Amateur Radio And Electromagnetic Radiation Issues
What is EMR ?
Electromagnetic radiation is familiar to us all as sunlight, heat, X-rays and radio waves. Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) conveys energy from a source to distant places. For example, the Sun radiates light, heat and other varieties of electromagnetic energy, which is received here on Earth. Your amateur transmitter conveys radiofrequency (RF) energy via your antenna to other amateurs’ antennas and their receivers detect that energy and convert it to sound.
Whenever you go on the air, your station antenna generates an electromagnetic field that radiates in all directions, with the antenna often designed or arranged to radiate more energy in particular directions and less in others.
Because there is some public concern about possible health effects on humans of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic energy (EME) emissions, generally focused on mobile phones and their base stations, the Australian Government’s Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency available via this Link – ARPANSA – has developed standards for protecting the health and safety of people, and the environment, from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation (eg. X-rays) and non-ionising radiation (eg. RF electromagnetic energy emissions).
Understanding Electromagnetic Radiation Compliance for Amateur Radio Stations
Since 2003, the ACMA has required all transmitting stations to assess the status of the risk that a station presents in relation to human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, generally termed electromagnetic radiation (EMR) or electromagnetic emissions (EME).
This requirement has been included in the Radiocommunications (Amateur Stations) Class Licence 2022 Schedule 1 - Conditions about electromagnetic energy.
The ACMA's EMR Compliance regime attempts to ensure that RF exposure levels within a station, and any publicly accessible areas around the station, do not exceed the general public exposure limits specified by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) Standard.
There are two compliance levels are summarised below.
Compliance Level 1
Low Risk Compliance Level 1 applies if:
Under Construction
Compliance Level 2
Higher Risk All stations not meeting the Level 1 criteria are classified as Compliance Level 2, even though the actual calculated or measured exposure levels may be low.
Under Construction
To Assist station operators, the WIA has a formal agreement with the Radio Society of Great Britian (RSGB) the use of their EMR/EME Calculator. A link to the calculator is: Link A guidance document (pdf file) on how to use the calculator is provided below.
This calculator is not for professional or commercial use
The previous WIA calculator developed by Doug VK3UM has been withdrawn.
Terms commonly used to describe the power of a transmitter in the Amateur LCD and other information.
Px - the average power delivered by a transmitter during one radio frequency cycle at the crest of the modulation envelope taken under normal operating conditions. This is commonly referred to in amateur circles as peak envelope power (PEP).
Py - the average power delivered by a transmitter over a time period sufficiently long compared with the lowest frequency encountered in the modulation taken under normal operating conditions.
Pz - the average power delivered by a transmitter during one radio frequency cycle under the condition of no modulation, more commonly referred to in amateur circles as Carrier Power.
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Page Last Updated: Friday 1 November 2024 at 14:8 hours by Peter Young
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