20 year comms guy here. The idea of your own codes is a great idea, but I’d add just a little more. Every night I’d pass out the next day comm encryption key, terms would never be the same. Every member would get 2 copies, an A and a B. One would be for a few hours, then at a designated time, 1600 the next sheet would become active. Obviously everyone would have to start in the same location to receive them or you make a months worth and pass them out. If SHTF on the 12th, everyone would start on page 12A/B. Hopefully this doesn’t sound like I’m mentally ill, actually I am a little special.

I’m glad somebody in the community has said it. Comms is my #1 setback to all my preps. I can do some carpentry, welding, building ARs, gear setup, water collection systems, and animal husbandry. But outside of turning a knob to set channels and keying up I’m absolutely dumb when it comes to commo

Ive actually use a Whistler digital scanner with a bandscope and signal strength meter and a small handheld yagui to locate cartel spotters on hilltops in Vekhol valley in AZ. Took 2 whole day and a lot of patience and moving to locate them in a fixed location. Boy were they surprised when we made contact.

Couple points. And, this is from a 14 yr grunt, now well into fat middle age, who plays radio and likes to go WAY out into the woods and set up emergency comms. First point, triangulating is surprisingly easy, if someone is transmitting. A simple Yagi antenna is VERY simple to build. Two guys, a half mile apart, can narrow it down pretty quick with nothing more than a Baofeng and a tape measure (no joke). Second, offsets are NOT encrypted, in any way, shape, or form. Someone with a good working knowledge of radios (and, I would assume, a comms guy in the military would know how to do this), can "unlock" the offset. Again, its simple enough to do. A simple scanner will pick it up. Third, and this is something that was JUST starting to come to fruition when I got out in 04, are drones. One only needs a general area, then saturate the place with drones. Honestly, as an ex infantryman, this modern warfare bullshit scares me. A single drone can do what an entire platoon used to do. As you said, your best bet is to work in code. I dont recall the booklet we used to use, but, each day, we would have a freq, callsigns, pro words, etc. This was when we still humped PRC 77s, and nothing was encrypted. Man, I wish I remember the name of those pads!!! Anyway, your best bet is to develop something like that. And, ALWAYS assume your radios are compromised. ALWAYS.

Good information. I was an 11B/ RTO back in 1990-1992. We used PRC 77 radios, and cartoon references to name our teams, locations, movements, etc. It worked great as long for us, except for this one guy who would come on the radio telling us “this is an official government frequency and you are not allowed to use it without authorization”. But we just ignored him and carried on with the mission. Fun times!

Comms is a tough nut to crack because most ham radio guys are engineers by trade who enjoy tinkering with radio stuff as a hobby. For them, the idea of something that is easy to use and works out of the box defeats the whole purpose. They WANT to tinker, fiddle, and figure stuff out. To make matters worse, engineers aren’t typically known for their social skills. The end result is that we preppers become frustrated because communications is just one piece out of dozens that we have to learn about, buy, and train with but it’s difficult to find simple, plug & play solutions. With that being said, I look at comms no differently than I do rifle ballistics, tactical medical, land navigation, etc… it’s an important skill that takes time and effort to learn. The only difference is that those other things are generally considered fun by most preppers, so they’re willing to put in more effort to learn those skills to a high level. Comms stuff can be extremely challenging to learn, but I think people who blow it off (I’m NOT saying that’s what’s being suggested in this video) are doing a huge disservice to themselves, their family, and their group. I’ve been learning/using ham radio stuff from a preparedness standpoint for about a decade and I STILL get frustrated by the ham engineers on a weekly basis as I work on various projects. It’s painful at times, but the capabilities gained are worth the effort.

You are a little young to remember or have been exposed to old Army commo procedures. There used to be a thing called an S.O.I. (signal operating instructions). Also known as a “code book”. It contained all the frequencies for every element, time tables for freq changes, authentication codes, brevity codes, call sign’s etc. In Vietnam movies sometimes you hear them talk an out burning the code book if they are about to be overrun. It’s the S.O.I. they are talking about. This is something that can easily be created for your group. Keep in mind the S.O.I. is considered a sensitive item.

