PRC members will not be meeting this September 6 as we celebrate Labor Day. However, we will meet September 20th at 7:30 pm at the Busch Community Room. This will be an important business meeting with several decisions to be made. All members are invited to attend and voice their opinions on these topics. Rosters will be available for all current members.
Woman Seeks to Have Ham Operations Banned
Normally, I wouldn’t bring you a story like this but I think it’s worth following. I would expect the ARRL to take a look as well.
According to a story recently published by WFTV in Florida, a woman experienced dosage problems with an insulin pump that she attributed to the radio signals that were coming from a local ham radio operator. Recognizing the gravity of the complaint the ham, who lives nearby, has since taken his station off the air. There’s been no mention as to whether the technical problem ceased after the ham went off the air. Both parties live in a development that recently voted to permit more liberal rules regarding transmitting antennas. An investigator hired by the development, determined the problem could have been caused by the ham station.
In my opinion, the ham involved should be commended for responding as he did until a determination is made as to whether his equipment is responsible for interference to the woman’s insulin pump. However, if the device is not able to operate in an RF environment I would say it has a serious issue that should be addressed by the manufacturer. An amplifier appears in the video but it’s uncertain if it was used during the ham’s operating. The television report, also shows the medical device which appears to be handheld and about the size of a cell phone. Check out the video. What are your thoughts? Certainly, there are a lot of questions to be answered. This will be a story we’ll all want to follow.
For the full story, WFTV Ch 9 Florida