[Philip Lelyveld comment: much to my surprise, there is a large and very active global ham radio community. They are improving this analog technology, spend their weekends on hill tops tuning their antennae and tweeking their circuits, and generally chatting each other up on deep tech topics and local news.]
A petition to allow ham radio transmission encryption is getting some attention. Don Rolph of East Walpole, Mass., filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission requesting a rule change regarding the prohibition on encryption. The filing is in response to a report on how to facilitate ham radio use during emergencies.
Hams rise to public consciousness in the wake of natural disasters. Ham operators provide storm observations and damage reports to the National Weather Service, as they did when Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast last fall. Ham stations also can be patched into the public-switched telephone network, providing communications for people in areas without cellular service.
See the full story here: http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/encryption-suggested-for-ham-radio-emergency-comms/220090