Note to moderators: Apologies if this is in the wrong category. Also, if possible, please attach the following documents to this post for the sake of permanence.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is for educational purposes only. I will not be responsible for decisions you make based on it. I am not an expert on RF towers and I am writing the following with a layman's knowledge.
It's no secret that certain people in the UrbX community like to climb communications towers. Unfortunately these towers are normally mounted with actively transmitting equipment which means, in addition to the obvious and immediate dangers (e.g. falling), there is the potential exposure to RF fields.
Before I climbed up my first cell tower (report coming soon) I did some heavy Googling and dug-up some safety docs so I could better gauge what I was getting myself in for... climbing ladders doesn't scare me... invisible electromagnetic fields which may cause me cancer do.
So without further ado I present to you three documents which should provide an interesting and informative read for anyone considering visiting a cell site or climbing an RF tower.
The first is provided by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum & the GSM Association, it details the typical safe working distances from different types of transmitters. I strongly recommend you read it thoroughly:
http://mmfai.info/public/docs/eng/080729_RF_safety_base2NL_final.pdf
The second and third are provided by British Telecom and Bell Tower respectively. They give you a good idea of what safety equipment official workers use and the regulations/procedures they have to follow:
http://www.satellite.bt.com/btgss/radiotowers/cop/tpu1874A.doc
http://www.belltowercorp.com/safety_policy.pdf
REMEMBER: These documents are not necessarily up-to-date! Check the dates on the documents and know that technology changes and so do safety standards!
Happy exploring ;D
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is for educational purposes only. I will not be responsible for decisions you make based on it. I am not an expert on RF towers and I am writing the following with a layman's knowledge.
It's no secret that certain people in the UrbX community like to climb communications towers. Unfortunately these towers are normally mounted with actively transmitting equipment which means, in addition to the obvious and immediate dangers (e.g. falling), there is the potential exposure to RF fields.
Before I climbed up my first cell tower (report coming soon) I did some heavy Googling and dug-up some safety docs so I could better gauge what I was getting myself in for... climbing ladders doesn't scare me... invisible electromagnetic fields which may cause me cancer do.
So without further ado I present to you three documents which should provide an interesting and informative read for anyone considering visiting a cell site or climbing an RF tower.
The first is provided by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum & the GSM Association, it details the typical safe working distances from different types of transmitters. I strongly recommend you read it thoroughly:
http://mmfai.info/public/docs/eng/080729_RF_safety_base2NL_final.pdf
The second and third are provided by British Telecom and Bell Tower respectively. They give you a good idea of what safety equipment official workers use and the regulations/procedures they have to follow:
http://www.satellite.bt.com/btgss/radiotowers/cop/tpu1874A.doc
http://www.belltowercorp.com/safety_policy.pdf
REMEMBER: These documents are not necessarily up-to-date! Check the dates on the documents and know that technology changes and so do safety standards!
Happy exploring ;D
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