Posted By Alec Wood Hi David There have been many studies on the alleged effects of Tetra on the human body, as there have on cellphones. All are somewhat inconclusive. Concerns relating to RF effects on the human body specifically directed at Tetra has much to do with the higher power output of these sets. The EMC problems associated with them understandably exacerbates the worrries of those who are already convinced that these radios are harmful. At the time the sets were proposed I and many others submitted papers objecting to their introduction solely on technical grounds. I am not one who subscribes to the theories blaming RF and electric fields for all mankind's ills. If I can answer any specific questions on this subject please email me directly. Alec Wood Samsung Electronics PS Please remember to put something in the subject line of the email or my server will bin it as spam

Posted By Alec Wood I agree, my opinions on RF are also largely from my own hobby exposure, and a previous life as an engineer. I believe that action was taken on the design of these sets to prevent the earpiece becoming the prime radiator when fitted following the research done on cellphones which identified this effect. However, RF aside, there are still more mundane issues to consider when using earpieces, especially all day use. In order to hear a single earpiece clearly over the surrounding noise it may be that the officer uses excessive volume levels. One would question the likelihood of this leading to permanent hearing damage though, because exposure is intermittant and generally of short duration. Hardware limiting of the output level should be possible since the entire set is software controlled. Guidelines to say that those controlling large events, subject to continuous radio traffic, should use external speakers instead of earpieces would go a long way to reducing their exposure too. Then there are the questions of the effect of having a lump of plastic stuck in your lug all day. There are good comfort earpieces around, but I suppose it depends on which of many possible variants is supplied. Those desperate to look like an FBI man with the "in the ear" type are likely to fare less well than those using something which hangs on the ear. Alec Wood Samsung Electronics

Posted By Jane Blunt I was struggling with that abbreviation as well - does it stand for noise induced deafness? Jane

Posted By Alec Wood So the old adage is true after all You really do learn something new every day Alec Wood

Posted By Laurie Well I never! All these years I've had NIDS and didn't know it! Laurie

Posted By David Cooper Many thanks for the replies so far, I would like to confirm that the bit I am trying to find out is about Noise Induced Deafness when using ear pieces and officers working upto 12 hrs a day in what could be a noisy environment - the streets of our towns. The radios being used are tetra, but I think that is irelevant. There have been plenty of reports relating to tetra as referred to in the last response.