53: Ham Radio = Harmful Man-Made Electromagnetic Radiation, but...

This episode is all about Ham Radio AKA Amateur Radio.  It is an environmental toxin, the safe level of exposure to which is likely zero. 
 
Nevertheless, I've had a lifetime fascination with wireless communication and learning about this topic contributed to my survival and has made me a better EMF Consultant.

Here's Dr Milham's paper:  http://www.sammilham.com/Amateur%20radio%20operators'%20mortality.pdf

The pre-roll message published in this episode is shared with approval of the one who created the sound track, Rosalito, who's work appears at Rosalito.art

Transcript

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Exploring Amateur Radio and Its Impact

Speaker 1 0:38

And they have the Wi-Fi and all , and maybe they have a ham radio . You know , it's just there's so many things that and all those things like Are make me feel horrible .

Speaker 2 0:50

Ham radio is harmful man-made electromagnetic radiation period . They're . They're one and the same . And yet I wouldn't be where I am today with regard to my recovery from so-called electrohypersensitivity , without my background in amateur radio , and I'm certain I wouldn't be half the EMF consultant I am today without my experience in radio . How's that for ironic ? Oh , and we need to talk about the paper doctor Samuel Millham wrote about amateur radio Toxicity . All this and more coming up .

Speaker 3 1:48

EMF remedy is dedicated to helping you understand which Electromagnetic threats are present in your home and whether , in the context of your current home , when you're considering for purchase or Building a new home with comprehensive protection designed in , remedy can help you reduce your family's exposure to harmful man-made electromagnetic radiation .

Speaker 2 2:10

Hi , this is Keith Cutter with EMF remedy comm and you are listening to reversing electromagnetic poisoning . We help you take control of the non-native EMF environment in your home . Why am I doing an episode on amateur radio or ham radio ? That's a little off the beaten path , isn't it Keith ? Well , wireless communication was a huge part of my life .

Speaker 2 2:41

I Was playing with radio when I was a child in the 60s . As a teenager in the 70s , I took it up a notch and I built my own transmitter and receiver that allowed me to transmit my voice through the air on a beam of reflected sunlight . I , I know Uber nerd . Right In my 30s I became a licensed amateur radio operator , or ham radio operator . Licensed by whom ? Well , the FCC , of course , that captured agency we'd love to hate , the one that continues to Provide eminent domain for the reckless spread of radio frequency radiation throughout the nation .

Speaker 2 3:31

So we need to talk about these things and kind of unravel this . You know , is this a blessing or is this a curse , or what's going on ? What's going on ? So , first of all , we need to talk about what is amateur radio ? So Ham radio , also known as amateur radio . It refers to a popular hobby and a service that allows individuals to communicate using radio frequencies for personal and non-commercial purposes . The term Ham was originally a pejorative term used to describe amateur radio operators in the early 20th century , but has since been embraced by the ham community . Hem radio operators use a wide range of radio equipment to transmit and receive messages , including voice communications , morse code and digital modes . These operators often build or modify their own radio equipment and antennas , the experiment with different transmission modes like think about single sideband , am , fm , etc . And participate in various activities such as contests and emergency Communication exercises . So what are the primary objectives of ham radio ? Well , personal communication . Hams talk to one another . I think that's where they got the moniker hams .

Speaker 3 5:10

They sort of ham it up on the radio , if you will .

Speaker 2 5:12

And it can be done on a local , regional or even global scale . Yeah , you can have a radio in your home and an appropriate antenna or a set of antennas and talk to somebody on the other side of the world Emergency communications that Brings a lot of people in . I was interested in that . We'll talk about that later . So ham operators play a crucial role in providing emergency communication during disasters , when traditional communication infrastructure may be compromised . They're involved in search and rescue operations , providing vital information and relaying messages when other forms of communication fail .

Speaker 2 5:54

I was a member of a Search and rescue team and of course we used ham radio in our operations . And let's see as far as emergency operations , I remember one time , before cell phones were a thing , or at least before they were in common use and you could get a signal everywhere I came upon a downed power line and it was pretty hazardous a bit of sparking and what not in an intersection and there were cars coming and what not , and so usually those things kind of trip , trip , you know whatever , not a fuse or whatever it's called , and the power goes out . But this one was live for quite a while . So I got on the ham radio and I got help coming and the power company got out there in the fire department and what not . So anyway , small example of emergency comms , experimentation , innovation , ham radio enthusiasts . They're known for technical expertise and often engage in experimentation and innovation to advance radio technology . So many examples of this . They contribute to the development of new communication techniques and technologies . I used to think this is a wonderful thing , but now I kind of wonder whether it's not the slaves forging their own chains . And in this modern time , public service . Many ham operators volunteer their skills and their equipment to support public events marathons , parades , community gatherings , communication where it's not otherwise possible .

