I'm a ham operator and a diabetic. I've used the Omnipod wireless pump for the past 7 years and never had interference when operating HF, VHF or UHF. Sounds more like the lady is taking a cheap shot at the ham radio operator than discovering the real issue with her pump manufacturer.
She probably had a brief boyfriend in the past that talked on CB radio - and drank like crazy, smoked weed and maybe some crack cocaine, and she thinks there's no difference between Amateur Radio and CB radio and it's really just a case of misplaced anger and revenge.
So where's the bias? The news is just reporting the news which is a story about one woman's claim that interference from a ham radio operator caused her insulin pump to malfunction. The news station made no judgement as to who was right and who was wrong. It does appear that the two parties did not do enough to investigate the issue but that's not the news station's fault.
Funny how no one mentioned FCC Part 15 "and must accept any interference caused by the legal operation of other radio services." Sounds to me like the device manufacture did not provide adequate shielding in their device.
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
@@dangeredition4171 , years ago my neighbor came to tell me that I was interfering with his kid's Nintendo. I flipped it over, read the above statement, and handed it back. "Not my problem".
If the Medtronic insulin pump is shown to be vulnerable to RFI, then they should be recalled by the manufacturer. It's not just this Karen's life that's in danger, but any other patient anywhere in the world in an RF field. In Florida, not far from where she lives are AM, FM and TV transmitters running much more power than David Burge's WB9UYK 600 watts on HF. There's high powered shortwave stations nearby WRMI and Radio Marti. But most likely, the source of the RFI is right in her own home. The insulin pump has to be FCC part 15 type accepted. I would love to read the RFI section of the report. 73, de WA4OSH
In the USA, only the FCC can make a Ham station cease operation. No, State, City, County or HOA has authority to do so. Most Hams like myself, will try and help a neighbor with interference issues. But we have no obligation to do so. In fact one might be blamed for damaging the neighbors equipment! It all depends on the situation and your willingness to help. The Ham is not responsible for poor engineering of the neighbors device. I suggest he keep operating!
@RUclips Account No consent is irrelevant, if I go start a pirate radio station they will shut me down if I consent to their rules or not. FCC has regulatory authority, this is a good thing. Without them every private company will be doing whatever they like with radios and good luck doing anything yourself. Sovereign citizen nonsense about being a "living man" is useless, you're subject to the laws like anyone else and you're not helping anything by thinking otherwise.
@youtubeaccount7544 except it wasn't the FCC stopping him and what is being said is that ONLY the FCC can mandate a cease operations order. The CIA have no say, the FBI have no say, it HAS to come from the FCC regardless. The only caveat to that is when someone is assisting in the operation of a crime (which hams won't) and then the police can confiscate equipment and arrest the operator. That's still not a cease order.
No comms auth (FCC, ACMA, etc) is going to just stomp on a licensed operator without a FULL investigation which the Karen would be forced to pay for (been there with ACMA). I wouldn't mind betting it's something she's been stuffing up or just cheap equipment. If pops was running home brew I'd be ears on the possibility of RF issues but not that calibre of equipment and I didn't see a 5kw or higher boot sitting there either. If I were pops I'd say evidence or GTFO.
Another insulin pump user checking in. I operate full QRO 6 through 80 and never any pump interference. I run open-source Loop and my phone is in two-way communication with my pump and CGM every five minutes. Someone else commented how you can see the crazy in this woman. I agree.
It's not his fault her earrings were resonant on 40 meters. In all seriousness, if his transmissions are interrupting her medical device it should be looked into, but it sounds like he's just an easy target. The full news video was an embarrassing attempt at journalism. They reported that the ham may have been the cause of interference, but didn't state how. The exact quote is “amateur radio operator could have produced” interference. I don't think they did a good enough job of stating that he was innocent until proven otherwise. If the news channel would have at least mentioned Medtronic insulin pumps being recalled for incorrect dosage, I would give them a little credit. I do hope they work this out so that everyone can walk away happy.
I tend to agree with your comments Norrin Radd. The news video seemed more interested in the shocking change made by the homeowners association rather than what could have, or is, causing the interference/faulty device.
This is a huge problem with the pump manufacturer! She should be thankful she knows there is an issue. My own son is diabetic and is a Ham radio operator.
"Told to switch off his equipment" by who's authority? Some privately hired 'expert'? Only the FCC can shut you down in the US if I am not mistaken? Sounds more like a neighbourly dispute or a HOA dispute.
The HOA has no authority to regulate communications. You're right only the FCC or a court can order the Ham to do anything. HOAs can only enforce contracts they are a party to, such as antenna restrictions that members are a party to.
@PlasmaStorm73 [KY4IF] that still doesn't make his word legally enforceable. He should be removed from the committee and be personally sued for his actions.
I think we should commend the operator for shutting down and being responsible. I don't think anyone had legal authority to order him to shut down and the evidence presented was rigorous or conclusive. There was no mention of the FCC involvement; the agency that has jurisdiction. The news reporting was a demonstration of ignorance and misrepresentation.
I didn't hear where she contacted the manufacturer of her pump. If she did, what did they say about this? Did they try any testing with the ham transmitting and observing the reaction by the pump while transmission was made?
The easiest way for this ham operator to defend himself is to correlate his station logs with the pump logs and compare the times that he is actually on the air vs when the incorrect dosages were given.
@@HamRadioDX I assume from him shutting down his station that he would be perfectly amicable to helping her figure out if he was indeed the cause of her issue. Really, the manufacturer of the device should be brought into this. Ham radio is a very popular hobby among older people who would also be more likely to have diabetes. I'm sure that they would be interested to know if a common hobby among people more likely to need their product was causing it not to work properly.
@@matts.8342 Unfortunately this will cost a manufacturer money and expose the fact that their device will at least need an update if not proper shielding which may result in a recall. The Government should be properly verify the part 15 FCC compliance more strictly and this issue of cold solder joints on battery Leeds shows that there are issues in the technical quality of this company's manufacturing QA department not to mention the noted firmware update which speaks to a rush to sell not a priority on software quality assurance coupled with the hardware issues. This looks like the government and UL should be more strictly enforcing the standards and testing before giving out the certification and permission to operate these devices especially medical devices.
@@dave6501 Agreed on the FCC and UL testing. But if someone else finds that there is an issue caused by outside radio interference and can prove in court it was due to a manufacturers defect, then that could end up costing them even more than the proper testing and development would have. Especially if it causes someone to lose their life.
Is it not the MANUFACTURER'S responsibility to properly shield these devices, and have them unaffected by RFI? This is ridiculous. She would have to PROVE that this station was interfering with this pump, and that it's not something else....and that the pump is CERTIFIED.
If the consultant didn't seem to ask the radio operator to do a test for him. He didn't do his job. He basically did no research and said, "yeah, it's possible". They wasted their money on him.
Ok so her device transmits up at 2.4 ghz. He’s on HF. There’s 0.00000000001% chance of him interfering. Now here’s the thing.. how truthful will she be about saying if this has stopped? If it were me.. I’d do regular tx for 20 mins three times a day across 5 Hf bands over 3 weeks. When she proudly proclaims that she has had no issues, he can show recorded footage of himself having tx during the same time. She sounds like she just doesn’t like antennas? Has she approached him? Has he been helpful? Why go direct to a HOA and not the ham? Agree though that the news report was poor journalism .. aimed at today’s inability to think deeply about anything.
I agree Tim. There is plenty more that could be done here from all parties involved. Even transmitting a mode that has a continuous duty cycle would be good test.
@@HamRadioDX this technology relying on wireless for function, not just reporting, is asking for trouble in so many ways. Moreover, as soon as I saw a rainbow flag on the report, I immediately thought _yeah, Blame the old white dude” Now if it had been some brother, running 4 alternators in a suburban and pushing 5000 watts on the super bowl (27.025 AM) then I’m sure it would have been blamed on a software glitch..... Which reminds me, there is a video of a key down competition, and a dude has plasma arcing off his CB antenna. Though it’s not strictly ham radio, it’s worth checking out. The tech that some of these guys run is insane
If the device operates at 2.4 ghz then it can be wireless Internet, cordless phones, etc. Either from a private router, or now commercial providers are offering wifi Internet (T-Mobile for one) . It would seem these are more likely to cause interference, if its not the device itself.
@@ronwolenski-n8wcr I like the idea of everytime I press my CW straight key, someone gets a dose of a drug they didn’t ask for....depending on propagation....not really, not in real life, but the idea amuses me
@@ronwolenski-n8wcr I believe all these things would legally had to have been proven to not interfere with the pump before the company would be able to market the product. Just think of the deaths and associated law suits we would have been hearing about for years now. Insulin pumps have been around for years and we know this, but there is newer technology now that has the pump communicating with your cell phone or smart watch and auto adjusting dosage according to a continuous monitor on the patient’s skin. It’s kinda scary to use at least was for us. My daughter now uses this set up. I totally understand the young lady’s reaction, but the reporter should have been more responsible.
Reading the US version of the Guardian-Link-3-Transmitter-with-MiniMed-770G-User-Guide.pdf. At the bottom of page 4 of the User Guide in the "Radio Frequency (RF) Communications" section it clearly states "This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.".
Key point is (2) there Roger as you mention. Basically, everyone and everything were operating within the rules. The FCC wouldn't shut down his station.
