Are you safe from Radio Frequency exposure (RFE) in your station? The FCC wants to make sure. In addition to having programs at our club meetings, we will be using this page to post links to educational resources on the topic.
The FCC has announced that rule changes detailed in a lengthy 2019 Report and Order governing RF exposure standards go into effect on May 3, 2021. The new rules do not change existing RF exposure (RFE) limits but do require that stations in all services, including amateur radio, be evaluated against existing limits, unless they are exempted. For stations already in place, that evaluation must be completed by May 3, 2023. After May 3 of this year, any new station, or any existing station modified in a way that’s likely to change its RFE profile — such as different antenna or placement or greater power — will need to conduct an evaluation by the date of activation or change.
“In the RF Report and Order, the Commission anticipated that few parties would have to conduct reevaluations under the new rules and that such evaluations will be relatively straightforward,” the FCC said in an April 2 Public Notice. “It nevertheless adopted a 2-year period for parties to verify and ensure compliance under the new rules.” The Amateur Service is no longer categorically excluded from certain aspects of the rules, as amended, and licensees can no longer avoid performing an exposure assessment simply because they are transmitting below a given power level.
Learn more about RFE
RF Exposure and You is available for free download from ARRL.
The contents of the ARRL document delineates five sections that are pertinent to ALL licensed amateur radio operators:
- A section on the ARRL RF Safety Committee
- The IEEE Standard for Safety Levels with respect to human exposure to RF
- A section on “Where do RF Standards come from?”
- The FCC RF Exposure Regulations
- Typical RF Field Strengths near Amateur Radio Antennas
ARRL also has an RF Safety page on its website. It includes additional articles and resources about this important safety issue.
Update 13 December 2023: Helping Amateurs Interact with Neighbors Asking About Radio Transmissions
A publication co-developed by ARRL’s RF Safety Committee, the Swedish Society of Radio Amateurs, the Radio Society of Great Britain and the Irish Radio Transmitters Society.