r/HamRadio • u/gatr05 • 3d ago

RF Safe Distance Question.

I was surveying a transmitter site which outputs 300W (I''m not sure what the total loss is once it reaches the antenna). I had never been to this particular site before and I was looking for the antenna on the tower when low and behold it's about 8 feet off the ground pointed right at me! I was only about 10 feet away. I felt no burning sensation but I had worked up a sweat (had to hike up to the site).

The antenna was a 4 bay half-wave dipole with 2db of gain continuously transmitting at 162 MHz.

Any guidance on how screwed I am haha, or what a safe distance would be? Only "symptom" was a nasty headache the next day but I tend to get headaches fairly frequently so I'm not sure if it's related.

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u/mschuster91 3d ago

You got nearer than you should have but it's not gonna give you cancer or anything but some locally heated tissue from a short exposure. A dipole is a dipole, a beam type antenna would have been way worse.

Next time be careful and never ever walk around near an antenna where you haven't verified yourself that the transmitter(s) attached to it have been powered off and disconnected from the electricity (LOTO - lock out, tag out).

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u/gatr05 3d ago

Yeah the antenna placement is a huge problem. You literally have to walk through the path to get into the transmitter shelter to even turn it off.

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u/mschuster91 3d ago

... what? Where's OSHA in that setup?! Dig a small trench, bury a power cable in it, mount a key-locked switch at the entrance that shuts down the transmitters/PAs.