How come no one has elaborated yet if shutting the rig off cured the pump problem? Seems like a easy case to solve ? Imagine if the woman went down to his house and knocked on the door and asked him to just try it for a few days and see.
If the roles were reversed, I'd like to see if the pump would be allowed to be turned off for a period of time to see if it was causing interference or not.
Great job of investigation on a complaint that's apparently 2 years old. ARRL investigation states that it's apparently started from a complaint 2 years ago and that the complainant declined to allow testing to see if there really was any interference. Makes me suspicious that radio interference isn't really what the complaint is all about.
My wife uses the same pump, we have had no problem with my hobby. She sits normally on a couch about 7-8 feet below the end of the OCF Di-pole, I use for HF, that would be the high voltage RF, extreme end, and about 30 feet from my homemade 2meter antenna. She my wife, has never had a problem even when I ran high power. Her pump is from Medtronic. 🖐🏼🎙73's kd9oam
She shouldn't be diagnosing the function of her Insulin Pump on her own. The medical lab the provides the pump can read out all the data and probably even diagnose the problem. Also, the neighborhood association has no power to regulate communications. In the USA only the FCC has that power. The Ham certainly did the right thing in shutting down his station after all this is a life safety issue. The pump manufacturer, the prescribing doctor and lab, the patient, and the Ham, and ultimately the FCC should all work together to resolve the issue. The manufacturer and patient's insurance company might need to engage a technical expert to solve the issue. (I did notice the Ham had a high-power linear amplifier. That might be the problem...) Oh, and I hope the ARRL gets involved. They can really help the Ham.
We are allowed 1500 watts PEP. I'd have to watch the video again to see if it was a Ameritron 811 or the 811H. So at best with 100 watts of PEP drive. The amplifier would only produce under 1KW. Plus with a steady CW tone. Of course she needs her insulin without a doubt. At the same time. The Ham needs to be able to enjoy his hobby. Hopefully things worked out for both parties. I'm a HAM and my wife is type 1 diabetic and wears a pump different from this lady's pump. And never has there been a problem. de KK4YLF 73
Not a life safety issue. People have been injecting insulin manually for DECADES. Read Part 15. Nothing to be investigated, end of story. Take your cheap ass pump and shove it. I once years ago had a neighbor go ballistic because he was unhappy about imagined interference to his television. I told him it wasnt my problem his television was receiving radio - it wasnt designed for that, while my radio was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Not a friendly response but completely in line with the attitude he presented with.
FCC did nothing to all to stop solar panels with RFI from power optimizers. New installations still don't have to curtail massive broadband RFi to multiple HF bands
I had a coworker have a neighbor complain to her daily that her wifi was attracting bees and making them come into her home so she just set the SSID to "hidden" and told the neighbor she turned off the wifi and suddenly the bee problem magically stopped.
Very well said! To me, so far, this seems like much ado about nothing, as far as we know. Was there even an effort by the neighbors to test the notion that his radios were causing the problem? Wouldn't that be the first thing most people would do? I would like to see the FCC get involved to evaluate this guy's station and make a determination. He should not be forced to move in order to resume operating.
I do think it says a lot about the ham though. Obviously he is concerned and has taken action to make sure that no problems are being caused, but he shouldn't be banned from operating.
Check more about this. There was a lot of new construction going on when she's had trouble. After the construction stops her troubles stops but he used his radio and she did have trouble. She also called the police on him saying that he tryed to run over her with his golf cart! It looks like she is just a Karen! She is not trying to work with him!
I was made aware of some research after this video and it is approx 200 feet, give or take. Without knowing approx antenna and other locations it's hard to say other than "a few doors down"
I see a few issues with the situation. 1) Amateur radio bands have been long established and the medical device manufacturers should have been aware of them. RF filters are not difficult to design on PCB receivers and if this was the cause, it is the fault of the device maker. 2) RF transmitters are EVERYWHERE. Unless this woman is going to park it in her house for the rest of all time, she’s going to be exposed anytime she leaves. A good percentage of hospitals have amateur band radios and operators too. 3) A snapshot from the report showed “HF” transmissions. HF frequencies required very long antennas. It is unlikely that there are any components in her pump with an electrical length long enough to pick up much if any HF. 4) A good RF investigator would have a spectrometer to look at the local RF as well as to test the ham’s gear. It’s possible he has spurious transmissions, but it looked like all of his gear were quality brands that meet or exceed FCC standards. 5) The “transmit” part of the HOA rules is likely geared towards equipment like satellite dishes for internet services where an uplink is required. Unless an HOA board member is a ham, I highly doubt that they even think about HF/UHF/VHF radio antennas.
Excellent worded Hayden. Michelle should see this video. Things I would have been investigated is logging - are the incorrectly given doses related to any operation from the neighbour?
And furthermore, are they still continuing now he has ceased operation. It seems more likely the story was about the HOA changing the rules, so she managed to shut this amateur down, apparently, but others may pop up in the future. The real issue is whether it was the cause of interference in the first place. Thanks Anton!
If his station is in spec's and he is running the legal power he is licensed for I dare say that the pump is defective and they should go to the manufacturer for a solution. I would be "nice" and tell them they have 30 days to resolve the issue before I fire back up.
Absolute BS. If this was legit, amateur radio would be banned within 1 mile of any medical facility. This is either insulin pump operator error, or defective insulin pump. I'm putting my money on insulin pump operator error.
I am on an insulin pump and I am also an Amateur Radio operator. That being said, I have never had an issue with my pump while operating my Ham Radios.
As a diabetic on an insulin pump and HAM radio operator, I have never witnessed something like that. I am using Medtronic device and operate on VHF, UHF and HF bands. Probably is something different in case, even a few houses apart are quite enough space for interference. Happy DX-ing and stable blood sugar levels to all 73 de 9A6DQB
How does she get thru a normal day when leaving her home? Did the expert set up monitoring equipment in her home and have the neighbor transmit normally? Does her home have a smart meter on electrical/water that transmits data to the utility. Did they rule out power line issues. All HAMs know that arcing contacts create a wide range of spurious frequencies. Was 5G telecommunication signals ruled out?
Side note, but “HAM” isn’t an acronym and shouldn’t be capitalized. It comes from a professional slur in telegraph days when amateur operators were called “ham fisted” by telegraph operators.
@@AustinSteingrube , or...back in the days when amateur radio routinely interfered with AM radio the amateur broadcasters were said to be "hamming it up" as they competed with Arthur Godfrey, Jack Benny, and Milton Berle.
You found that there was a likely recall on the model she had and "Got another of" most likely so I'd bet she didn't change makes and if the issue continued after he darked his station then she owes him an apology at the least.
I find this hard to believe, my wife has an insulin pump and I'm a ham. One way extra insulin bcan be accidentally given is by pressure being placed on the pump for example rolling on it while sleeping, I've never seen a collation between operating my radio and insulin being administered and I'm operating in the next room and have a monitoring app on my phone for her sensor.
Nice breakdown Hayden! 👍 The tv report definitely strays slightly toward "tabloid style story/reporting" at times. They kind of scratched the surface of the topic, then ran with very little credible data and pointed the finger at the amateur radio operator. Of course, we all want to live and operate cohesively together and hopefully these nearby neighbors were able to constructively work out the issue and definitively find the culprit. ⚡📻 73
How can you die from type 1 diabetes? You can still use a syringe and a needle, or a pen with insulin. Pumps are just a convenience. I knew type 1's a long time ago that didn't have the convenience of using pumps cause they weren't invented yet. I'm type 2 myself.
Too bad the "radio expert" she consulted didn't tell her about Faraday cages and RF shielding which could work if interference was the issue. Also interesting is that some insulin pump manufacturers warn their devices use 915 MHz ISM and devices like Ring, wireless phones,. etc can cause interference. HF on the other hand...
I was wondering about faraday caging but if the pump is invasive to her body and the issue is the signal between the hand remote controller and the pump inside her a faraday cage wouldnt be practical unless her house was made into one. Agree it could be one of many devices causing the problem and there's also a possibility of another ham nearby being as yet unidentified.
It's possible, although the news report leaves a lot of these questions up in the air... rather the journalist simply states "This is more than just a neighbor dispute"
Thank you for reporting this story in a mature fashion and being a more worthy ambassador and problem solver within Amateur Radio than "Ham Radio Concepts".
I digress!. Eric @ HRC lives & breathes RF both in his professional like working for the Florida dept of Transportation who is part of teams who drive up & down the Florida panhandle looking after RF sensors, many which warn the Florida authorities of weather & wind conditions as well as the status of main & arterial roads. Eric knows how to use pro RF gear like Anritsu analysers & knows his stuff. Eric has constantly invited US news media to ARRL field days, to discuss Amateur Radio but they continuously ignore him. Eric, like many feel justifiably upset & I support Eric, Hayden & all hams on this 100% because this is an unfair & sensationalist attack on ham radio globally
@@stephen1711 Again, its YOU who is drinking koolaid because it seems YOU are completely ignorant about both the reality of RF devices under FCC part 15 (which it appears you're clueless about!) & FCC clauses about interference which all US hams have to mandatorily abide by, as do all other hams globally through their nations spectrum management agencies. I know plenty people & many close friends who use insulin pumps with nil issues & many live close by ham stations & had you done a simple Google search on this manufacturers product recalls with the exact symptoms she's describing you'd find a plethora of US FDA product recalls for the exact same issue which I had posted on the newsYT site. Many of us suspect the complainant has an axe to grind with her neighbour & used ham radio as a cheap shot to get back at him, only what's happened instead has only resulted in an entire hornets nest of global support has sprung up to find out the truth because we hams feel deeply insulted
@@johnathanasiou9284 Where are you from?.. you act like an american. This nerd just tossed cell phones and tablets at his home. Is that now at all unusual to your children , or their extended family? Someone's gonna have to explain that to them.
medtronic needs to hire us to make add-on faraday bags and some coils. The damn device got recalled. It wasn't the aro. It's like that old twilight zone episode with the switchblade greasers.