Speaker 2 7:49

Now to operate a ham radio legally , individuals typically need to obtain an amateur radio license , which involves passing a written examination , and I was . I did this long ago . There was a practical exam . I had to show that I could decrypt or decode Morse code at a certain speed or they wouldn't give me my license . I think they've dropped that requirement long ago . So , passing written exam on radio rate regulations , operating procedures , basic electronics it's more than basic , actually , the higher license that you go , ham operators are assigned call signs that uniquely identify them .

Speaker 2 8:37

They're used during transmissions . That's why if you don't have a license , nobody will talk to you , because if you don't have a call sign , a legit call sign , there's nobody in the hobby . If you will , that's going to talk to you . So this is all kind of a fairly standard view of ham radio , but I got thinking about it . Today here's a new definition that I came up with , more for our purposes more post being poisoned by radio frequency radiation and other types of non-native EMF . For our purposes , an EMF centric definition of amateur radio is the following Tell me what you think of this the intentional projection of non-native electromagnetic frequencies EMF , into the environment for the purpose of two-way radio communications , experimentation , emergency services , public service and technical exploration by licensed amateur radio operators .

Speaker 2 9:48

So the question you're all dying to know is number one do I still have a license ? Yes , and number two do I use ham radio now ? Heck , no , are you kidding ? Experiencing first hand the kind of wreckage that RF radiation can cause sort of takes the fun out of it , wouldn't you say ? I wouldn't want to expose myself , my loved ones or my neighbors to the potential damage . So hey , check this out . I kind of opened the show with this , but in my most recent conversation with Shannon Rowan , author of Wi-Fi Refugee . Here's a snippet from our conversation where we were talking about the poisoning we received from others living nearby , and she just happened to spontaneously mention ham radio as a significant issue . Here's what she had to say .

Speaker 1 11:45

And they have the Wi-Fi and they have a ham radio . You know , it's just there's so many things that and all those things like make me feel horrible . So I guess maybe that's what triggered me .

Speaker 2 12:03

I think I might have talked about Ham Radio a little bit when I began this podcast , but it's been forever since I've talked about it so I thought I would just do an entire episode on this and share my thoughts . So the Ham Radio universe is so vast I couldn't do justice to it without a couple of hours of discussion . The thing is , I'm not trying to interest you in becoming a Ham . In fact , it would be a very bad thing if you had a Ham Radio operator living next to you and you have no legal protection whatsoever . I used to think that was a great thing . As a Ham , by the way , I could put up an antenna and no neighbor could complain . Now it's just another danger and another area where terrain will save the day . So I just want to do three things in our discussion today . Number one I want to sketch a bare outline of some of what it entails by mentioning a few of my former interests , and I want to mention the skills required , nearly all of which not only helped me to survive but to be a better EMF consultant Ironic . And then we're going to talk a little bit about Sam Milham's paper . So I thought emergency operations was a cool thing , being able to help others with communication when nothing else in the world was working . I had a really interest in college . I did a ride along . We had no calls that night but I went for a ride along with the local emergency medical services and , as you all know , I went into high tech for quite a while before I came back around to revisiting my first love you know , helping people with in emergency situations . So I thought the emergency ops thing was pretty cool .

Speaker 2 14:10

Every year the ham radio tribe , if you will , has what's called a field day , where

Ham Radio Activities and RF Knowledge

Speaker 2 14:17

hams operate on emergency power and out of the way places . They chalk up contacts using a number of modulation schemes across different frequency ranges . It's a big contest really and an opportunity for people who don't get outdoors a lot to go get a sunburn once a year at least . So there's an all year form , something that's similar . It's called SOTA , s-o-t-a , which stands for summits on the air . It's a ham radio activity that combines radio communications with outdoor exploration and adventure . Primary goal is for the operators they get known as activators to set up and operate the radio stuff from designated mountain summits , hills , high places . Other amateur radio operators are called chasers and they attempt to make contact with these activators from various locations , that everybody earns points and that's considered to be fun .

