Posted By Tim Does nayone have any experience of RF meters, we have operative working close to mobile phone masts and base stations and I am looking at control measures. Thanks

Posted By Derek Holt Tim In short...Yes. Let me know what you need.

Posted By Derek Holt Tim, Firstly you should ascertain from the mast owners, information available from the building owner as to who has equipment on that mast. You can then ascertain from them the frequency and power ranges of each source upon request. Each 'operator' should also give advice as to safety distances, this should be posted at the site. This information will give a 'rough' indication upon which to work. If you need specific details then you will need a, what is frequently refered to although incorrectly, a RF survey. The output of this should be a 'map'determining the danger zones inclusive of exact outputs from each source. Note: the use of off the shelf devices such as refered to earlier by Frank are not designed/capable of providing you with this information and should not be used for this purpose. They work in narrow frequency and power bands only, in the case of a microwave oven tester you have to be in the potential danger area for them to work (TWA does apply before anyone mentions it). If you have a shared mast, which is usually the case, then the would be as much use as a chocolate fireguard (it is friday afterall). It should also be noted that the potential 'danger area' increases or decreases in size dependent upon the power fluctuations due to amount of traffic (No. people using phone in the area for basic example). Therefore always work on the maximum power output for the frequency range (worst case).

Posted By David A Jones Agree with Derek on the need to consult with mast owners. Disagree with Frank on the use of the 'microwave' oven type devices - suggest you do a google search on Nardalert - this is what we used when I was woking in the mobile telecoms industry. Interestingly at an industry forum which the HSE also attend, the HSE were pushing the responsibility of the landlord for roof top sites to undertake a risk assessment which would include information from all antenna owners and result in a map showing exclusion zones. Generally the exclusion zones are relatively small on the sides of the antennas you can get near. If you are working near masts, but not on them, it is unlikely that workers would be exposed to any siginificant RF exposure - subject to the point regarding roof tops mentioned above