OK, did she or he log the time, day, week, month, or etc. of the improper dosage she claims??. If this dosage mistake was not when he was on his transmitter, then there is a problem somewhere else..
This entire debacle is a crock of shit. Get a new pump. Insurance will pay for it. I have something a lot more sensitive...an ICD, and it has been zero problem.
@@RKingis I live about 4 miles max from a 5Kw AM station. The main 'lobe' is aimed at my house. My old amp mic on my HF rig use to rebroadcast their transmissions. I use to get reports of hey I like your music during contacts. I had a heck of a time adding RFI beads to it. Finally got rid of the station. Only to be bothered later on my 220 repeater. Repeater offset is 1.6 and the station was 1570. Finally had to move it from my house tower to another site. Where it was stolen. Life sucks....
If there would be any interference that causes the pump to be malfuctioned (which I doubt) it is the manufacturer of the pump to be blamed. But they have to pass so many certifications to bring such a medical device to market that for sure also RF interferences are tested.
First, the 'expert' said that it was 'possible that the Amature Radio operator caused interference. why did the investigation stop there? The expert is no expert because he didn't continue to look for the cause. The TV station is negligent in reporting that story without looking into it further. I understand that they only had a short time to present the story, but it still was shoddy work at best, and negligent at worst. They didn't even do any research into the possibility that the pump was recalled or anything from the pump manufacturer. The lady did a good job of documenting when the problem happened. Why didn't the 'expert' or the reporter take that information to the ham and see if he was even operating during that time? and did he check her cell phone to see if that might be causing interference? That is a more likely cause than the Ham equipment Too many questions left unanswered.
That’s bull. . If the pump doesn’t operate on the same frequencies that he’s transmitting on. And she won’t die without a pump. She will die without insulin. If the radio does interfere with the pump it would be good of him to coordinate with her so that he’s not transmitting while she is in range. Cell phones, blue tooth, WiFi, and tv remotes. all operate on radio frequency propagation.
The insulin pump doesn't operate on any amateur radio frequency. But RF-induced currents can interfere with it. The Ham did have a linear amp that might have produced a pretty high RF field. If that's a Medtronic pump they should be on this case asap since it reflects on the susceptibility specs for its product. de WC8J
I agree in that I don't believe the ham operator is at fault. But while saying that she won't die without the pump but instead without insulin isn't wrong, it's not the best approach. There are some people who prefer to use a multiple daily injections of insulin instead of using a pump. But the majority of people will say that control is easier and better with a pump. To tell someone they don't need it just because it isn't truly necessary, is the wrong approach. Especially coming from someone defending a hobby. I say this all as both a T1 diabetic and ham operator.
@@whoisrhys my daughter is 22 and has had type 1diabetis since she was four. She has preferred the use of a pump for a time and then preferred the use of a needle for a time. She has just gotten back on the pump recently and we do believe it will help her do a better job than she has been doing with needles. All these things change with age and how responsible the patient is as they mature. I was a ham operator for 20 years. I understand both of these people. I was not defending a hobby or a patient, nor was I attacking either. I was simply stating a fact. And while I can empathize with her, some would hear her say that she would die with out the pump and not realize the amount of emotion she was displaying was greater than the factual content of her statement. I also understand how when you can’t figure out why you’re having unexplained fluctuations in you glucose levels it is scary. When people get scared of something such as an insulin pump possibly being interfered with by a ham radio possibly being the cause of your problems, one can feel very desperate and jump to conclusions. It’s only human. I recognized how she was feeling, and I realized she was non-intentionally over sensationalizing. I was trouble shooting the issue and sticking to the facts. These fluctuations happen from time to time and they are scary. I’m not saying she’s wrong, or bad, anything negative. She will figure it out. Sometimes it can be as simple as a change in a food product from one name label to another simply because one brand has more, or possibly less fat in a burrito. The label may say 40 grams of carbohydrates on both packages, but if one has a higher fat content it can slow how quickly the carbs get into the bloodstream while the insulin dose has already entered the bloodstream causing blood glucose level to drop off lower than anticipated and the rise higher than anticipated later. It’s very hard for type 1 diabetics and it can be dangerous. Scary too. God bless her.
@@thepatriot7112, you're correct. I meant to say the pumps don't use any amateur radio frequency. FCC type acceptance records allocate two bands, 401-402 and 405-406 MHz. Some of the devices also use 0.175 MHz. All of the communications are highly protocol protected and the chance of an error is extremely small.
I’m a ham with this pump and around all types of stations with no issues. Really I heck I have been on a few field days and never once have I had any errors. She is just not liking his antennas
Seems dangerous to assume that on a device that has had a number of recalls that it's the ham radio station. Michelle has responded to a post on another ham channel that brought up the news video. It doesn't look to me that her evidence is conclusive or that anyone has actually measured the RF field strength at the site.
You have said it all. Sadly the appropriate folks with authority were not involved in this process. It is just madness to think that all will now be resolved. The worst case I’ve seen is a home 12V 5A switch mode battery trickle charger that is very popular and may as well be classed as a wideband transmitter / jammer on A well known web site. It is easily able to exceed these distances.
Stop confusing things with objectivity & facts. The troubleshooting was haphazard at best, no details - when did issue start, how long has he been operating at that location, any new electronic appliance/equipment in her home, and/or neighbors, etc. Take a methodical aproach and document the proces, steps, & results and I'll be more interested. Oh by the way, poor reporting - they missed the big question: Since his radio has been turned off, how has the pump performed.
Typical psychopath neighbor blaming anything and everything on the ham next door or 2 street's over. Next she will fake a diabetic emergency and have the police arrest the ham operator with no proof he's to blame. She is looking to sue someone for a quick buck.
Good work Hayden. My guess is cheap sub standard Chinese products and inadequate evaluation for sale in the US market. Was he running an amplifier? Suggestion, get them both to keep a log of their operations for a week and see if ther line up.
Hi Paul, yes correlating the problem with the ham would've been the best course of action. In fact he probably could've even helped her find what the real cause was, such as something inside her home. Could even be stray RFI from LED lighting? Who knows really.
One has to wonder if each error event has a date & time stamp that can be referenced. Was the ham on the air during each event? Was the woman in her home during each of the events? Years ago a neighbor yelled at me for causing interference to her TV. She had me come into her home to show me how I was interfering. While I stood there watching her TV, radio transmissions did indeed mess up her TV. I quickly wrote down the callsign of the offending station. It was not a ham but a particular private aircraft that flew over several times a day. She still insisted I was the cause of the interference. Now she called the cops. The cops listened to me & not her. They notified the FAA about the bad aircraft radio interference.
Years ago at the old QTH I had fallen asleep one day and when I awoke my Dad said the neighbour had been round again complaining I was causing t.v.i. G4GHB
Does anyone know if she still having issue with her insulin? I myself have been a ham operator for about 7 years and my equipment does not interfere with nothing in my house. And that's even using an amplifier up to 1000 Watts. Nor does my neighbor ever complain or has ever told me that I have caused any type of interference at their house. Now however as long as the gentleman is in compliance with his radio it is up to her to figure out what the interferences is. And yes LED lights microwaves and not to mention certain types of plug-in air fresheners cell phone chargers Etc will cause other RFI
the reason it dilivered the wrong amount of insulin is because the pump was faulty hence the recall. Second she probably was not doing the correct calibrastions you are supposed to do on a regular basis. Im a diabetic and wear the same type of pump and wait for it, im a ham radio operator, ke4opi. SmDH
Nice big linear @ 2:11🙄 When you live in a residential area, it sometimes pays to fly under the radar - especially if you have an awkward neighbor. There's a lot to be said for QRP and stealth antennas, and you can still run big power when going mobile, plus have the benefit of altitude and low noise floor. Better to have a QRP stealth station than no station at all!
She is just too lazy to use a syringe and bottled insulin. I have been a diabetic since 1985 and I never trusted the insulin pumps nor the new wireless glucose meters. I am also an Amateur Radio operator (N1WOM) and I did at one time try a pump, no problems with HF/144 MHz/450 MHz but 900 MHz was a different story! So back to the syringe/bottled insulin - no problems! I also tried on of those wireless meters and my wife's cell phone would mess with it, but, we had to be within 10 feet of each other for that to happen. So, back to the old school test meter and the finger stick. Note: My glucose levels are easier to control with the manual meter/syringe/insulin combination than with the wireless meter/pump set up!
yes, in fact, in my country "Algeria" during the major earthquakes that destroyed communication infrastructures, the local radio amateurs associations volunteered to help with emergencies and to communicate with the families and relatives of the people victims of the disaster, being able to practice radio communication is essential for a certain percentage of the population to help with emergencies when the grid goes down we also have out share of misscom when people often think radio is a thing only done by the army and you get suspected of being a foreign agent just bc you own a "sensitive" piece of equipement
That lady seems so convinced about her stupidity. She thinks an amateur radio operator is transmitting 24/7? A very active amateur radio operator maybe keys down about 2% of the 24h time frame of a day. Does she use her pump 10 hours per day? Jeez. She will finally find out that the pump is causing the issue and she will never want to back down to her story because she doesn't want to loose face. She has absolutely no understanding what HF is, how it works and she is not willing to open her mind to any other causes like software issues, RF issues from Bluetooth devices in her own home, etc.