I'm one of the nerds that you speak of. Keep TX short. Use brevity codes. TX then move to a new observation point quickly with the idea that large or sudden movements will be seen from a distance. Offset after TX by a minimum of 1 km. If you can: make 1-time pads for info that needs to be spelled out but can't be transmitted in the clear. We have used these principles of COMSEC since before radio encryption was "common" for individual units. Mostly as a way to keep from getting shelled by the Soviets that tied radio direction finding to the FDC. Final hint: don't get complacent. The best encryption is often defeated by operators not following the schedule or using the incorrect encryption and then transmitting the same message using the correct one right after. Now they have a way to compare your encrypted comms and see if there is a mathematical pattern and use that against you.

Camouflage Carrier Pigeons.

Add or subtract the minute or hour at the time of transmission to adjust the compass bearing. True heading is 147, but you adjust the figure given + or - 32 because it's 32 minutes after the hour. The adjustment changes for every transmission but it's easy to decode for your group. The code can be changed easily by rotating the 4 variables. +, -, Hour, Minute

I'm a Marine Corps vet (Armorer/Small Amrs Repairman), a HAM operator and a new subscriber as well. While having basic VHF/UHF FM Transceivers is great, look into Digital Modulation like D-STAR, C4FM, DMR and P25 capable radios. Everyone with a VHF/UHF FM Transceiver can hear you if you're in line of sight. Having a digital radio, on the other hand, it'll sound like a idling diesel engine on the frequency, that's the best way I can describe it. However, the downsides is; 1.) Those radios aren't cheap, just about all the places that sell them will ask for a FCC issued callsign. 2.) Not all digital vioce is the same modulation. That means that not all the radios will "talk" to each other. Everyone has to be on the same page with radios that have the digital modulation capability. While having a Baofeng hand held radio is a good thing, you're getting ahead of the curve. I've started out with Baofeng radios when I first got into the hobby, but upgraded to better equipment as I progressed. Hope this helps in achieving mostly secure comms.

1. Buy a "trunk tracker" 2. Get an oscilloscope 3. Set a frequency buzzer to those lines of folks you dont like (200-800 mhz) 4. Only talk to your buddies over field line over great distances 5. Have a good damn time.

My job in the military was tracking people down, among other things. I'd like to describe some threats you might not have considered. TDOA RDF systems can get accurate bearings on any transmission of any duration. A user can go back in time and plot a map of bearings over time, and slowly paint your routes. These are being phased in as the primary RDF system on all military platforms, and you can build one for $600. Brevity codes and code words are super popular. However, codebooks are not changed often enough at best. At worst, which is most common, people ditch the code words due to laziness or being in a pinch. From insurgents to professional near-peer militaries, I have seen no exception to these. Physical threats from "nerds" typically are IEDs, mortars, and rockets. Or kamikaze drones. Just referring to current conflicts, it's a much broader risk in reality. Think capabilities, intentions, opportunities. Consider the threat of covert actions. If your channels are discovered as operational channels, jamming is a threat. Encrypted channels don't give any hints on their own. A less common threat to this is replay attacks and channel infiltration. Someone could replay a transmission that was copied, such as "meet me at X position" which is a desired position or would otherwise reveal a code word specified when you are observed. Spoofing attacks like this that influence a target's movements are the most reliable way to engage target personnel ie kill or capture. Target might hear their buddy in the same channel they've been in say "hey step out in the road a little bit," only to take a sniper shot to the chest 9 seconds later from 1/2 mile away.

Check out NC Scout's book, "The Guerrillas Guide to the Beofeng Radio". It's a good read

Good stuff, Randall. I would also recommend NC Scout’s Geurilla’s Guide book. Two things from that book that a worth testing out: transmit / receive pairs using handheld yagi antennas. If you’re talking between 2 known points on the map and know the azimuth between stations, you can talk over long distances with low power and it’s very hard for anyone off axis to listen in or triangulate your signal. And sending digital messages over a tablet with something like andFLmsg allows you to send short transmissions with a lot of data that aren’t encrypted per se, but require some electronic translation to decode. Not hard to achieve with cheap basic equipment.

I was a commo guy (31U then, now 25U) in an infantry battalion who ended up being the RTO for both the QRF and the BC during my tour in Afghanistan. I was voluntold for that because I knew how to use the PSC-5 and was an NCO (E5 at the time). I was responsible for comms back to KAF and they didn't trust a grunt with that. There's a reason ODA teams have 1-2 comms sergeants. I use GMRS for comms now. I also have several FRS radios because they're simple and can talk with GMRS. They're all set to talk with each other so I can just grab them and go.

