Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

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5973Laterz
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by 5973Laterz »

I downloaded the official Ofcom calc and it now works, must have been corrupted first time.
I worked the world at the 11 year cycle low on a snapped PL-259 center pin and 0.01W so neh neh ne ne neh
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Transwarp »

Got my own calculator anyway.........
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Andy
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Andy »

Another thing - do we have to do a separate calc for each band we operate on? And every time we move or change our antennas?
I think those who find themselves in a similar situation to myself will take the easy option of either lying or packing it all in.
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Buick Mackane
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Buick Mackane »

I Never even read it, :lol:
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Mitch »

^ Yeah it is a bit TL:DR, I tried but my attention span expired shortly after.
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MrWeetabix
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by MrWeetabix »

To answer an earlier question, I believe that you will need to re do this each time you move antenna, change antenna or change the radio to a higher or lower output capability....
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Alan Pilot »

I use a long wire with an ATU for most bands so do i have to do the calc on every band.
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by MrWeetabix »

As I read it, yes :-/
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Andy »

At the risk of repeating myself, the more I look at this the more I'm convinced these onerous and confusing regs are designed to get as many Amateurs as possible off the air. The rules favour the better-off who can afford to live in detached homes with big gardens with plenty of space for the required separation, the rest of us will be so limited we will give up. When our numbers are reduced to a handful, we'll be told to desist.
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ch25
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by ch25 »

26mb04 wrote: 03 Mar 2021, 14:59 The Ofcom EMF calculator can be found here. I wonder how many people will actually be bothered to use/comply with the ICNIRP guidelines? (I'll try, because I don't like the idea of being slowly cooked.) It does calculate the safe distance on 70cm at 0.5W as 22cm away (from the antenna), which would be hard to do on a handheld. It also suggests the minimum safe distance on 20M (using 2W) as 3.4m, which effectively rules out backpack usage. I might have to bend that rule a little.
Below 10MHz RF is not dangerous according to Ofcom :lol:
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Andy »

According to the calculator, there is NO safe place in our back garden for my Topband vertical at any power level above 2 watts or so.
The more I think about this, the more I seethe. To vent some pressure, I've just sent this to Radcom. Let's hope they get a bulging postbag on the matter.

Sir
When i entered the hobby in 1984, it was making determined efforts to be more inclusive. The multiple-choice exam arrived, making it easier for those who had trouble expressing their thoughts in writing and radio enthusiasts from all walks of life were welcomed. Sadly, the latest edict from OFCOM regarding 'safe operating area' looks set to reverse this levelling-up process. The new regulations will work strongly against the less well-off Amateur who lives in a small home with a tiny garden, as he will find there is no place to plant his HF vertical without putting his neighbours or passers-by in the so-called 'danger area'.
However, the more fortunate Amateur with his generous real estate will be able to carry on operating as before. Once again, Amateur Radio will become the Rich Man's Hobby. How can this be fair?
In my own case, with my small garden and neighbours both sides and a public through-pass to the rear, there will be no alternative but to turn down my Topband transceiver to less than 3 watts or pack it in altogether. My friends on our twice-weekly net have high noise levels and one of them has difficulty hearing any signals that have to fight the racket from the new local tram service, another no longer able to join in due to a crippling noise from a neighbour's home. In other words, that's the end of it. Never mind the fact that my 30 watt transmitter is only on the air for about 10 minutes twice a week, a tiny fraction of the 24/7 activity from PMR and broadcast sites. There's no comparison, and it makes me wonder just what the motive for all this is. Does OFCOM just want rid of us?
We can't even go back to the old days of just listening around the HF bands, as they are blasted by noise from VDSL, PLC devices, phone chargers, LED lighting and of course the dreaded and ubiquitous switch mode PSU. And guess who failed to regulate this invasion? Yes, stand up and take a bow OFCOM. Again.
So here we are, with our numbers about to be decimated by the very people we depend on for our hobby.
On the other hand, the upside is that once we pesky radio experimenters are out of its hair, OFCOM will be able to spend more time ridding the bands of the illegally-generated electronic fog, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
The RSGB should be raising heck about this and negotiating some kind of dispensation, bearing in mind the relatively short periods we Amateurs spend actually transmitting.

G1HBE.

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5973Laterz
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by 5973Laterz »

You have a good point with the small gardens. I think your 160m band vertical will probably have very poor efficiency if it is a 1/4 wave reduced, I would be surprised if 2-3W is radiated from 10W going in so you can probably base EIRP on that as well.. it is 100pct a negative gain antenna.

Does field strength somehow reduce with lowered frequency ? I think not. I thought that it was VHF and microwaves that were more hazardous to
humans. (wavelengths more easily penetrate and heat tissue, please do correct me)

Unless you are on a hunting mission in the neighbourhood (and likely to be the local annoyance) it is a rather spoilt hobby from home with the high persistent broadband noise floor.
I worked the world at the 11 year cycle low on a snapped PL-259 center pin and 0.01W so neh neh ne ne neh
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Andy »

Oh yes Laterz, I'm well aware of the inefficiency of quarter waves (especially inductively loaded ones) working against earth, but AFAIK this is taken into account in the calculator, and it still tells me that to limit the danger area to 2 metres I need to use a transmitter output power of less than three watts. Really I'm just blowing off some steam at the sheer b0llox of it all.
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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by MrWeetabix »

26TM175. OP: Craig. QTH: Gateshead IO94EW. Also 163TM175 when mobile in Wales 8)

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Re: Ofcom EMF safety calculator & ICNIRP Guidelines

Post by Andy »

Thanks for that. All I need now is a gain figure for my topband 40 foot loaded monopole. It'll be less than zero so it may just put me back in the running.
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