Hello my friend and colleague LW6DLS Hilario, he is diabetic 2 and uses an insulin pump, he does radio both phone and CW and is next to the equipment and does not cause any interference to his pump. What would be logical, and I express it as a telecommunications engineer, is that the fact is reliably verified with a very simple test, if the colleague is not transmitting more, the bomb is still interfered, yes or no? And the other thing is that only the FCC authority has the legal power to prohibit the use of a radio station and not the community board of directors. Greetings Carlos LU2CRM
There was no mention of monitoring the dosage levels after the amateur equipment nearby was unplugged. And, I see in the comments below that videoviewer398 is both a ham and a user of the same insulin pump and has not experienced interference.
Another example of a poor excuse of "journalism" based on scandal and hyperbole instead of finding out whether or not the ham operator could have actually been responsible.
I always understood that an electronic device didn't just have to not produce spurious emissions, but also not be susceptible to spurious emissions... It's also my understanding that only the FCC can prevent a licensed HAM from transmitting. It's been proven that an HOA or city can't keep a ham from performing their hobby or duties. Also, HAM isn't just a hobby, we are a part of the federal, state, and local governments emergency planning.
From what I can find in the MiniMed manual: The MiniMed 780G insulin pump communicates using smart device connectivity. Operating frequency/ Modulation type(s) 2.4 GHz band, GFSK
It's unfortunate that the news report neglected to mention these things, but from what I can gather, the "independent engineer" stated that his HF station could potentially cause interference, but if you look more closely, his report also states that the VHF/UHF station would not cause interference? Your guess is as good as mine
First read the station as 9WTF news, then listening to the “journalism” (cough), realised I’d called it, WTF is going on in the dumb ass world of mainstream media...
I used to investigate radio frequency interference. In some cases the person complaining of interference was convinced that the amateur (or cb operator) was the source of the interference, because they could see his antenna! In some cases, there was no antenna yet the complainant saw what they believed to be an antenna and would accept the explanation that the device they saw, was not an antenna! In some cases, the interference that was complained about, was caused by something the complainant him or herself owned. e.g., placing an amplified TV antenna, on top of an analog TV. Analog TV were notorious generators of RFI and the amplified TV antenna would pick up the spurious signals from the TV, amplify the signal, and create interference to the received TV signals.
I would say. put up the phone and talk to Medtronic about this. Don't think the lady is right about this. Easy target that ham operator. She could have interference of her mobile as well. This story sucks
Moin, thanks for the very interesting video. An exciting question that was not answered in the TV report either: have the interference gone now that David is QRT? And between us: Medtronic manufactures excellent medical technology products. I am a medical technician by profession and know that such devices are protected against all possible radiation (they have to). At 100m with 1KW transmission power ... very, very unlikely. Unless the device is faulty (broken condensers, etc.). It would be all the more important to know what the insulin pump is doing now vy 73 from Munich de Micha, DD0UL
I remember first couple generations of pacemakers could not be near microwaves that's why there used to be labels everywhere warning those whom might have one.
It would be cool if you could do some videos on signal finding tools that your average person may purchase that can help us track things down. Thanks for the content!
Great suggestion! Thanks Aaron. The first step I would've done in this case is to speak with my neighbor about operating times and try to correlate it with the pump malfunctioning based on consistent results. Hams are mostly happy to help out and to improve their station to avoid any potential interference.
A $90 TinySA spectrum analyzer could undoubtedly detect any interference. OTOH, a spectrum analyzer, cheap or expensive, takes a little knowledge and intelligence to use.
My grandfather was able to give himself insulin doses every day when needed until he died. No insulin pump. Now is it inconvenient, YES. I UNDERSTAND its inconvenient. But if you notice something like that happening with your own medical devices, YOU NEED TO TALK TO THE MANUFACTURER. STOP ATTACKING HAM RADIO OPERATORS THAT ARE DOING WHAT THEYRE LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DO. I dont know WHY this woman didnt ever think of any other solution. She could've dosed herself, or talked to the neighbor to figure out what he is doing specifically to minimize the issues. But no. She had to complain to the HOA and act to get ham radio banned. This is absolutely absurd. She can move and cry a river to us, I dont care. She can easily live without an automatic insulin pump.
@@HamRadioDX Could not agree less. Sensationalizing it only helps your channel but that's what you are after then. Lots of other good things to talk about and you brought nothing new to the table on this.
It seems this is a FCC problem. Assuming the ham is compliant to the RF exposure limits and his equipment is operating properly, He should be OK. The insulin pump is a part 15 device then it need accept RF interference. The device is likely not up to standards. It further very difficult to understand how an HF radio would interfere with a GHz signal. My HF and VHF radios do not interfere with my wifi, cellphone or other wireless devices.
FCC part 15, Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. With this one rule that is on both devices proves that it's not the amateur radio. Part 1 dictates that the device say the amateur radio does not produce any intentional harmful interference. Part 2 requires that the insulin pump except interference even if it causes the device to work improperly in other word the radio is not at fault due to the fact that it is operating within its set parameters but the insulin pump is not hence there was a recall on those pumps I do know that the smart meters also set off some insulin pumps that were part of that recall. Because the pump can't handle certain frequencies interfering
Sooo, does the HOA Karen own a cellphone? Any WI-FI in her home? Is she the only insulin pump using diabetic in the USA with a ham for a neighbor? And the the key word in the Independent consultant's report is "could". I would sit on my porch and do FT8 at 100W remotely from my laptop or tablet...
I do not think there is interference from the HF radio it is too long distance to the insulin pump I think it may come from the micro wave oven or stove with micro I have had service on many such stoves and repairs so I think it can be a leaky micro stoves
There’s Quite a bit of lying going on from this woman , sounds more like a problem on her end with whatever meter she’s using…. Just what us Ham operators need more bad Publicity……
I wonder if any tests where done with a calibrated field strength meter and spectrum analiser also the insulin pump I would hope have high and low band pass filters in it many sensitive electrical devices get type approved IE routers and when it comes to manufacture iv seen the filters omitted during production to save costs I am type 1 diabetic and licensed amiter radio operator
I'm a ham operator and a diabetic. I've used the Omnipod wireless pump for the past 7 years and never had interference when operating HF, VHF or UHF. Sounds more like the lady is taking a cheap shot at the ham radio operator than discovering the real issue with her pump manufacturer.
She probably had a brief boyfriend in the past that talked on CB radio - and drank like crazy, smoked weed and maybe some crack cocaine, and she thinks there's no difference between Amateur Radio and CB radio and it's really just a case of misplaced anger and revenge.
Hopefully she gets some good ideas on what pump she could try from these comments. Seems like plenty have no problems at all.
@@HamRadioDX So much for fair and unbiased news reporting, right?
So where's the bias? The news is just reporting the news which is a story about one woman's claim that interference from a ham radio operator caused her insulin pump to malfunction. The news station made no judgement as to who was right and who was wrong. It does appear that the two parties did not do enough to investigate the issue but that's not the news station's fault.
@@charleswoods2996 so true...he probably ran a 15kw thru an Imax on his roof..splattering 3 states around....GG
Funny how no one mentioned FCC Part 15 "and must accept any interference caused by the legal operation of other radio services." Sounds to me like the device manufacture did not provide adequate shielding in their device.
Exactly thinking the same. Should be a open & shut case w/ Part 15. Not the ham's fault
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
@@dangeredition4171 , years ago my neighbor came to tell me that I was interfering with his kid's Nintendo. I flipped it over, read the above statement, and handed it back. "Not my problem".
If the Medtronic insulin pump is shown to be vulnerable to RFI, then they should be recalled by the manufacturer. It's not just this Karen's life that's in danger, but any other patient anywhere in the world in an RF field. In Florida, not far from where she lives are AM, FM and TV transmitters running much more power than David Burge's WB9UYK 600 watts on HF. There's high powered shortwave stations nearby WRMI and Radio Marti. But most likely, the source of the RFI is right in her own home. The insulin pump has to be FCC part 15 type accepted. I would love to read the RFI section of the report. 73, de WA4OSH
I bet she uses her own Transceiver every day to make phone calls, maybe she should take a look at that cell phone.
In the USA, only the FCC can make a Ham station cease operation. No, State, City, County or HOA has authority to do so. Most Hams like myself, will try and help a neighbor with interference issues. But we have no obligation to do so. In fact one might be blamed for damaging the neighbors equipment! It all depends on the situation and your willingness to help. The Ham is not responsible for poor engineering of the neighbors device. I suggest he keep operating!
as long as your station is being operated within the rules of your license, you have done nothing wrong
@RUclips Account During WWII, all Ham Radio was suspended in the USA..
