic societal function. Just know they'll be listening to every call with machines looking for "key words". Learn a code of euphemisms to beat them...but if you ever do anything to get on their "list" full-time, euphemisms won't help. Then the humans will be listening.
As for the internet, ditto. It can be seized and it can be effectively monitored. Know with certainty there is AT LEAST a machine reading every post of Free Republic...and humans scanning the juicy "high interest" postings spit out by the machines.
Whenever you consider joining together with other like-minded people, know this. There are thousands of FBI/BATF etc. that have infiltrated most "militia" groups...and their definitions of whom might be a threat grow daily. ALWAYS and ONLY collaborate with family and friends you've known for a very long time. Keep that "cell" secret...don't talk, don't advertise. But DO meet and work out your contingency plans face-to-face, without electronic communications.
Someone who seems “too gung ho” is probably an infiltrator
Thanks for the info
What would you personally recommend for getting a HAM radio or CB?
Hopefully, there will also be people in the government that will work covertly against this crap.
By the way, if this nonsense actually occurred, wouldn’t some members of the military and law enforcement remember their constitutional oath? Last I checked, we haven’t made the military swear an oath to our Fuhrer.
I agree about all of what you said and in the worst case scenario of people hunting down transmitters, but I do believe things will not be allowed to get that far advanced.
However I do think its a possibility that there will be some form of internet censorship upcoming and it may or may not spread to places like FR, as was posted by another it would almost have to involve other boards of the other groups.
I still think that it would be a proper and wise decision to go ahead and start organizing local members and if possible agree upon an easily available form such as CB, use trucker talk and lingo to keep conversation untraceable in a worst case scenario.
Truckers will always use CB.
Truckers may very well BE the new age Paul Reveres.
To beat them, you must keep open a "listen/broadcast" channel. NEVER broadcast for more than 2-3minutes every 8 hours. NEVER.You can't expect undisciplined civilians to observe this kind of schedule; besides, if you use the 40 or 80 Meter bands (7 Mhz and 3.8 MHZ respectively) there is usually enough skywave to raise havoc with DF operations that you're safe for short, infrequent comms well short of 8 hours apiece.
There is a network of beaccons just above the 80 M band (4.096 MHz area) that I defy anyone to DF and locate! It's not quite that easy ... moving up to 20M with good propagation and this becomes even more fun ... but preferences run to 40 or 80 Meters for 'theater' operations that can be run without repeaters on tall comm towers that normally yield 40 - 60 mile range.