Totally agree, the radio discipline is very smart and effective. But really it is so important to try and understand basic coms just as well as ballistics or medical. There is so much that can be done to bring a team into the 21st century with just a little bit of effort to learn. ATAK over radio is just one example.

You had me at bloodhound! Miss my girl. Had to put her down a couple years ago. Awesome video! Coms are a must and 90 percent of us are not "nerdy" enough to figure this stuff out. Red neck talkin can't be decrypted 😅😅😅

Never got into comms or nav. Recently started thinking on it some. First thing I have seen that makes any sense to me. Appreciate it.

Never met anything that qualified as 'Grunt Proof.' Got yerself a new Subscriber for THAT alone! (Looking forward to checking out your other videos) Thank you!

useful info ! its worth mentioning that using minimum transmitter power consistent with reliable communications will also help. most radios have several transmitter output power levels in the settings menu. Using lower transmitter power also extends battery life

without communication, there are no commands...words from the old special force guy who was my teacher... good video👍👍

One thing you could also do is have prerecorded background noises on an Ipod or similar device and as you are chatting have fake background noise playing close to you. Those background noises could be a train horn in the distance or up close, a running brook, a small waterfall or just about anything that is not even remotely in your area you are in. Those wonderful small bluetooth speakers come in handy for that as well. Hell even sit close to a busy highway and record the traffic for a couple hours and cherry pick 2 minute clips that you could loop if needed. You could even have a neighbors dog barking outside recorded. They can think they are in the right area and the background noise throws them off because they do not hear a train horn sounding off or a dog barking so they might give up the area and move to another one. A friend of mine had a tree top rope and pully system placed all over their woods and you could quietly move along the rope and pully system in the tree tops and anyone on the ground not looking up or know to look up would even know you are above them. All you had on you was your harness and line hook and when you needed to change to a new line all you did was unhook from the one and hook to the other. There were also key places where you could easily get up and down the line system in seconds. They got the idea from the movie Medicine Man.

I'm totally lost with the new technology. I used anvrc46/47 when I was in service. Mastered building homemade antennas. I might be lost but not out the game yet. Great video sir.

Retired 13F20 here. Right on point with this.

As a radio nerd (me), I can say most everything you said checks out. One thing I’ll add is you don’t need to spend $4500 to achieve AES256 encryption. For $199 you can buy an Ailunce HD2 DMR radio. It has Motorola compatible AES256 encryption using the DMR protocol. Only real difference is the mode would be DMR instead of P25. Both are capable digital modes. I do prefer P25 as a standard but DMR is almost as good. In fact it might be better in some ways as it has the ability to use DMR repeaters that likely already exist in your immediate area. Anyway, hope that helps!

Excellent video man! I’ve watched you on and off for a few years now and to learn that you were an RTO is awesome!

Anytone DMR 878 radios have encryption as well as digital mode. You can (not FCC legal, but in a SHTF situation….) on GMRs or MURS frequencies quite easily. These radios can be purchased for less than $400

There's a channel called "S2 Underground" has radio-stuffs and other stuff that might be interesting to people here on Grunt Proof. Just putting this out there. (S2's video backlog might need some scrolling down for the misc interesting stuff)

I was also an RTO (25C) back in the Army. I really appreciate your video. COMSEC on the civilian side has been like chasing a unicorn.

Hi there Randall, Morning Greetings from Greece! As a HAM and preparedness minded, I will second what everyone - with lengthy posts - has said so far. But let me add 2 things. If I were to track you, I would no bother with locating you while on the move. I would be monitoring and tracking you for 2-3 days, for the purpose of locating frequent points of communication. If I got stronger signals from them (larger antennas) all the better... I just located you home/base etc. And If you are not to communicate from them, that does not matter. It would become a black hole point in transmitting. Same thing. now....a technical advice. Getting to know the tech stuff DOES help you with tactics. Please take note of the following: I seriously cannot understand why everyone buys a longer antenna and sets his radio to VHF. This maximizes range and you do not generally want that, since most comms are intra-team, "tactical". Switch to low power (better radios allow for a very low power), switch to UHF (far greater absorption by vegetation than VHF), and get a stubby antenna, the 2 inch ones. I know, having 3 antennas per radio is a nightmare (keep the original for a spare), but the infantry has a point in getting 3 different AT weapons doesn't it?