@RUclips Account No consent is irrelevant, if I go start a pirate radio station they will shut me down if I consent to their rules or not.
FCC has regulatory authority, this is a good thing. Without them every private company will be doing whatever they like with radios and good luck doing anything yourself.
Sovereign citizen nonsense about being a "living man" is useless, you're subject to the laws like anyone else and you're not helping anything by thinking otherwise.
@youtubeaccount7544 except it wasn't the FCC stopping him and what is being said is that ONLY the FCC can mandate a cease operations order.
The CIA have no say, the FBI have no say, it HAS to come from the FCC regardless. The only caveat to that is when someone is assisting in the operation of a crime (which hams won't) and then the police can confiscate equipment and arrest the operator. That's still not a cease order.
No comms auth (FCC, ACMA, etc) is going to just stomp on a licensed operator without a FULL investigation which the Karen would be forced to pay for (been there with ACMA).
I wouldn't mind betting it's something she's been stuffing up or just cheap equipment. If pops was running home brew I'd be ears on the possibility of RF issues but not that calibre of equipment and I didn't see a 5kw or higher boot sitting there either.
If I were pops I'd say evidence or GTFO.
Another insulin pump user checking in. I operate full QRO 6 through 80 and never any pump interference. I run open-source Loop and my phone is in two-way communication with my pump and CGM every five minutes.
Someone else commented how you can see the crazy in this woman. I agree.
It's not his fault her earrings were resonant on 40 meters.
In all seriousness, if his transmissions are interrupting her medical device it should be looked into, but it sounds like he's just an easy target.
The full news video was an embarrassing attempt at journalism. They reported that the ham may have been the cause of interference, but didn't state how. The exact quote is “amateur radio operator could have produced” interference. I don't think they did a good enough job of stating that he was innocent until proven otherwise. If the news channel would have at least mentioned Medtronic insulin pumps being recalled for incorrect dosage, I would give them a little credit.
I do hope they work this out so that everyone can walk away happy.
I tend to agree with your comments Norrin Radd. The news video seemed more interested in the shocking change made by the homeowners association rather than what could have, or is, causing the interference/faulty device.
As a ham and healthcare provider. You can look at her and see the CRAZY.
This is a huge problem with the pump manufacturer! She should be thankful she knows there is an issue. My own son is diabetic and is a Ham radio operator.
"Told to switch off his equipment" by who's authority? Some privately hired 'expert'?
Only the FCC can shut you down in the US if I am not mistaken? Sounds more like a neighbourly dispute or a HOA dispute.
The HOA has no authority to regulate communications. You're right only the FCC or a court can order the Ham to do anything. HOAs can only enforce contracts they are a party to, such as antenna restrictions that members are a party to.
@PlasmaStorm73 [KY4IF] that still doesn't make his word legally enforceable. He should be removed from the committee and be personally sued for his actions.
HOAs are evil. The End.
I think we should commend the operator for shutting down and being responsible. I don't think anyone had legal authority to order him to shut down and the evidence presented was rigorous or conclusive. There was no mention of the FCC involvement; the agency that has jurisdiction. The news reporting was a demonstration of ignorance and misrepresentation.
A hot button issue obviously! We do not have HOA's here in England... fortunately by the looks of it!
I didn't hear where she contacted the manufacturer of her pump. If she did, what did they say about this? Did they try any testing with the ham transmitting and observing the reaction by the pump while transmission was made?
It's made by Theranos and certified by Elizabeth Holmes ;)
The easiest way for this ham operator to defend himself is to correlate his station logs with the pump logs and compare the times that he is actually on the air vs when the incorrect dosages were given.
Problem with that is it requires both parties to agree to this. I feel in this case it’s not as easy as that
@@HamRadioDX I assume from him shutting down his station that he would be perfectly amicable to helping her figure out if he was indeed the cause of her issue. Really, the manufacturer of the device should be brought into this. Ham radio is a very popular hobby among older people who would also be more likely to have diabetes. I'm sure that they would be interested to know if a common hobby among people more likely to need their product was causing it not to work properly.
@@matts.8342 Unfortunately this will cost a manufacturer money and expose the fact that their device will at least need an update if not proper shielding which may result in a recall. The Government should be properly verify the part 15 FCC compliance more strictly and this issue of cold solder joints on battery Leeds shows that there are issues in the technical quality of this company's manufacturing QA department not to mention the noted firmware update which speaks to a rush to sell not a priority on software quality assurance coupled with the hardware issues. This looks like the government and UL should be more strictly enforcing the standards and testing before giving out the certification and permission to operate these devices especially medical devices.
@@dave6501 Agreed on the FCC and UL testing. But if someone else finds that there is an issue caused by outside radio interference and can prove in court it was due to a manufacturers defect, then that could end up costing them even more than the proper testing and development would have. Especially if it causes someone to lose their life.
Is it not the MANUFACTURER'S responsibility to properly shield these devices, and have them unaffected by RFI? This is ridiculous. She would have to PROVE that this station was interfering with this pump, and that it's not something else....and that the pump is CERTIFIED.
If the consultant didn't seem to ask the radio operator to do a test for him. He didn't do his job. He basically did no research and said, "yeah, it's possible". They wasted their money on him.
Ok so her device transmits up at 2.4 ghz. He’s on HF. There’s 0.00000000001% chance of him interfering. Now here’s the thing.. how truthful will she be about saying if this has stopped? If it were me.. I’d do regular tx for 20 mins three times a day across 5 Hf bands over 3 weeks. When she proudly proclaims that she has had no issues, he can show recorded footage of himself having tx during the same time. She sounds like she just doesn’t like antennas? Has she approached him? Has he been helpful? Why go direct to a HOA and not the ham? Agree though that the news report was poor journalism .. aimed at today’s inability to think deeply about anything.
I agree Tim. There is plenty more that could be done here from all parties involved.
Even transmitting a mode that has a continuous duty cycle would be good test.
@@HamRadioDX this technology relying on wireless for function, not just reporting, is asking for trouble in so many ways.
Moreover, as soon as I saw a rainbow flag on the report, I immediately thought _yeah, Blame the old white dude”
Now if it had been some brother, running 4 alternators in a suburban and pushing 5000 watts on the super bowl (27.025 AM) then I’m sure it would have been blamed on a software glitch.....
Which reminds me, there is a video of a key down competition, and a dude has plasma arcing off his CB antenna. Though it’s not strictly ham radio, it’s worth checking out. The tech that some of these guys run is insane
If the device operates at 2.4 ghz then it can be wireless Internet, cordless phones, etc. Either from a private router, or now commercial providers are offering wifi Internet (T-Mobile for one) . It would seem these are more likely to cause interference, if its not the device itself.
@@ronwolenski-n8wcr I like the idea of everytime I press my CW straight key, someone gets a dose of a drug they didn’t ask for....depending on propagation....not really, not in real life, but the idea amuses me
@@ronwolenski-n8wcr I believe all these things would legally had to have been proven to not interfere with the pump before the company would be able to market the product. Just think of the deaths and associated law suits we would have been hearing about for years now. Insulin pumps have been around for years and we know this, but there is newer technology now that has the pump communicating with your cell phone or smart watch and auto adjusting dosage according to a continuous monitor on the patient’s skin.
It’s kinda scary to use at least was for us. My daughter now uses this set up. I totally understand the young lady’s reaction, but the reporter should have been more responsible.
My first question would be “since the operator said everything is unplugged, is she still having problems?
She just wants to be a KARN just to be on TV
Seems to me, at least according to the report, that he's done everything he can to help and even shut down.
Definitely a lot of un-answered questions need addressed.
Reading the US version of the Guardian-Link-3-Transmitter-with-MiniMed-770G-User-Guide.pdf. At the bottom of page 4 of the User Guide in the "Radio Frequency (RF) Communications" section it clearly states "This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.".
Key point is (2) there Roger as you mention. Basically, everyone and everything were operating within the rules. The FCC wouldn't shut down his station.
Funny how the TV crews equipment that transmit high frequency did not effect her pump while they interviewed her.
their equipment does not use HF.
@@jgefaell OP would be suggesting 500meg+ being high frequencies rather than the band.
How come no one has elaborated yet if shutting the rig off cured the pump problem? Seems like a easy case to solve ? Imagine if the woman went down to his house and knocked on the door and asked him to just try it for a few days and see.
She is a Caren and isn't happy unless she has something to bit*ch about.
If the roles were reversed, I'd like to see if the pump would be allowed to be turned off for a period of time to see if it was causing interference or not.
Great job of investigation on a complaint that's apparently 2 years old. ARRL investigation states that it's apparently started from a complaint 2 years ago and that the complainant declined to allow testing to see if there really was any interference. Makes me suspicious that radio interference isn't really what the complaint is all about.
My wife uses the same pump, we have had no problem with my hobby. She sits normally on a couch about 7-8 feet below the end of the OCF Di-pole, I use for HF, that would be the high voltage RF, extreme end, and about 30 feet from my homemade 2meter antenna. She my wife, has never had a problem even when I ran high power. Her pump is from Medtronic. 🖐🏼🎙73's kd9oam
73 and thanks for your comment
She shouldn't be diagnosing the function of her Insulin Pump on her own. The medical lab the provides the pump can read out all the data and probably even diagnose the problem. Also, the neighborhood association has no power to regulate communications. In the USA only the FCC has that power. The Ham certainly did the right thing in shutting down his station after all this is a life safety issue. The pump manufacturer, the prescribing doctor and lab, the patient, and the Ham, and ultimately the FCC should all work together to resolve the issue. The manufacturer and patient's insurance company might need to engage a technical expert to solve the issue. (I did notice the Ham had a high-power linear amplifier. That might be the problem...) Oh, and I hope the ARRL gets involved. They can really help the Ham.
