Frequency Selective and Isotropic a new hand-held tester measures, evaluates and records electromagnetic fields from vhf to umts on site - Franck Placidet

Ignorance is bliss. That kind of simplistic approach to the unknown is not a good idea when it comes to electromagnetic radiation. True, you can’t see it or hear it and you will only rarely feel it, but its ability to generate heat is a well-known physical fact. This property serves as the basis for the limit values published by the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection), the IEEE and for national regulations like FCC (Federal Communications Commission) in the US, the German BImSchG (Federal Law on Immission Protection) and BGV B11 (Trade Association Regulation for Health and Safety at Work) or the Canadian Safety Code 6. There’s a psychological effect too: an uneasy feeling wherever a new antenna appears. As a result of mobile telephony, some buildings have sprouted whole forests of aerials.

Precision measurements provide assurance to operators and authorities alike that limit values are not being exceeded and provide the basis for objective discussions. Rather than the overall exposure level, more and more importance is being given to the proportion contributed by each individual source of radiation, such as FM and TV broadcasts, emergency services radio systems and the inhouse services used by railroads and other companies, and mobile telephony from GSM through to UMTS. These various components can only be separated with a frequency selective measurement. Most of the measurement tasks that mobile service providers, authorities, and test and measurement service providers need to tackle can be divided into the following categories: