Radio interference

[GothamMike]

I was riding today on a chilly Connecticut afternoon. Rode down a street to the LI Sound shore on my KS 18L. All of a sudden my EUC shudders and I hear a female voice. I shut it down.

I noticed an old Ford pickup truck with Large antennae, driver was revving the engine to send a strong signal across the ocean.  He was talking to someone. Truck was full of old radio equipment.
 

Question, can a strong radio signal interfere with your EUC?

[.....]

8 minutes ago, GothamMike said:

I was riding today on a chilly Connecticut afternoon. Rode down a street to the LI Sound shore on my KS 18L. All of a sudden my EUC shudders and I hear a female voice. I shut it down.

I noticed an old Ford pickup truck with Large antennae, driver was revving the engine to send a strong signal across the ocean.  He was talking to someone. Truck was full of old radio equipment.
 

Question, can a strong radio signal interfere with your EUC?

Excellent question! I wonder if it being FCC compliant and must accept radio interference, has anything to do with it? Hopefully someone chimes in with more knowledge. Ima  conspiracy theory type, I just assume everything is succeptible to frequency tampering.

[Tawpie]

Sure! Radio frequency interference when used on purpose is called “jamming” and if it’s strong enough and is the right “kind”, RFi does cause electronics to misbehave. Shutting down the wheel was a sage move. It might have been the radios they were using but if that was a licensed radio operator with legal and well maintained equipment then you should not have a problem. Even so, something did upset the wheel’s computer so ceasing to ride was the call to make. I’d keep an eye on the wheel for a few days in case the presence of the truck was just a coincidence—there may be something else going on. 

Edited December 16, 2020 by Tawpie

[Planemo]

I can understand how RFi could interfere with the wheels wireless system, but the core main components that make it balance whilst riding? I'm not sure how RFi would do that? Maybe the gyro is susceptible?

And I would have thought that the Bluetooth frequency on the wheel would be so different to the frequency used by the Ham that it wouldn't matter. That said, some people do use crazy transmit power. I think if I were one of them I would be wearing a tin foil hat or having the antenna way up above my head!

[GothamMike]

A few weeks ago, I had blown my control board, so I ordered and installed a new one from ewheels. (not related) but the board is new.

I think this guy was sending very strong radio signals.  I’m tempted to call the US FCC.

Edited December 16, 2020 by GothamMike
more detail

[Planemo]

Sounds like it! I don't know what the laws are over there, but from my ham days in the UK the maximum we can run is 400w, and that's only with the Advanced licence. Most like myself were foundation (10w) or Intermediate (50w).

[atdlzpae]

I wonder if there is a way to faceplant a rider via Bluetooth. I doubt any hacker did any pentesting on the wheels...
I'm like 50% sure it's possible, companies usually treat security as the lowest priority.

Edited December 16, 2020 by atdlzpae

[GothamMike]

Two types of BT, one for music (BT)and BTLE for data. Zero authentication. 

I am currently writing an IoT (Internet of Things) Policy for firm.  This will make a great story to tell.

If a EUC manufacturer wants advice about IoT and wireless communications, I'd enjoy discussing. 

Edited December 16, 2020 by GothamMike

[eucVibes]

Yes I have a modded radio and I use it to Jam other riders wheels if they get in my way, it's so funny when they cut out and have this look of confusion on their face....I'm just kidding I don't have this lmao

[Jaymen Hezekia]

Aloha Mike, sorry if I am two years late but I found your post on the internet and I had a similar occurrence that happened to me on my Onewheel today where this truck that was revving his engine cut my one wheels power at 5MPH, this is extremely scary because we could’ve been thrown straight into the emergency room if we have any faster. What I theorize is that the radio signal interfered with the onewheel components resulting it be shut off.