We are allowed 1500 watts PEP. I'd have to watch the video again to see if it was a Ameritron 811 or the 811H. So at best with 100 watts of PEP drive. The amplifier would only produce under 1KW. Plus with a steady CW tone. Of course she needs her insulin without a doubt. At the same time. The Ham needs to be able to enjoy his hobby. Hopefully things worked out for both parties. I'm a HAM and my wife is type 1 diabetic and wears a pump different from this lady's pump. And never has there been a problem. de KK4YLF 73
Not a life safety issue. People have been injecting insulin manually for DECADES. Read Part 15. Nothing to be investigated, end of story. Take your cheap ass pump and shove it. I once years ago had a neighbor go ballistic because he was unhappy about imagined interference to his television. I told him it wasnt my problem his television was receiving radio - it wasnt designed for that, while my radio was doing exactly what it was designed to do. Not a friendly response but completely in line with the attitude he presented with.
FCC did nothing to all to stop solar panels with RFI from power optimizers. New installations still don't have to curtail massive broadband RFi to multiple HF bands
I had a coworker have a neighbor complain to her daily that her wifi was attracting bees and making them come into her home so she just set the SSID to "hidden" and told the neighbor she turned off the wifi and suddenly the bee problem magically stopped.
LOL
Very well said! To me, so far, this seems like much ado about nothing, as far as we know. Was there even an effort by the neighbors to test the notion that his radios were causing the problem? Wouldn't that be the first thing most people would do? I would like to see the FCC get involved to evaluate this guy's station and make a determination. He should not be forced to move in order to resume operating.
I do think it says a lot about the ham though. Obviously he is concerned and has taken action to make sure that no problems are being caused, but he shouldn't be banned from operating.
Check more about this. There was a lot of new construction going on when she's had trouble. After the construction stops her troubles stops but he used his radio and she did have trouble. She also called the police on him saying that he tryed to run over her with his golf cart! It looks like she is just a Karen! She is not trying to work with him!
a few doors down.... not an immediate neighbor, were talking hundreds of feet away.
I was made aware of some research after this video and it is approx 200 feet, give or take. Without knowing approx antenna and other locations it's hard to say other than "a few doors down"
I have friends with pumps. None of them are stellar performers. To blame a ham is taking a shortcut on a problem plaguing pump users for years.
I see a few issues with the situation.
1) Amateur radio bands have been long established and the medical device manufacturers should have been aware of them. RF filters are not difficult to design on PCB receivers and if this was the cause, it is the fault of the device maker.
2) RF transmitters are EVERYWHERE. Unless this woman is going to park it in her house for the rest of all time, she’s going to be exposed anytime she leaves. A good percentage of hospitals have amateur band radios and operators too.
3) A snapshot from the report showed “HF” transmissions. HF frequencies required very long antennas. It is unlikely that there are any components in her pump with an electrical length long enough to pick up much if any HF.
4) A good RF investigator would have a spectrometer to look at the local RF as well as to test the ham’s gear. It’s possible he has spurious transmissions, but it looked like all of his gear were quality brands that meet or exceed FCC standards.
5) The “transmit” part of the HOA rules is likely geared towards equipment like satellite dishes for internet services where an uplink is required. Unless an HOA board member is a ham, I highly doubt that they even think about HF/UHF/VHF radio antennas.
Some very good points there Austin
What a load of crap! Amateur radio is not by definition a hobby it is a service. See: 47 CFR § 97.3
There is more to this story.
This was a great drive into the angles and perspectives to look at the situation! Thank you for a great video!
Thanks Richard 👍
Excellent worded Hayden. Michelle should see this video.
Things I would have been investigated is logging - are the incorrectly given doses related to any operation from the neighbour?
And furthermore, are they still continuing now he has ceased operation. It seems more likely the story was about the HOA changing the rules, so she managed to shut this amateur down, apparently, but others may pop up in the future. The real issue is whether it was the cause of interference in the first place. Thanks Anton!
Glad to see this getting out there. When I posted my video on it when I found out, was suprising not to see others talking about it
Thanks Ryan
So after the amateur turned off his rig did the problems go away?
This is why local news stations are terrible
If his station is in spec's and he is running the legal power he is licensed for I dare say that the pump is defective and they should go to the manufacturer for a solution. I would be "nice" and tell them they have 30 days to resolve the issue before I fire back up.
Absolute BS. If this was legit, amateur radio would be banned within 1 mile of any medical facility. This is either insulin pump operator error, or defective insulin pump. I'm putting my money on insulin pump operator error.
Hospitals have emergency communications setup with hams, for crickey sake!
Some hospitals have ARES members stationed during times of disaster.
I am on an insulin pump and I am also an Amateur Radio operator. That being said, I have never had an issue with my pump while operating my Ham Radios.
There's probably some other argument between the ham and the complainant that neither side are revealing.
Probably yeah
@@HamRadioDX thats the only thing i fid that makes since or she's just a karen and im not trying to call her names
As a diabetic on an insulin pump and HAM radio operator, I have never witnessed something like that.
I am using Medtronic device and operate on VHF, UHF and HF bands.
Probably is something different in case, even a few houses apart are quite enough space for interference.
Happy DX-ing and stable blood sugar levels to all
73 de 9A6DQB
73 Antun and thank you for your comment
How does she get thru a normal day when leaving her home? Did the expert set up monitoring equipment in her home and have the neighbor transmit normally? Does her home have a smart meter on electrical/water that transmits data to the utility. Did they rule out power line issues. All HAMs know that arcing contacts create a wide range of spurious frequencies. Was 5G telecommunication signals ruled out?
Side note, but “HAM” isn’t an acronym and shouldn’t be capitalized. It comes from a professional slur in telegraph days when amateur operators were called “ham fisted” by telegraph operators.
@@AustinSteingrube , or...back in the days when amateur radio routinely interfered with AM radio the amateur broadcasters were said to be "hamming it up" as they competed with Arthur Godfrey, Jack Benny, and Milton Berle.
You found that there was a likely recall on the model she had and "Got another of" most likely so I'd bet she didn't change makes and if the issue continued after he darked his station then she owes him an apology at the least.
She will NEVER admit she was wrong!
I find this hard to believe, my wife has an insulin pump and I'm a ham. One way extra insulin bcan be accidentally given is by pressure being placed on the pump for example rolling on it while sleeping, I've never seen a collation between operating my radio and insulin being administered and I'm operating in the next room and have a monitoring app on my phone for her sensor.
Nice breakdown Hayden! 👍 The tv report definitely strays slightly toward "tabloid style story/reporting" at times. They kind of scratched the surface of the topic, then ran with very little credible data and pointed the finger at the amateur radio operator. Of course, we all want to live and operate cohesively together and hopefully these nearby neighbors were able to constructively work out the issue and definitively find the culprit. ⚡📻 73
How can you die from type 1 diabetes? You can still use a syringe and a needle, or a pen with insulin. Pumps are just a convenience. I knew type 1's a long time ago that didn't have the convenience of using pumps cause they weren't invented yet. I'm type 2 myself.
Too bad the "radio expert" she consulted didn't tell her about Faraday cages and RF shielding which could work if interference was the issue.
Also interesting is that some insulin pump manufacturers warn their devices use 915 MHz ISM and devices like Ring, wireless phones,. etc can cause interference. HF on the other hand...
I was wondering about faraday caging but if the pump is invasive to her body and the issue is the signal between the hand remote controller and the pump inside her a faraday cage wouldnt be practical unless her house was made into one. Agree it could be one of many devices causing the problem and there's also a possibility of another ham nearby being as yet unidentified.
May be my cynical nature. But I'm guessing there's a long running feud between these two and his unsightly antennas.
It's possible, although the news report leaves a lot of these questions up in the air... rather the journalist simply states "This is more than just a neighbor dispute"
Thank you for reporting this story in a mature fashion and being a more worthy ambassador and problem solver within Amateur Radio than "Ham Radio Concepts".
I digress!.
Eric @ HRC lives & breathes RF both in his professional like working for the Florida dept of Transportation who is part of teams who drive up & down the Florida panhandle looking after RF sensors, many which warn the Florida authorities of weather & wind conditions as well as the status of main & arterial roads.
Eric knows how to use pro RF gear like Anritsu analysers & knows his stuff.
Eric has constantly invited US news media to ARRL field days, to discuss Amateur Radio but they continuously ignore him.
Eric, like many feel justifiably upset & I support Eric, Hayden & all hams on this 100% because this is an unfair & sensationalist attack on ham radio globally
@@johnathanasiou9284 Clearly you know this guy really well. Enjoy the coolaid.. but he's a dork. Look for him on the network news.
@@stephen1711 Again, its YOU who is drinking koolaid because it seems YOU are completely ignorant about both the reality of RF devices under FCC part 15 (which it appears you're clueless about!) & FCC clauses about interference which all US hams have to mandatorily abide by, as do all other hams globally through their nations spectrum management agencies.