A great refresher course from my ground pounding days! Perhaps even the course I should have had in those said days! Thanks for sharing!

Great video brother!! I love hearing other people talk about some of the old ways of doing things.

Drones have changed the game. No need to walk up on someone or someplace anymore. Love your podcast!

Good stuff man. Greatly appreciate it. We use encryption at work but at home i have baofeng radios and even gave one to my buddy for hurricanes. Going to get some SOPs going

Awesome job. Way to bring it out in the open. Definitely gave some things I didn't think about.

What a valuable channel appreciate you from the Canadian rockies.

Well said.. totally agree 👍🏻. Watching from Northeastern Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 🇺🇸

The "Don't Want To Learn" solution: GMRS radio, channelized, same power as ham HT's (same range/clarity), "no test" 10-yr license for $35, as easy as "push the button & talk", no programming required, works out of the box. A potential downside is that it transmits in the clear and anyone else with a GMRS radio within range can hear you. The "I Could Learn, I Guess, If I Have To" solution: Something like the TYT MD-UV390 configured for DMR (digital mobile radio) and which includes an AES-256 encryption function that can be enabled. As I write this, it's only $115 on Amazon. That's just one example that I could find in a hurry. There are quite a few digital radio options out there for most any budget. Lots of youtube vids on configuring a DMR radio. Heck, **I** was able to figure it out and that's saying something! In an effort to mitigate triggering the "sad-hams": The TYT radio is intended as a ham radio. The FCC requires a ham license to transmit on ham freqs. The TYT radio is not FCC certified (allowed) to transmit on GMRS, FRS, MURS, Biz or any other non-ham freq band. Encrypted transmit is only allowed by the FCC on Business radios with a Business-Radio license on your assigned Business Freq (for us non-govt folks). All that being said, the TYT radio is legal to buy and possess and program however you like. The restrictions are for pressing the "push to talk" button and actually transmitting. Receiving is perfectly legal. Hopefully, you're picking up what I'm putting down.

Excellent information brother. In addition to this video y’all should pick up the book “The Guerrilla's Guide to the Baofeng Radio”. This is a great reference to what Randell is saying. Thanks for the awesome content brother!

Lots of good info. I'm sort of a civ comms guy I guess and am ok at the nerd stuff but I still learned a good bit from this. Thanks for the great vid!

Gonna watch this video tomorrow but this is a video concept ive been thinking through for a few months now. Figuring out how to get the best bang for 30 mins.

Excellent video. Simple, practical and realistic. Very well done.

Nothing sexier than land nav and comms

Set up one radio a reasonable distance away, but not so far as to make them drive, leave it keyed on, take their vehicles & leave them stranded when they investigate lol!

Good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to refresh my RAM

Good overview. KISS principles apply physical encryption and short transmission times.

Good stuff brother, good techniques that are simple.

Good info. My group getting pace plan down and effective is a challenge let alone comms opsec. Slowly but surely. Commsec is difficult but vital. I suggest use of rattlegram as well.

There are a few good pieces of information sprinkled in here, surrounded by so many incorrect, uninformed, bad advice.

I've studied here and the Rubicon over and over till I got it. At present I have used Chirp to get all eleven radios on the same page. It can be done, patience + practice.

Great tutorial... the radio comms. gear (and security strategies) play a major role in the script of new post-apocalyptic fiction-adventure series that I am involved in...as the idea was to keep it simple (and believable) for non-tactical civilian characters in the story, off-the shelf appropriate ham radio gear was chosen for the script...RDFing and mantracking definitively take place in the story plot's epic scale pursuit of the protagonist..

One additional thing we did for point reverences that I picked up from my dad, who was a comms tech in WWII, was to use random name references. For example, if your "PBR Point" was just knows as "the bar", then a reference to any beer would indicate that location, like Miller or Guinness. You can designate map point like "Boy" and then use any boy's name like Joe, Bob, or Robert to reference that point.

Don't take this the wrong way but I don't have a problem looking at your hounds face while you are talking in the background 🙄😂

It was great advice for 10 years ago. And for avoiding announcing you every intention to the scanner. However a simple four pound dollar sensor package on a drone federal budget of every law-enforcement Agency. so forget hearing a vehicle pull up. They locate your 4000 acres from your radio signals. Then send in a thermal drone and search for every movement. And you will have no idea that you’re even being trapped.