Speaker 2 15:29

So the next thing I want to talk briefly about is something called QRP . Qrp is a term . It defines operations with low transmit power . When amateur radio operators describe themselves as operating QRP , it means they're transmitting at very low power levels , typically five watts or less . This contrasts with higher power modes of operations such as QRO , which refers to high power levels , often exceeding 100 watts .

Speaker 2 16:10

How do you like to have a 100 watt ham antenna next door to you doing digital modes , which are generally considered to be much more toxic than oh more of like an AM radio or something like that ? And I recently ran into a buddy he is still in the life saving business and he's a paramedic working in the majestic inland Northwest and he was telling me excitedly about how he had set up emergency communications to be able to talk with his wife if all the power system and the cell phones and what not went down While he was on an extended tour of duty . Wonderful , except that the folks at home would have to be exposed to continuous RF radiation to make all of this work . Yeah , and you wouldn't want to live next door Anyway . So QRP , it's low power stuff , five watts or less .

Speaker 2 17:31

And oh , believe me , you know that the challenge was not to operate at five watts , but much , much lower . I'll give you an example of that in just a minute . So that's all about portability . And , of course , there's contests and there's awards , and there's economy and efficiency . And why is any of this relevant ? Well , a modern smart phone is smart . A modern RF emitting phone is supposed to output no more than three watts of power . I think there's some question is whether they stay within those limits , but they're supposed to . You know , use no more than three watts to go what ? How close is the nearest cell phone tower to you ? Is it a few hundred yards to maybe a few miles ? So keep this in mind .

Speaker 2 18:35

The MPW , which is used for low power , you know , keeping track of how well somebody did on using low power , it stands for miles per watt . In that scenario , with a cell phone , it might be around one . So I want to tell you about an impressive QRP record that involved a contact between two amateur radio operators using very low power QRP and achieving a substantial distance In 2020, . The record was set by Joe Taylor here's his call sign K1JT . And Jim Erickson , victor , kilo II , echo , juliet , that's VK2EJ .

Speaker 2 19:26

You learn that cool stuff too as a AM radio operator how to communicate phonetically . Who made a contact over a distance of approximately ? Are you ready for this ? 14,000 miles using ? Okay , you ready for the whopping amount of power that they used ? 10 milliwatts , that's 10 1000th of a watt . 14,000 miles . To put this into perspective , the MPW miles per watt for this record breaking contact would be approximately 1.4 million miles per watt . Compare that to like one per watt with a smartphone held next to your head and half the radiation is going into your brain and body and into those around you .

Speaker 2 20:37

So interesting , don't you think that's interesting ? I thought I think it's interesting . So satellite communications was another interest of mine . I'm not going to go into the detail Handheld antennas , fast moving satellites , different up and down , link frequencies , adjustment for the doppler effect manually on the fly fun , stupid , I wouldn't do it again . Useful One last activity .

Speaker 2 21:09

I'll mention Fox hunting . And no , this is not anything to do with ham radio dating . Fox hunting is an amateur radio . In amateur radio it's also known as radio direction finding , rdf . You ever heard of that ? It's a contest or an activity where participants use specialized equipment to locate a hidden transmitter . That's what the Fox is , using radio direction finding techniques . And if you're thinking this is like thousands of dollars , equipment and whatnot , no , these are usually like handheld antennas that are custom made for the frequencies we're going to be looking for , maybe out of a coat hanger or something similar . Find somebody who knows how to do a little bit of welding . But all of that stuff , boy , building those antennas and whatnot , it really grounds you in an understanding of how RF works . So it involves tracking and navigating to find the hidden transmitters , precise location within a given area , often for the purpose of competition or as a fun radio related challenge .

Speaker 2 22:23

You know parts of what I learned here . I use all the time on assessments , finding RF sources . I used it today and doing an assessment and I kind of demonstrated the basics real quickly . I call it for my clients their ability to maintain RF hygiene . In other words , they want to have a clean home from a RF perspective and some of the techniques I learned in Foxhunting boy use them all the time . So the best EMF consultants are , in my opinion , very technically adept . The training and the testing and the use of you know these are things all required to get your license . You have to test on all this stuff as a ham radio operator .

