RF Wattage

Hi everyone, I'm new at the club. Joined today, I have a question about ham radio, some of these radios put out about 200 watts RF at the antenna and I have a pacemaker with defibrillator since 5/15/2013, (not really used to it yet) will this harm my device?
Any help appreciated, Thanks!

6 Comments

More Frank

by donr - 2013-07-31 08:07:24

Here's another Frank comment on the same subject. Notew that it follows closely on his other.

If you want to read more of his stuff, Google on "antennas Pacemaker club Electric Frank" you will be inundated.

Don

Begin Paste:
"Don's right
Comment posted by ElectricFrank on 2012-03-31 01:21.
Ham radio is allowed to operate on a wide range of frequencies and power so it is hard to know what the risk is. You might ask him to give you a list of the bands he operates on and the power level. My call letters are W6DZG. Tell him that I have a pacer and offered to reassure you about it. I have stood right next to ham antenna's on cars with no problems You can send me a Private Message if you like.

By the way driving by the tower of a high powered AM radio station has much more energy than the ham does.

frank"
End Paste

It's a no-no

by ela-girl - 2013-07-31 08:07:29

It is my understanding that once you are wired, you are not supposed to operate a HAM radio. I remember this one because its always a little joke (not too many people are ham radio operators!)! To be sure, you can call your manufacturer and speak to a techie or ask your doc.

Good luck!
Ela

From the Archives

by donr - 2013-07-31 08:07:40

Searching the archives will not help. I knew the comment was in there, but could not find it. A member named ElectricFrank posted a comment on the subject over a yr ago. I could not find it through the PMC search Function, so I went to Google & successfully pulled it up. I have copied it & pasted it below for you. Note he says that he's been in the field of an antenna radiating several hundred watts. Frank was a Ham operator & here's his answer (unfortunately Frank cannot give you further info. He died this past April):

Begin paste:
"Directional Antenna's
Comment posted by ElectricFrank on 2012-05-27 10:38.
It a bit of a complicated issue. The simple answer is that any potential interference is related to the signal strength arriving at you body. all a directional antenna does is to concentrate the signal in a particular path. So if you are inline with it's direction the signal can be increased by several times. However, in any other direction the signal is greatly reduced. There's also the vertical pattern affect where the antenna is designed to reduce transmissions into the ground. So a cell phone towers are design to keep the signals above ground level for a mile or so (my guess).

To complicate matters though is a thing called the "near field". This is an area very close to the antenna where the directional effect is distorted and reduced. The near field distance depends on the wavelength of the transmitted signal so it is very close for cell phones, wifi, etc., and far for AM broadcast antennas.

Modern pacers are designed with RFI interference in mind and aren't very susceptible to it. I've stood a few feet from my CB antenna on the Jeep and transmitted with no problem. I've also been around ham radio rigs running several hundred watts and no problem either.

We are saturated with radio signals in todays environment so they have to deal with these issues. Most problems reported around antennas are simply due to anxiety. Many are reported when the transmitter is not radiating or very low power.

Hope this helps. If you have any specific situations let me know and I'll try to give an opinion.

frank"
End Paste

Don

Not a problem

by jodafo - 2013-08-01 05:08:37

I am a very active Radio Amateur and had always wondered what if.... and would I be able to continue with my hobby that I have enjoyed for 65 years. I am now 80 and doing OK. Let me please assure you that you will be able to continue as before without any problem. 200 W is QRP compared with what I run. You can see my set up at qrz.com Look up G3HTA. for pics of kit and antennas. The basic requirement is to have your operating position at a sufficient distance from the RF radiator so that you are not in the field of radiation. My TH5 beam is up 30 metres - well out the way but I had a GAP Titan (a vertical) on the end of the shack only 4 metres away. To use this with high power, I had to move it to a new positiom at least 9 metres away. It is now 12 metres away from where I sit.

I had a dual pacemeker last April 9th and the antenna was moved in May. Since then I have used it for contesting - 48 hour stints with high power and without any problems. At the end of June I had a routine checkup with the Cardiologists and everything was just fine. I explained about my amateur radio situation and they were quite happy with what I had done. OK so where is the guidance I used to checkout my requirements. I think the reference here will be of comfort to you. Have a look at this http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/Pacemaker/SSL_Radio_Frequency_Transmission.pdf Hope this helps - shout if you need any further information 73 Jodafo

RF Wattage

by Budblue - 2013-08-06 05:08:30

Thanks guys, I appreciate your help and research on this, especially jodafo. Thanks Again!
bud

Amateur Radio

by Giacomo - 2014-05-24 07:05:27

I have decided to give up my hobby of thirty-seven years even though the answer is not entirely clear. I thank all of you for taking the time to respond to the original post.
Giacomo

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Member Quotes

The pacer systems are really very reliable. The main problem is the incompetent programming of them. If yours is working well for you, get on with life and enjoy it. You probably are more at risk of problems with a valve job than the pacer.