[Elecraft] Tower Climber RF Safety

[Jim Brown]

On 9/7/2026 1:44 PM, Kurt Pawlikowski via Elecraft wrote:
> I thought some of you might find this of interest. It applies directly 
> to Cell Tower climbers and RF safety, but might be a cautionary tale for 
> RF exposure for us (and maybe someone nearby our antenna!). Not 
> *exactly* amateur related.

The nature of UHF antennas is VERY different from those we use at HF. 
They have very high gain, concentrating their energy in a narrow beam in 
the horizontal plane, and which can focus a LOT of RF power into the 
body of a climber who is in front of them. Much less below them, 
although that can still be a lot if there are enough transmitters at the 
site for the combined energy is great.

It's pretty hard to have significant RF exposure unless we're running 
high power into an antenna that's very close to us (like a few yards).

73, Jim K9YC