I know plenty people & many close friends who use insulin pumps with nil issues & many live close by ham stations & had you done a simple Google search on this manufacturers product recalls with the exact symptoms she's describing you'd find a plethora of US FDA product recalls for the exact same issue which I had posted on the newsYT site.
Many of us suspect the complainant has an axe to grind with her neighbour & used ham radio as a cheap shot to get back at him, only what's happened instead has only resulted in an entire hornets nest of global support has sprung up to find out the truth because we hams feel deeply insulted
@@johnathanasiou9284 Where are you from?.. you act like an american. This nerd just tossed cell phones and tablets at his home. Is that now at all unusual to your children , or their extended family? Someone's gonna have to explain that to them.
medtronic needs to hire us to make add-on faraday bags and some coils.
The damn device got recalled. It wasn't the aro.
It's like that old twilight zone episode with the switchblade greasers.
OK, did she or he log the time, day, week, month, or etc. of the improper dosage she claims??. If this dosage mistake was not when he was on his transmitter, then there is a problem somewhere else..
This entire debacle is a crock of shit. Get a new pump. Insurance will pay for it. I have something a lot more sensitive...an ICD, and it has been zero problem.
I have a pump and my ham doesn't mess with my pump
Wait till she drives pass a 50Kw AM station.
Good one!!!!
@@RKingis I live about 4 miles max from a 5Kw AM station. The main 'lobe' is aimed at my house. My old amp mic on my HF rig use to rebroadcast their transmissions. I use to get reports of hey I like your music during contacts. I had a heck of a time adding RFI beads to it. Finally got rid of the station. Only to be bothered later on my 220 repeater. Repeater offset is 1.6 and the station was 1570. Finally had to move it from my house tower to another site. Where it was stolen. Life sucks....
If there would be any interference that causes the pump to be malfuctioned (which I doubt) it is the manufacturer of the pump to be blamed. But they have to pass so many certifications to bring such a medical device to market that for sure also RF interferences are tested.
First, the 'expert' said that it was 'possible that the Amature Radio operator caused interference. why did the investigation stop there? The expert is no expert because he didn't continue to look for the cause.
The TV station is negligent in reporting that story without looking into it further. I understand that they only had a short time to present the story, but it still was shoddy work at best, and negligent at worst. They didn't even do any research into the possibility that the pump was recalled or anything from the pump manufacturer.
The lady did a good job of documenting when the problem happened. Why didn't the 'expert' or the reporter take that information to the ham and see if he was even operating during that time?
and did he check her cell phone to see if that might be causing interference? That is a more likely cause than the Ham equipment
Too many questions left unanswered.
I'm really thinking that this is a Karen who has a beef with the guy... and hams!
I agree Curt, the reporting was pretty bad on this one.
Did anyone try to contact the TV station about the story and make them aware of the unanswered questions?
That’s bull. . If the pump doesn’t operate on the same frequencies that he’s transmitting on. And she won’t die without a pump. She will die without insulin. If the radio does interfere with the pump it would be good of him to coordinate with her so that he’s not transmitting while she is in range. Cell phones, blue tooth, WiFi, and tv remotes. all operate on radio frequency propagation.
The insulin pump doesn't operate on any amateur radio frequency. But RF-induced currents can interfere with it. The Ham did have a linear amp that might have produced a pretty high RF field. If that's a Medtronic pump they should be on this case asap since it reflects on the susceptibility specs for its product. de WC8J
I agree in that I don't believe the ham operator is at fault. But while saying that she won't die without the pump but instead without insulin isn't wrong, it's not the best approach. There are some people who prefer to use a multiple daily injections of insulin instead of using a pump. But the majority of people will say that control is easier and better with a pump. To tell someone they don't need it just because it isn't truly necessary, is the wrong approach. Especially coming from someone defending a hobby. I say this all as both a T1 diabetic and ham operator.
@@whoisrhys my daughter is 22 and has had type 1diabetis since she was four. She has preferred the use of a pump for a time and then preferred the use of a needle for a time. She has just gotten back on the pump recently and we do believe it will help her do a better job than she has been doing with needles. All these things change with age and how responsible the patient is as they mature. I was a ham operator for 20 years. I understand both of these people. I was not defending a hobby or a patient, nor was I attacking either. I was simply stating a fact. And while I can empathize with her, some would hear her say that she would die with out the pump and not realize the amount of emotion she was displaying was greater than the factual content of her statement. I also understand how when you can’t figure out why you’re having unexplained fluctuations in you glucose levels it is scary. When people get scared of something such as an insulin pump possibly being interfered with by a ham radio possibly being the cause of your problems, one can feel very desperate and jump to conclusions. It’s only human. I recognized how she was feeling, and I realized she was non-intentionally over sensationalizing. I was trouble shooting the issue and sticking to the facts. These fluctuations happen from time to time and they are scary. I’m not saying she’s wrong, or bad, anything negative. She will figure it out. Sometimes it can be as simple as a change in a food product from one name label to another simply because one brand has more, or possibly less fat in a burrito. The label may say 40 grams of carbohydrates on both packages, but if one has a higher fat content it can slow how quickly the carbs get into the bloodstream while the insulin dose has already entered the bloodstream causing blood glucose level to drop off lower than anticipated and the rise higher than anticipated later. It’s very hard for type 1 diabetics and it can be dangerous. Scary too. God bless her.
@@RB9522 some pumps transmit and receive to change insulin doses according to the patient’s blood glucose level.
@@thepatriot7112, you're correct. I meant to say the pumps don't use any amateur radio frequency. FCC type acceptance records allocate two bands, 401-402 and 405-406 MHz. Some of the devices also use 0.175 MHz. All of the communications are highly protocol protected and the chance of an error is extremely small.
I’m a ham with this pump and around all types of stations with no issues. Really I heck I have been on a few field days and never once have I had any errors. She is just not liking his antennas
I'd like to know how the press got involved and why.
Seems dangerous to assume that on a device that has had a number of recalls that it's the ham radio station. Michelle has responded to a post on another ham channel that brought up the news video. It doesn't look to me that her evidence is conclusive or that anyone has actually measured the RF field strength at the site.
You have said it all. Sadly the appropriate folks with authority were not involved in this process. It is just madness to think that all will now be resolved. The worst case I’ve seen is a home 12V 5A switch mode battery trickle charger that is very popular and may as well be classed as a wideband transmitter / jammer on A well known web site. It is easily able to exceed these distances.
Stop confusing things with objectivity & facts. The troubleshooting was haphazard at best, no details - when did issue start, how long has he been operating at that location, any new electronic appliance/equipment in her home, and/or neighbors, etc. Take a methodical aproach and document the proces, steps, & results and I'll be more interested. Oh by the way, poor reporting - they missed the big question: Since his radio has been turned off, how has the pump performed.
Typical psychopath neighbor blaming anything and everything on the ham next door or 2 street's over. Next she will fake a diabetic emergency and have the police arrest the ham operator with no proof he's to blame. She is looking to sue someone for a quick buck.
Its why i'm not keen on having a visible antenna , too many stupid people willing to make things up and point fingers at anybody who stands out.
Complete BS. I have an insulin pump and have no problems whatsoever when I operate, even using high power.
Good work Hayden. My guess is cheap sub standard Chinese products and inadequate evaluation for sale in the US market. Was he running an amplifier? Suggestion, get them both to keep a log of their operations for a week and see if ther line up.
Hi Paul, yes correlating the problem with the ham would've been the best course of action. In fact he probably could've even helped her find what the real cause was, such as something inside her home. Could even be stray RFI from LED lighting? Who knows really.
I'd say this is a lack of shielding in the device
What shielding...cheaply made in China.
One has to wonder if each error event has a date & time stamp that can be referenced. Was the ham on the air during each event? Was the woman in her home during each of the events? Years ago a neighbor yelled at me for causing interference to her TV. She had me come into her home to show me how I was interfering. While I stood there watching her TV, radio transmissions did indeed mess up her TV. I quickly wrote down the callsign of the offending station. It was not a ham but a particular private aircraft that flew over several times a day. She still insisted I was the cause of the interference. Now she called the cops. The cops listened to me & not her. They notified the FAA about the bad aircraft radio interference.
LOL so you were standing in her house whilst the interference was happening and she still thought it was you??
Years ago at the old QTH I had fallen asleep one day and when I awoke my Dad said the neighbour had been round again complaining I was causing t.v.i.
G4GHB
Does anyone know if she still having issue with her insulin? I myself have been a ham operator for about 7 years and my equipment does not interfere with nothing in my house. And that's even using an amplifier up to 1000 Watts. Nor does my neighbor ever complain or has ever told me that I have caused any type of interference at their house. Now however as long as the gentleman is in compliance with his radio it is up to her to figure out what the interferences is. And yes LED lights microwaves and not to mention certain types of plug-in air fresheners cell phone chargers Etc will cause other RFI
the reason it dilivered the wrong amount of insulin is because the pump was faulty hence the recall. Second she probably was not doing the correct calibrastions you are supposed to do on a regular basis. Im a diabetic and wear the same type of pump and wait for it, im a ham radio operator, ke4opi. SmDH
Nice big linear @ 2:11🙄 When you live in a residential area, it sometimes pays to fly under the radar - especially if you have an awkward neighbor. There's a lot to be said for QRP and stealth antennas, and you can still run big power when going mobile, plus have the benefit of altitude and low noise floor. Better to have a QRP stealth station than no station at all!
