Rhizomatica opens shortwave radio system HERMES for remote communities
Peter Bloom's nonprofit releases open-source encrypted digital radio to connect off-grid areas without satellites.
What to know
- Rhizomatica has open-sourced HERMES, a digital shortwave radio system that achieves 400–600 km ranges and dramatically improves data transmission rates—typically hundreds of bits per second—for remote and off-grid communities worldwide.
- HERMES includes optional encryption to protect users in sensitive areas, even though ham radio regulations in many countries restrict encrypted communications; the feature is toggleable by country.
- A pilot deployment in Bangladesh with 11 fishing boats has already demonstrated life-saving capability, with crews using HERMES to transmit GPS and SOS signals during maritime emergencies without satellite infrastructure.
“HERMES is a software stack—it's a set of different programs that all work together in order to be able to send data over HF.”
Peter Bloom, Founder, Rhizomatica · IEEE Spectrum ↗ · Sep 20
Peter Bloom Founder, RhizomaticaRhizomatica Nonprofit organizationMargo Anderson Senior associate editor and telecommunications editor, IEEE Spectrum
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Bangladesh fishing pilot demonstrates emergency rescue capability
Ten to eleven fishing boats in Bangladesh equipped with HERMES systems successfully used the platform to send GPS coordinates and SOS signals after a mechanical issue, demonstrating the practical life-saving application of the technology in remote maritime emergencies.
“They were able to send their GPS position and an SOS that they were having trouble.”
— Peter Bloom -
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Rhizomatica's HERMES open-source shortwave radio set uses HF bands (3–30 MHz) to send files, photos, and data at 400–600 km links with ~20W power with no satellites or infrastructure needed. It includes optional encryption for sensitive regions, aiding remote communities and emergencies. https:// spectrum.ieee.org/hermes-short…
2 more of the top 3 · 14 posts in this stretch
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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…
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HERMES radio enables voice and data communication over vast distances Link: https:// spectrum.ieee.org/hermes-short wave-radio-digital-data Discussion: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9789228
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background
HERMES system includes optional encryption despite ham radio regulations — Bloom explains that encryption is built into HERMES as an optional feature to protect users in sensitive areas who do not want transmitted information to be easily intercepted, though encryption regulations vary by country.
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background
IEEE Spectrum publishes interview with Bloom on HERMES release — IEEE Spectrum's Margo Anderson reports on Rhizomatica's open-sourcing of HERMES, a digital shortwave-radio set that operates in the high-frequency band (3–30 MHz) and dramatically improves data transmission rates compared to traditional shortwave.
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first by HN Frontpage, 2d ago · also IEEE Spectrum
and 1 smaller piece
What people are saying 10 voices from 1 site · best of 14 · verbatim
- Sep 22
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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…
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Could this realistically be bundled on a low powered IoT device to communicate small packets of information to a remote server? Edit: And does it inherit the coverage of ham radio? meaning, the network coverage is already in place?
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Maybe i'm blind, the article starts with performance in bits/s for 'competitors', but then I cannot find the performance of this solution?
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There's an existing HF service called SailMail.[1] This is email for sailboats over HF. There are about 20 fixed stations around the world maintained by the organization. Cost is $275 per vessel per year. You can use 90 minutes of connect time per week. All it does is email over the HF links. There are now some satellite options which interoperate…
- Sep 21
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On the etymology of the name of the project, see Greek mythology:> Hermes (/ˈhɜːrmiːz/; Ancient Greek: Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves,[2] merchants, and orators.[3][4] He is able to move quickly…
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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…
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The Data Slayer channel on Youtube made an interesting video about this recently:
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> 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…
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Coincidentally I looked into this the other day and the fastest mode is 3 kilobit/s. Great for email but it's not going to be an Internet connection.
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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: