Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Aug 27 2021 08:30 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2287, for Friday, August 27, 2021
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2287, with a release date of
Friday, August 27, 2021, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A dispute over a medical device and suspected
RFI. NASA plans a radio telescope on the moon -- and in New York, a
special event station marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
All this and more, as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2287, comes
your way, right now.
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BILLBOARD CART
**
DISPUTE OVER SUSPECTED RFI AND INSULIN PUMP
PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week involves suspected RF interference
that appears to be affecting a medical device. But does this point to
ham radio? Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB, explores that question.
RALPH: A ham radio operator in Florida is off the air, following a
challenge by a neighbor in his retirement community, that his amateur
radio station is causing life-threatening interference to the wireless
communications in her insulin pump.
According to a report by WFTV Channel 9 Orlando, an independent
consultant hired by the residential community known as On Top of the
World, near Ocala, Florida, believes that RF from the ham station
"could have produced" interference with the pump's delivery of measured
insulin doses.
WFTV reported that the woman, Michelle Smith, is a Type 1 diabetic,
who claims that David Birge, WB9UYK, had put her health at risk by
operating his station.
David is now off the air in compliance with the community board's order
to him. It remains unclear, however, whether the consultant's findings
definitively proved that RFI was a factor. In 2019, the US Food and
Drug Administration issued an alert that some models of insulin pumps
with unencrypted wireless connectivity had cybersecurity flaws that
left them vulnerable to hacking that could modify the settings.
Eric Koester, KA0YWN, an electrical design engineer in Minnesota, who
is not involved in the Florida dispute, told Newsline in an email, that
he has been familiar with RF emissions testing and RF immunity testing
since 1995. He said that the more subtle kind of changes Michelle Smith
reported seeing in her insulin pump are inconsistent with the larger
scale reactions he has seen documented in devices compromised by RF
interference.
Meanwhile, the WFTV report noted that the Florida community's board of
directors has already modified its regulations on antennas in a way
that would permit operations by licensed radio amateurs living there.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ralph Squillace, KK6ITB.
(WFTV, FDA, ERIC KOESTER KA0YWN)
**
NASA MAKING PLANS FOR A 'LUNAR ARECIBO' DISH
PAUL/ANCHOR: Radio astronomers' beloved Arecibo dish is no more - at
least not in Puerto Rico. But how about a replacement that's....not
of this earth? Kent Peterson, KC0GDY, explains.
KENT: How do you top Arecibo, the iconic radio telescope that collapsed
last December, leading to its dismantling?
You build one similar to it - and you do it on the far side of the moon.
The Lunar Crater Radio Telescope is just a concept for now, but in
theory, its massive dish would be capable of detecting those radio
waves that eluded even the best of the telescopes here on earth. Better
yet, that reception wouldn't be competing against the atmospheric
interference that challenge earth-based telescopes. The lunar telescope
would be able to more clearly detect radio waves above 10 metres, which
were inaccessible to the Arecibo dish.
Joseph Lazio, one of the NASA radio astronomers on the lunar radio
telescope project, was quoted on the Business Insider website as
saying [quote] "With a sufficiently large radio telescope off Earth,
we could track the processes that would have led to the formation of
the first stars, maybe even find clues to
the nature of dark matter."
He made his remarks in a press release about the project, which is
still considered very preliminary. This past spring, NASA awarded
$500,000 for further research and development on the telescope, which
will be designed to rest inside a lunar crater on the far side of the
moon.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
(BUSINESS INSIDER, EARTH SKY)
**
AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS
PAUL/ANCHOR: AMSAT's 39th space symposium and annual general meeting
is now accepting registrations for the event, which is taking place
Friday, October 29th through Sunday October 31st, in Bloomington,
Minnesota. Students are also invited to register. AMSAT is issuing
a call for papers by presenters. Last year's event was held virtually,
but this year's symposium is to take place at the Crowne Plaza hotel
at Minneapolis International Airport.
See the link to the registration website in the printed version of this
newscast at arnewsline.org
https://launch.amsat.org/Events
To submit a paper, see details that are in this week's newscast script.
https://www.amsat.org/2021-amsat-symposium-proceedings-call-for-papers
(AMSAT)
--- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)