Enjoying your content, subbed

I appreciate you highlighting this topic. For most people, encrypted comms are out of reach and even if you can afford them yourself, can you team/family afford them too? I think its better to have dozens of radios everyone knows how to use and use "redneck encryption" than having one pair of encrypted comms.

Beautiful bloodhound brother !!

in the corps i was a satellite communications operator and also a radio operator, comm is legit trial and error of learning. the best skill you can have is troubleshooting. also you can do everything correct and it still wont work, you might have to start over 5-10 times and on the 11th try itll work, we might not know what "fixed' the problem we just know that radio is just a theory.

I work for the fire service. We use Motorola 800 with encryption. It does not stop people from listening in. It just makes them buy more expensive hardware to listen in.

Great video! I cracked up 😂😂😂 when your dog got between you and the camera!!

so on a bit of location encryption, you can have a daily updated encryption numbers that you use for corresponding uses. One example would be if you had to send your grid over an un encrypted net, in your sop you would add your 10 digit grid to the encryption number to help hide your true coordinates. I should all so note that code words for location requests/updates should be changed often as well. Doing a +/- system for time of day and date is use full in its own ways. It would take a metric ton of coordination on the end of the comms guys, but it is do able.

14:06 first, thank you for that moment of silence, it's been a while since I've been out in nature. Secondly, those are really good points to remember, but to sum it all up, just follow good opsec.

Smart I love it. Good ideas thank you I love it. Makes me think more about cons.

All great advice. I'd add one more layer to this and that's the one time use code pads. But those aren't for general communication purposes and best suited for observation or Intel relay. And very few people should be involved in it as possible, ideally two people unless you have to transmit across great distances with handhelds. It's a numeric code that changes with each transmission so even if somehow they cracked the last one they are back to the beginning next timed transmission. S2Underground did a video on it. Separation of code methods based on role in the mission makes it harder to be found and harder to know what is going on.

I suggest you get in contact with their local ham club or group and coordinate with them for a fox hunt. It is not difficult and it does not take a long time to find someone by radio signal. Two ham with scanners and yagi antennas can get the job done in minutes. They have localized competition with gear for prizes fairly frequently.

Randal keep up the good work!!

I know we come down hard on comms, especially if they have a HAM background, as they usually have a large ego and easily end up off in the weeds when talking about their favorite subject. But, for the record, pew pew veterans can just as easily go down a rabbit hole discussing windage, elevation, red dots, MOA and all of that important stuff that they love so much. Just a quick reminder that every bit of the prep work is important and needs to be brought down to the common denominator of your assembled peers. So, ease up a bit, find some humor and share the knowledge so that everyone understands it.

Great points thank you for the information. God bless!

Interesting & thoughtful video thank ya.

Great videos. Thanks for your service 🪖

Thanks. Good info.

What if the bad guys send an Apache gunship with hellfires and not a patrol of nerdy guys with Tech equipment?

Obfuscation, often if you're trying to stay under the radar. It requires more creativity but listen to the common radio traffic in your area and tailor your code words to fit into that. For instance lots of ham radio fudds will talk about their medical issues. IBS, gout, arthritis can all have meanings in your group that no one is going to blink am eye at. 'Man my gout has really been acting up I need to goto Dr. Johnsons office' can indicate a situation and a location.

On HF radio, you can talk on one frequency and listen on another frequency, and whoever is tuned in can listen(like your group), but that can be hard sometimes if the atmosphere isn't working with or for you. I've been a Ham radio operator for over 15 years. It's not hard to build your own radio once you're in it for a while.

Just about the easiest, fastest, and most reliable secure comms for the civilian is a DMR radio running AES256 encryption. There's numerous models available that make this possible. One of the biggest mistakes people make is running full power. If you don't need it, don't use it. It makes triangulation of your position really easy. Next, use encrypted meshtastic and ATAK for situational awareness and messaging. Lastly, set up a Bluetooth mesh network using BLE 5.0. It's used in numerous devices and even in things like motorcycle intercoms. It's currently used by Racial, Motorola, Tate, Harris and others in Military gear for squad level,low power comms that are extremely secure, and very hard to direction find because of the very low power level.

Great video and concepts!

This is the video I have been looking for. Awesome video. Do you offer classes on the 152?

The $15 quansheng uv-k5(8) radio with the NUNU firmware has encrypted messaging, spectrum analyzer, modulation switch (so you can receive AM on MIL airband or satcom), SSB reception on CB etc, 18mhz-1200mhz.