Speaker 2 23:19

Basic electronics , fundamental electronic principles , ohms law , electrical circuits , components , resistance , capacitance , induction , basic schematic diagrams . You need to know about radio waves and propagation . I don't want to get into all of it right now but I think we permanently changed our ionosphere by stretching the world's longest antennas electric power lines over the face of the earth and broadcasting an extremely low frequency . We'll talk about that another time . Antennas and feed lines you know understanding the different types of antennas or design , installation , feed line characteristics , losses . I wouldn't know what a wave guide is or why it's important in EMF home design without this knowledge Propagation modes , knowledge of various propagation modes , line of sight , ground waves , guy wave , ionospheric propagation , tropospheric propagation how they affect radio communications , modulation , demodulation , like AMFM , single side band , something called CW or continuous wave that's what's used for Morse code and how to demodulate the different signals .

Speaker 2 24:45

You know , if I were to try to explain somebody with the same background as me what 5G really is , I would say it's a group of frequencies and a new modulation scheme . And they would say I get it , man , it take me half an hour to get that information across to folks that don't have the same background . Not saying you should have the same background , just saying once you've learned about modulation and demodulation and the different schemes that are involved , particularly with regard to telecommunications , I don't know this .

Speaker 2 25:22

EMF stuff becomes a lot easier Transceiver filters , bandwidth selectivity , whatnot . I use this in EMF stuff all the time . I can take two of my very best RF meters . They have incredible accuracy and I can connect them together and install an appropriate filter and have continuous coverage from like 27 megahertz all the way to 10 gigahertz . That's a big deal . You can't do that with plus or minus 3 dB accuracy any other way . That I know of outside of a lab in Tensor , hundreds of thousands of dollars , equipment and then RF safety and awareness of safety precautions . You know , when I first got into this they talked a lot about the thermal and non-thermal health effects and I still have the books and you know what those same books published in later years . They've dropped all the non-thermal health effect wording . I mean , hey , something's really wrong in Denmark when , in the face of increasing information to the contrary , the main organization that you know fosters this club in the United States with regard to ham radio , drops the wording about non-thermal health effects what based on ?

Speaker 2 26:59

based on what new knowledge , anyway , all right . So In my opinion , all of this stuff is relevant , should be required for becoming an EMF consultant . Just kidding , maybe , maybe , just kidding . All right , dr Sam Milham's paper and then maybe a couple of comments and we're going to be done . Okay , so y'all might recognize that name , samuel Milham .

Speaker 2 27:44

He's the author of the book called Dirty Electricity . He is a medical doctor by training only . He decided . Rather than going into a medical practice . He got his master's in public health and he worked his career as an epidemiologist and with over 100 peer-reviewed papers that were published .

Speaker 2 28:14

There was a mystery for him in being assigned I believe it was in his internship at a large hospital to a ward that was filled with childhood leukemia patients and that really stuck with him , because it was unprecedented in history to have children three and four years old with childhood leukemia , especially this number . And it stuck with him throughout his entire career . And it wasn't until , I believe , after he was retired , that he finally solved the mystery . And what he did was he established , using epidemiological methods , a correlation between the electrification of the power grid and the spread of diseases of civilization , so cancer , I'm going off the top of my head here . I believe it was cancer , heart disease . I'm not sure whether diabetes was included there . I believe so . Anyway . So there's this wonderful not really so such a good thing , but clear correlation between nothing more than the electrification of different areas and the increase in mortality from these different causes . And he realized that he had found the answer to the question about the young children suffering with childhood leukemia . So Dr Millham accomplished a lot of very interesting things .

Speaker 2 30:12

I would suggest the book . It's very brief and , looking at his papers , he maintains a website

Increased Mortality in Amateur Radio Operators

Speaker 2 30:21

and on that website you can get your very own copy of this study . It is titled Increased Mortality in Amateur Radio Operators Due to Lymphatic and Hematopoietic Malignancies . It was written in or published in 1988 . So you'll have to read this for yourself . I recommend reading this for yourself .

