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Stand-Alone Instruments
News Release from: Link Microtek | Subject: SRM-3000 selective radiation monitor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 21 April 2006
Council keeps watch over basestation
emissions
South Staffordshire Council has invested in a Narda selective radiation meter to enable it to carry out truly independent measurements of the emissions from basestations in the area.
In an effort to address local residents' fears about the safety of mobile-phone basestations, South Staffordshire Council has invested in a Narda selective radiation meter from Link Microtek to enable it to carry out truly independent measurements of the emissions from basestations in the area South Staffordshire is predominantly a green-belt area, and in recent years its rural community has been particularly active in expressing its concerns over possible health effects from exposure to radio-frequency signals from local basestations
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 4 Jan 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Although measurements by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Ofcom at various sties around the UK have found field strengths to be thousandths of the ICNIRP general public exposure levels, the general public itself remains deeply sceptical.
Those measurements are supported by simple mathematical modelling of worst-case basestation emissions, which accurately predict very low field strength levels in public areas, but still concern continues unabated.
In this situation, there has been an increasing demand for RF safety surveys to be carried out near individual basestations.
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Typically, concerned parties will not view information and measurement results from the operators themselves as impartial.
Unfortunately, central government departments such as the HPA and Ofcom are also likely to be seen by some as not being impartial.
And with reputable consultants few and far between - and invariably expensive - local authorities are often left facing difficult questions without an obvious way forward.
According to Graham Colling, Senior Environmental Health Officer at South Staffordshire Council, the need for independent measurements is paramount: "Despite the fact that the public are being told that mobile phone masts are safe, they are not reassured because there is a real lack of information from independent sources".
"So we thought that, if we could find the right piece of equipment, we could carry out measurements at people's homes and that the results would be seen as being completely impartial".
RF measurement equipment generally falls into two main categories: broadband and narrowband.
Although broadband equipment is designed specifically for safety assessments, it has a minimum sensitivity of around 0.5V/m, which is much higher than the field strength levels normally found in public areas.
For measuring down to millivolt and microvolt per metre levels, it is necessary to use narrowband equipment, which, historically, would have meant a cumbersome spectrum analyser and antenna combination.
However, a recent innovation from German manufacturer Narda Safety Test Solutions, the SRM-3000 selective radiation monitor, offers the best of both worlds by combining a relatively small wideband isotropic antenna with a handheld spectrum analyser.
After evaluating several alternatives, South Staffordshire Council decided that the SRM-3000 would provide an effective and affordable means of measuring base-station emissions.
Graham Colling again: "We wanted something that was capable of simply representing the level of RF radiation emission as a percentage of the ICNIRP exposure guideline".
"We also wanted a logging facility, so that it could record any changes in level over a period of time".
"The SRM-3000 is very strong in both these regards".
Available in the UK from Link Microtek, the SRM-3000 is aimed specifically at the safety market and offers advantages in terms of size and portability, as well as dedicated firmware and software that eliminates the need for time-consuming post-survey calculations.
With the SRM-3000, it is possible to obtain very detailed results on site and present them in a way that they can be easily understood by anyone.
This point about presenting results in a simple manner is crucial: a spectrum display and results in say decibel-millivolts can be indecipherable to a member of the public, but a simple table, listing contributions from different services as a percentage of the exposure guidelines, is clearly much easier to comprehend.
Furthermore, South Staffordshire Council intends to place the results of RF safety surveys on its website.
"While not identifying individual homes, we will give an indication of the postcode area, so that people are aware that we've been monitoring in the locality", said Colling.
"We will present the readings in terms of percentage of the national guidelines for exposure, which in most cases would be of the order of points of a percentage".
Behind the software, the SRM-3000 also has an excellent RF specification that ensures it is up to the task.
With a frequency range of 75MHz to 3GHz, it covers GSM and the latest 3G mobile services, as well as FM radio and TV broadcast frequencies.
In addition, its resolution bandwidth of 5MHz means that the unit is capable of accurately assessing the contribution from relatively wideband signals such as UMTS.
Graham Colling hopes that providing the public with credible information about actual exposure levels in a clear, simple and effective manner will help to ease their concerns.
"We feel that the provision of reliable independent data can only aid public debate", he said.
"At the very least, it will enable individuals to make a balanced decision with regard to the level of risk posed by radio signals".
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