I put together an ebike with storage cases on the back that I plan on incorporating a powerful radio into. Quick, nimble, scout vehicle.

Great Content, Sir. Right on

I say, your group/club should form an LLC and buy US 2nd hand comm gear. [You would be amazed what the US military sells for penny on the dollar.] You may have to buy three comm items to have two fully functional comm items and a bit of spare. Also, the clubs should join (membership) into regional Operating Clubs, where the HQ's buy the more expensive items. Think of it in the same manner of the hierarchy of the Church; parishes buy up to certain amount, the diocese will buy a higher level, then the archdiocese will purchase higher limits amounts and finally the Church purchases the most expensive and items use for higher level Operations. 😁

2 paper cups connected by waxed string...

thanks grunt !!!

I have several frequencies on simplex offset like your talking about. Rx 148.995, tx 144.565, as an example.

7:25 The police phonetic (Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International) has been in use for over 80 years and was adopted for its succinctness and brevity. I’m more partial to it than the military phonetic alphabet since I started out as a law enforcement explorer before I enlisted in the military and later became a police officer, but the premise is the same: spelling out a letter through the use of words to prevent miscommunication.

I’m a HAM operator and my issue is that if SHTF the first thing our government will do is take down the net and relays HAM radios work off of. They have already been talking about it due to funding.

RDF can be quite easy. It all depends on the equipment and experience of the people doing it. It is possible, with easily purchased commercial products to be able to zero in on a signal in about 30 seconds. Its not uncommon for people to talk for 30 seconds so yea, you can be found pretty quick, assuming the trackers have the equipment and there are more than one tracker.

If polar is sop, don't declare polar, give out 2 sets of four numbers, padding the azimuth/back azimuth and distance as the sop specifies. Say, add day/month to degrees and year to distance So, pbr 3048 3267 would be 45 degrees, 1243 meters

Great stuff man ! I am a fan and now a subscriber! By the way, what state are you in!? Beautiful backdrop .

As 11b I had to learn to use all types of radios infantry soldier uses including everything as well we had in our MRAPS, and other vehicles in case you end up the only soldier alive in a bad TIC and have to radio back to base. Anyway they are not easy but not hard id you have a right instructor. Few keys pushed and frequency entered and on your way you go. Finding the correct frequency and having net security is of absolute priority and that can get tricky. You want to make sure who ever the bad guys are can't listen to your comms with various hand held scanners or other gadgets. In today's society if you are not sure what your doing with radios juts have runners or pigeons on standby maybe a drone with a letter attached.)

Great information. Thanks.

Basic cryptology is pretty easy. Use code words. Obviously there are a million ways to obfuscate your language. You can get encrypted radios - like Baofeng. You can use letter substitution ciphers. You can use frequency hopping. You can manually change frequencies. Some are radio programs, some you can do yourself. You can use charts, graphs, whatever. It doesn't have to be complicated, though. Best option is to be short and concise. DF isn't necessarily fast or accurate. Some are better than others. Regardless of what you do, have a plan. Make sure everybody knows the plan. Train how you fight, fight how you train.

Just an FYI - TYT DMR radios offer encryption, and they're relatively cheap. The TYT MD-UV390 claims that it is IP67 rated.

that is the cutest dog ive seen in a while

Good video. Also having code words for things would help. Coyote sign could government wheeled vehicles, bandits or that neighbor you're not sure about.. Or acorns and cattails. You get the idea. Sounding like hunters looking for food while you're actually patrolling. Or like you're looking for a missing dog. All sorts of ways of disguising what you are up to and where you are.

NotaRubicon's channel is awesome and super simple to follow. Not to mention hilarious

We had a drown buzzing our location. A store bought, dad being retired military took ordinary balloons white and light blue read about how huge they operated and tangled one up on his fishing pole and got that sucker out of the sky, a fluke, na patient, make a plan gather intel and set your plan and execute, cool stuff.

A few radios that have AES 256 encryption for $200 and under. Ailunce HD2, TYT MD 390 Plus, Anytone 878 UV. Less than $500 Hytera 782 (AES key sold separately $240), Belfone BF 930, caltta 660 (AES sold separate $200). All DMR but also have analog to talk with tri 152 or baofeng or anything else you already have.

I've just started looking into establishing a Meshtastic network. May be worth checking out.