Speaker 2 30:58

But he was looking for the potentially carcinogenic effects of electromagnetic field exposure . He went to the American Radio Relay League , a-r-r-l , that's the group that represents the hobby of amateur radio or ham radio , and he wanted to get information about membership and , according to what I've read here , they were not willing to share access to their membership files . So , undaunted , he purchased the 1984 FCC Amateur Radio Station license file from the National Technical Information Services and he had some excellent access to public health records in the state of Washington , where I believe he spent most of his career , and also the state of California , and he came up with a combined population from those two of almost 68,000 people and what he discovered was an all-cause mortality ratio of 71 , but a statistically significant increased mortality seen for cancers of other lymphatic tissues , including multiple myeloma , non-hodgkins lymphomas . And although the all leukemia standardized mortality ratio was slightly but non-significantly elevated , the mortality due to acute myeloid leukemia was significantly elevated , with a standardized mortality ratio of 176 . So as I read this and I am not a scientist it seems clear to me that the ham radio operators had more of these types of cancers . So what an interesting finding and I thought I would include that here with my brief discussion of ham radio , the blessing and the curse that comes from it .

Speaker 2 33:50

So I have mentioned before , and I will mention again that I am with Dr Neil Cherry , a scientist who studied the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields or EMF . His famous statement was the only safe level of radiation is zero , and that of course reflects his concern about the possible health risks associated with EMF exposure , particularly from power lines , and radio frequency radiation , which is basically what an in-home EMF analysis and remediation plan is all about . The only known safe level of exposure is zero . So that's where my mind is , after suffering 38 years of electromagnetic poisoning , as I like to call it electrohypersensitivity for those who control the language . After that , you know experience , that long season of experience that had me close to death about five years ago , and now having fully recovered my health after , by God's grace , learning that my issue had nothing to do with anything other than electromagnetic forces , and I've talked about this in other areas and how I proved that that was the case . So then we have this very curious part of my background , so intricately tied to ham radio , amateur radio and other types of radio , even before that , when I was a young child , in the experimentation and whatnot that I did . So how do I look at this after this many years ? And helping people with their own EMF poisoning and doing in-home assessments and remediation , and working on designing homes with durable EMF countermeasures built in ? And , you know , is it my early interest in radio that caused what some people would call electrical sensitivity ? I don't believe that for a minute . No , the only safe level , exposure is zero .

Speaker 2 36:51

I think everybody is affected by electromagnetic poisoning . It's just that most don't realize it and in fact won't realize it , refuse to , willfully ignorant , I think , is the right term . But whether that's true or whether that's not true , that's for you , dear listener , to understand . I know that my faith helps me a lot to consider all these things that I learned from a hobby in radio . Now I want nothing to do with that hobby , but what I learned , you know .

Speaker 2 37:32

There is a scripture verse in the book of Romans , in chapter 8 and verse 28 , that says and we know that for those who love God and boy , that does describe me , I'll tell you what and we know that for those who love God , all things work together for good For those who are called according to His purpose . That's God's purpose . I'll tell you what . That is what my life is about . I love God , I'm called according to His purpose . So that's my guarantee . All that suffering and , you know , a hobby in something that you know I wouldn't have anything to do with now , that I would think would potentially harm other people . I see how all of that has worked to good to enable me to do what I am doing now . So how's that for ending on a philosophical note ? So no extra charge for that , okay , all right .

Speaker 2 38:40

So love doing what I'm doing , appreciate all of you . I have some long-standing commitments I've made to people to talk about some things on the podcast and I plan on doing that very soon . I appreciate the encouragement that I get from you folks . It is such a blessing to have people who decide they want to be a supporter of the show and do that financially through the link that they can find or through PayPal or whatever mechanism People are interested in using . Thank you , thank you so much for that . Really , do rely on your support . It takes a lot to put these podcasts together , so if you're getting value , I appreciate that . Most of all , I would appreciate if those of you who pray would do so . Obviously , I feel like I'm made to do this work after what I've gone through and what I've experienced over almost four decades .

Speaker 2 39:47

I love helping other people with getting their immediate living environment tamed and under control from a non-native EMF perspective . So , yeah , if you do , would you pray that my efforts would be a blessing to many people ? I would appreciate that and , at a very minimum , if you could . Wherever you access this podcast , could you please do a review ? It really helps . I don't know how the algorithm works on these things , but it helps to other people to find this source of information . So appreciate that . So that is our talk on Ham Radio . There is much more here . Intentionally radiating non-native EMF into the environment Not something I really want to be associated with . It just adds more pollution to the world . So , all right , I hope you've enjoyed this and Keith Cutter , emf Remedy . See you next time .