So simply clarifying a transmitters capability is akin to causing bioterrorism? Thats a little bit over the top dont you think. The device is a USB powered SDR. Its not running 4 Svetlana’s or even 1 for that matter. The man is asking a simple clarification on the specifications of a device he has or is purchasing. I myself would like to know how clean the device transmits, and its transmit capability. EW, ECM, ECCM, Tempest, are all subjects I am interested in and have maintained, being a retired R.A.N ET-C Rate, and as a Full Call Amateur Radio Operator who pays for his Licence every year on cue, I like to ensure my foot print is as small as posible. Being curious is part and parcel to Amateur Radio and if it wasnt for this curiousity, no one would have found out that a germanium cats whisker could demodulate an am transmission. In the last 12 months in Australia, we have had multiple attempts by prisons, to Jam Cell Towers such that prisoners who manage to illegally receive mobile phones in maximum security prisons, cannot use them. Each time the ACMA knocks back the request to jam. Jamming in itself, in that case is the dumbest thing to do. Firstly, if each prison cell was its own Faraday cage, there would be no problem, secondly, running a pico-cell would give you more information on these criminals than you could hope to achieve, from an ELINT view point. Ive worked in more vaults and faraday cages than I can count. Ive been jammed. Trust me, a USB SDR with an FPGA didnt do it. I am not saying that one cannot emit a harmful signal at a frequency that can interfere with bio-electronic medical devices with an SDR. But the dose makes the poison, proximity, directionality, and power are all factors. And if a USB Powered SDR is capabable of misfiring a pacemaker, or other type of implant, than does that not highlight a significant failure by the manufacture to protect against such attacks. Anyone driving to an airport, with Air Search Radar, could drop dead, same as anyone driving past the log periodic towers in certain locations, repeater stations, cell towers, and the list just goes on. One harmonic retransmission, could cause in theory a failure of such a bio-electronic medical device. Joe blogs having a play in his shack is hardly going to kill granddad or nanna. Necessity is the mother of invention. How many people who will purchase a Tx capable SDR whether it be LimeSDR, HackRF, BladeRF or other, actually have an Amateur Radio Licence? I could sit here all day and compliain about the number of SDR users who may not be licenced operators. What good does that do me? Nothing. I could sit and complain about the number of Racing Quadcopter/Hexacopters etc, that are Tx-ing on 5.8GHz in contravention of current power limits for non amateur operators. Thomas Jefferson once said [sic] “What do I care that my neighbour might believe in more than one God, it does me no damage” (Or words to that affect). The answer to the Jamming Question is undoubtedly yes. The Effectiveness (Without a frequency specific Antenna and Amplifier) is marginal/neglible at best. Operating it in any mode, on a frequency that might affect a pacemaker or insulin pump or some other device, without actually trying to jam it, may affect it without you trying. Thats why the ACMA in Australia, and the FCC along with the ARRL in the USA have BandPlans. And despite the morality pedestal, it takes a penetration tester, to ensure companies ameliorate the security of their products. If it wasnt for hackers, nobody would be able to get their money out of a bank, as it has been White Hats that have helped Governments and Corporations secure their data. I just dont get how one can come to a conclusion that asking about jamming is like committing bio-terrorism. That one has me stuffed. And as we Aussies sometimes say, fair crack of the whip!
