Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Personal RF safety monitors

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Personal RF safety monitors

Electromagnetic field densitometers measure the exposure to electromagnetic radiation in certain ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. This article concentrates on densitometers used in the telecommunication industry, which measure exposure to radio spectrum radiation. Other densitometers, like extremely low frequency densitometers which measure exposure to radiation from electric power lines, also exist. The major difference between a "Densitometer" and a "Dosimeter" is that a Dosimeter can measure the absorbed dose, which does not exist for RF Monitors. Monitors are also separated by "RF Monitors" that simply measure fields and "RF Personal Monitors" that are designed to function while mounted on the human body.

Contents

Introduction

Electromagnetic field densitometers, as used in the cellular phone industry, are referred to as "personal RF safety monitors" or personal protection monitors (PPM). They form part of the personal protective equipment worn by a person working in areas exposed to radio spectrum radiation. A personal RF safety monitor is typically worn either on the torso region of the body or handheld and is required by the occupational safety and health acts of many telecommunication companies.

Most of the scientifically proven RF safety monitors are designed to measure the RF exposure as a percentage of the two most common international RF safety guidelines: International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The ICNIRP guidelines are also endorsed by the WHO. RF Personal Safety monitors were originally designed for RF Engineers working in environments where they could be exposed to high levels of RF energy or be working close to a RF source, for example working at the top of a telecommunication tower, or working on the rooftop of a building with transmitting antennas present. Most international RF safety programs include the training and use of RF Personal safety monitors and the IEEE C95.7 specifies what an RF Personal Monitor is.

In some cases the RF safety monitor comes in a version or mode for the general public. These meters can then be used to determine areas where the public might be exposed to high levels of RF energy or it might be used to indicate the RF level at areas where the general public has access.

Specification

The specifications of a RF monitor determines the work environment it can be used for. Wideband RF monitors can be used at a broader variety of base station site types than for example a narrowband, cellular RF monitor which is designed only to be used in the mobile telephone- and data networks. Below find a table with the different basic specifications of some RF monitors:

Operating instructions

Each specific personal RF safety monitor has its own operating instructions. And most of the monitors have different operating modes. For instance, the Narda Radman has a mode in which it can be body worn by the operator, but it also has a probe mode where the operator can scan certain areas to find accurate exclusion zones. The fieldSENSE on the other hand has a monitor and measure mode. The measure mode is similar to the Radman’s probe mode, but the monitor mode is used by mounting the fieldSENSE onto an inactive antenna and then it is safe to work on the antenna until the fieldSENSE raise an alarm to warn RF technicians that the antenna is live and that any work on the antennas should be ceased until deactivation is confirmed. A few of the newer models of RF monitors such as the EME Guard also have a data logging functionality that can log the RF exposure of a worker over time.

List of personal RF monitors

  • EME Guard
  • EME Guard XS
  • EME SPY 201
  • Narda Radman Mobile
  • Narda Radman XT
  • Nardalert S3
  • Occupational fieldSENSE
  • Public fieldSENSE
  • SafeOne® Pro SI-1100XT
  • FlashRad
  • References

    Personal RF safety monitors Wikipedia