She won't die without her pump
She is just too lazy to use a syringe and bottled insulin. I have been a diabetic since 1985 and I never trusted the insulin pumps nor the new wireless glucose meters. I am also an Amateur Radio operator (N1WOM) and I did at one time try a pump, no problems with HF/144 MHz/450 MHz but 900 MHz was a different story! So back to the syringe/bottled insulin - no problems!
I also tried on of those wireless meters and my wife's cell phone would mess with it, but, we had to be within 10 feet of each other for that to happen. So, back to the old school test meter and the finger stick.
Note: My glucose levels are easier to control with the manual meter/syringe/insulin combination than with the wireless meter/pump set up!
I question the independent consults credentials.
Been another year now. Any follow up on this case?
A very reasonable look at this important issue. Thank you!
Thank you David, I appreciate your kind words and comment. 73 for now
He should put up a Taller Tower to increase the distance from her to his antenna.
That makes sense!
yes, in fact, in my country "Algeria" during the major earthquakes that destroyed communication infrastructures, the local radio amateurs associations volunteered to help with emergencies and to communicate with the families and relatives of the people victims of the disaster, being able to practice radio communication is essential for a certain percentage of the population to help with emergencies when the grid goes down
we also have out share of misscom when people often think radio is a thing only done by the army and you get suspected of being a foreign agent just bc you own a "sensitive" piece of equipement
Good report and research. Thank you.
That lady seems so convinced about her stupidity. She thinks an amateur radio operator is transmitting 24/7? A very active amateur radio operator maybe keys down about 2% of the 24h time frame of a day. Does she use her pump 10 hours per day? Jeez. She will finally find out that the pump is causing the issue and she will never want to back down to her story because she doesn't want to loose face. She has absolutely no understanding what HF is, how it works and she is not willing to open her mind to any other causes like software issues, RF issues from Bluetooth devices in her own home, etc.
Hello my friend and colleague LW6DLS Hilario, he is diabetic 2 and uses an insulin pump,
he does radio both phone and CW and is next to the equipment and does not cause any
interference to his pump. What would be logical, and I express it as a telecommunications engineer, is that the fact is reliably verified with a very simple test, if the colleague is not transmitting more,
the bomb is still interfered, yes or no?
And the other thing is that only the FCC authority has the legal power
to prohibit the use of a radio station and not the community board of directors.
Greetings Carlos LU2CRM
There was no mention of monitoring the dosage levels after the amateur equipment nearby was unplugged. And, I see in the comments below that videoviewer398 is both a ham and a user of the same insulin pump and has not experienced interference.
Another example of a poor excuse of "journalism" based on scandal and hyperbole instead of finding out whether or not the ham operator could have actually been responsible.
He didn't really get much of a say did he!
I always understood that an electronic device didn't just have to not produce spurious emissions, but also not be susceptible to spurious emissions... It's also my understanding that only the FCC can prevent a licensed HAM from transmitting. It's been proven that an HOA or city can't keep a ham from performing their hobby or duties. Also, HAM isn't just a hobby, we are a part of the federal, state, and local governments emergency planning.
What frequency does it operate on?
From what I can find in the MiniMed manual:
The MiniMed 780G insulin pump communicates using smart device connectivity.
Operating frequency/
Modulation type(s)
2.4 GHz band, GFSK
@@HamRadioDX then we now need to know which frequency band he is transmitting on.
It's unfortunate that the news report neglected to mention these things, but from what I can gather, the "independent engineer" stated that his HF station could potentially cause interference, but if you look more closely, his report also states that the VHF/UHF station would not cause interference? Your guess is as good as mine
Hayden mentioned cell and cordless phones, so 900MHz give or take. Looked like that guy had a sweet FTdx (or similar) to me. I vote not guilty.
@@norrinradd8952 I'd be more concerned about my mobile phone than my HF radio for sure.
First read the station as 9WTF news, then listening to the “journalism” (cough), realised I’d called it, WTF is going on in the dumb ass world of mainstream media...
Lol
I used to investigate radio frequency interference. In some cases the person complaining of interference was convinced that the amateur (or cb operator) was the source of the interference, because they could see his antenna! In some cases, there was no antenna yet the complainant saw what they believed to be an antenna and would accept the explanation that the device they saw, was not an antenna!
In some cases, the interference that was complained about, was caused by something the complainant him or herself owned. e.g., placing an amplified TV antenna, on top of an analog TV. Analog TV were notorious generators of RFI and the amplified TV antenna would pick up the spurious signals from the TV, amplify the signal, and create interference to the received TV signals.
I would say. put up the phone and talk to Medtronic about this. Don't think the lady is right about this.
Easy target that ham operator. She could have interference of her mobile as well. This story sucks
Moin, thanks for the very interesting video. An exciting question that was not answered in the TV report either: have the interference gone now that David is QRT?
And between us: Medtronic manufactures excellent medical technology products. I am a medical technician by profession and know that such devices are protected against all possible radiation (they have to). At 100m with 1KW transmission power ... very, very unlikely. Unless the device is faulty (broken condensers, etc.). It would be all the more important to know what the insulin pump is doing now
vy 73 from Munich de Micha, DD0UL
Thanks for you comment
Yes, you'd think the company would be interested in investigating and proving the integrity of their pumps in terms of resistance to RF
Their products are excellent but they have had several recalls for various non-ham related reasons that caused under or over dosage.
I remember first couple generations of pacemakers could not be near microwaves that's why there used to be labels everywhere warning those whom might have one.
It seems like the complainant just has an axe to grind against amateur radio.
Come on! She needs some attention. She can also live without doughnuts and let people enjoy their hobby
never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: Never go in against a HAM when DEATH is on the line
It would be cool if you could do some videos on signal finding tools that your average person may purchase that can help us track things down. Thanks for the content!
Great suggestion! Thanks Aaron. The first step I would've done in this case is to speak with my neighbor about operating times and try to correlate it with the pump malfunctioning based on consistent results.
Hams are mostly happy to help out and to improve their station to avoid any potential interference.
A $90 TinySA spectrum analyzer could undoubtedly detect any interference. OTOH, a spectrum analyzer, cheap or expensive, takes a little knowledge and intelligence to use.
My grandfather was able to give himself insulin doses every day when needed until he died. No insulin pump. Now is it inconvenient, YES. I UNDERSTAND its inconvenient. But if you notice something like that happening with your own medical devices, YOU NEED TO TALK TO THE MANUFACTURER. STOP ATTACKING HAM RADIO OPERATORS THAT ARE DOING WHAT THEYRE LEGALLY ALLOWED TO DO. I dont know WHY this woman didnt ever think of any other solution. She could've dosed herself, or talked to the neighbor to figure out what he is doing specifically to minimize the issues. But no. She had to complain to the HOA and act to get ham radio banned.
This is absolutely absurd. She can move and cry a river to us, I dont care. She can easily live without an automatic insulin pump.
case is two years old. ARRL is working with the ham and has been. Old news.
Old, but still relevant news
@@HamRadioDX Could not agree less. Sensationalizing it only helps your channel but that's what you are after then. Lots of other good things to talk about and you brought nothing new to the table on this.
If this is two years old has there been an update or is the ham permanently closed down?
doesn't the insulin pump fall under FCC part 15 guidelines?
It seems this is a FCC problem. Assuming the ham is compliant to the RF exposure limits and his equipment is operating properly, He should be OK. The insulin pump is a part 15 device then it need accept RF interference. The device is likely not up to standards. It further very difficult to understand how an HF radio would interfere with a GHz signal. My HF and VHF radios do not interfere with my wifi, cellphone or other wireless devices.
ARRL issued a statement two days ago.
FCC part 15, Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
With this one rule that is on both devices proves that it's not the amateur radio. Part 1 dictates that the device say the amateur radio does not produce any intentional harmful interference. Part 2 requires that the insulin pump except interference even if it causes the device to work improperly in other word the radio is not at fault due to the fact that it is operating within its set parameters but the insulin pump is not hence there was a recall on those pumps I do know that the smart meters also set off some insulin pumps that were part of that recall. Because the pump can't handle certain frequencies interfering
Thanks for the comment Ben
Sooo, does the HOA Karen own a cellphone? Any WI-FI in her home? Is she the only insulin pump using diabetic in the USA with a ham for a neighbor? And the the key word in the Independent consultant's report is "could".
I would sit on my porch and do FT8 at 100W remotely from my laptop or tablet...
I do not think there is interference from the HF radio it is too long distance to the insulin pump I think it may come from the micro wave oven or stove with micro I have had service on many such stoves and repairs so I think it can be a leaky micro stoves
I'm glad I have no neighbors.
That’s the dream of all ham operators!
I think when she tried other stuff was SHE just said that on TV but was a lie.
There’s Quite a bit of lying going on from this woman , sounds more like a problem on her end with whatever meter she’s using…. Just what us Ham operators need more bad Publicity……
I wonder if any tests where done with a calibrated field strength meter and spectrum analiser also the insulin pump I would hope have high and low band pass filters in it many sensitive electrical devices get type approved IE routers and when it comes to manufacture iv seen the filters omitted during production to save costs I am type 1 diabetic and licensed amiter radio operator