Club News

You may have read about a recent change to the FCC regulations governing RF Exposure standards for amateur radio stations.  The new rules went into effect on May 3, 2021. While the change does not modify existing RF Exposure (RFE) limits, it does now require that ALL amateur radio licensees evaluate their stations for RFE.

What does this mean for me?
Operators of existing amateur stations have two years to complete an RFE evaluation. However, operators of all new stations or of any existing stations that are modified in a way that’s likely to change their RFE profile — such as different antenna or placement or greater power — will need to conduct an evaluation by the date of activation or change. This means that every station you operate from a legal limit HF station with a beam to a personal Pi-Star or AllStarLink hotspot will have to be evaluated for RFE. Some experts have advised that one should also retain evidence of those evaluations.

Will this change really affect me?
While there is little risk that your low-power HTs and hotspots will will present results that require mitigation of RFE, you might be surprised to find that your 25-50-watt mobile 2-meter radio with a common 6dBi mobile whip antenna will radiate RF in excess of the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) up to to 10-15 feet from the antenna! So it might be a good idea to refresh your knowledge about RFE and be sure that you understand your responsibilities as a licensee.

What can I do to be sure I am in compliance?
The easiest thing to do is to evaluate your station using an online RF exposure calculator. The tool at this link makes the process relatively straightforward. You can simply print the results from the web calculator as evidence of your evaluation. If your station exceeds the MPE for the frequencies you are operating on, you might need to reduce power or relocate your antenna to mitigate the risk of exposure.

Where can I learn more?
There have been a number of online threads and YouTube videos addressing this issue. Many have veered deep into technical discussions with some YouTube videos rambling on for hours on the subject. That is certainly more time than most hams will want to dedicate to regulatory compliance. The most succinct and organized video primer on the subject that I have found is the YouTube video “New FCC RF safety rules for ham radio” from Ria, N2RJ. She has organized the information into chapters with timestamp links. These can be found in the “SHOW MORE” link of her YouTube video description.

If you are looking to take a deep dive into RF Exposure, the ARRL has a page with additional resources including a free PDF of the book “RF Exposure and You.” Just consider that some of the information in older resources may mention an RFE evaluation exemption for low-power amateur stations. While the RFE limits have not changed, the new FCC regulations eliminated this exemption. Now all operators must perform an RFE evaluation for all transmitters regardless of output power*.

Final thoughts …
As K6TZ Trustee, it is my responsibility to ensure that all stations operating under the Club’s callsign are in compliance with FCC regulations. We will be performing RFE evaluations at all of the Club’s existing installations in the near future. I urge you to take a few minutes to learn about RFE and evaluate your own amateur station. You may learn something and enhance the safety of your equipment in the process.

If you are not already, consider subscribing to the SBARC listserver. It is a great place to ask questions discuss issues like this with local hams. Also consider joining the Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net on Thursday evenings at 8pm on the linked SBARC repeaters.

73,
Levi C. Maaia, K6LCM
K6TZ Trustee

*There may be some additional relief provided under certain specific exemptions to the RFE regulations. However, such exemptions require additional computations and are beyond the scope of this summary. The quickest and safest way to determine compliance is by performing an evaluation with one of the online RF exposure calculators.

Care to revisit one of the awesome presentations from our socially distant streaming club meetings? We’ve assembled a YouTube playlist with our 2020-2021 General Club Meetings. Relive the action and catch up on anything you may have missed. From Amateur TV to Earth-Moon-Earth operations to SBARC telecom site tours, our meetings on archived on the SBARC channel.

K6TZ will provide educational outreach to the community as part of the permanent gallery space at the Chrisman California Islands Center.

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club  and the Santa Barbara Wireless Foundation  have been invited to build an Amateur Radio Station at the new Chrisman California Islands Center (CCIC) in Downtown Carpinteria.

The CCIC, opening in Q4 2021, will be home to the Santa Cruz Island Foundation and its museum-quality collection of artifacts from the California Islands. Radio Station K6TZ at the CCIC, a fully-functional HF-VHF-UHF and microwave amateur radio station, will be prominently featured on the gallery floor as both a working display to bring the wonders of radio technology to the visiting public through an interactive display and a functional station for club members to operate.

SBARC presently operates a club station at the American Red Cross building in Santa Barbara. The CCIC Station will expand SBARC’s footprint by offering an additional physical station location serving members in Carpinteria and Ventura County. The Club plans to host Club gatherings at the CCIC Station as well as offer regular open station hours and support radiosport contests from the site. The Carpinteria station will be open to the public during the CCIC’s open hours and part of a living exhibit to promote amateur radio and digital wireless technologies.

The Santa Cruz Island Foundation is providing the 12′ x 7′ gallery space dedicated exclusively to the radio station along with a 55″ TV monitor to display a demonstration of SBARC’s various systems, including the camera and vessel tracking systems on Diablo Peak, Santa Cruz Island.

More details, including opportunities to support fundraising efforts for K6TZ @ CCIC are forthcoming.

AMATEUR RADIO ON THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
Ed Stanton, the San Diego-born businessman who purchased Santa Cruz Island in 1937, operated on HF frequencies from his island ranch.

Over the years, numerous radio operations have taken place on the Channel Islands, including Islands on the Air (IOTA) and UHF Field Day activations.

Today, SBARC/SBWF maintain public safety and amateur radio telecommunications facilities at 2,429 feet above sea level atop Diablo Peak on Santa Cruz Island. Diablo is the tallest mountain on an ocean island in the contiguous 48 states.