Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Aug 27 2021 08:30:37 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. *** 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 (618:250/33) .