By your logic, all the Motorola, etc. handheld commercial transceivers out there that generate a legitimate 4 or 5 watts (depending on model) on UHF should be illegal. Keep in mind that commercial 900MHz portable transceivers generate 2 watts out of the antenna... So unfortunately your information is either inaccurate, or the government is trying to burn our eyes out. As a public safety communications technician for some years, it's been my understanding that portables were always limited by FCC rule to 7 watts on VHF, 5 watts on UHF, 3 watts on 800MHz and 2 watts on 900MHz. I've never seen a 1296 portable that produced anything over 1 watt, and most 1296 mobiles were considered "high power" at 10 watts. I've been using UHF portables next to my head for decades and I see just fine, thanks... Sooooo... yeah.... Chris/KF6AJM MetroNET California Intertie
I too have personal concerns about that much RF that close to my head and eyes. No medical or scientific cites to back it up, just personal opinion. RF exposure not-withstanding, the difference between 5 watts and 10 watts is only 3 db. Half an "S" unit. The additional load of the extra RF on the battery isn't worth the minute gain you get on your signal. It would have been nice to have seen the radio hooked to a watt meter at least to verify actual power out, right out of the box. Even better to run some tests on the receiver with a service monitor. I realize not everyone has access to this equipment. Andy- W4KDN
I agree and use a speaker mic or low power most of the time. An elevated tactical antenna also is an option. That said some of the risk is mitigated by DMR 50% duty cycle during transmission. I think that is how some suppliers are getting around the 5 watt rule. I wonder what you thoughts are on the full body scanners using upper gHz range at the airports. The TSA employees are banned from wearing personal dosimeters and are not provided dosimeters. TSA will not release the power levels used only to say they are equivalent to a cell phone.
Wow....another reason to avoid flying! Sort of reminds me of police who were receiving dangerously high dosages of RF from RADAR guns due to improper training regarding hazards.
I think it boils down to this: "prudent margins of safety". I interpret that to mean that one might as well follow the FCC guidelines. All this "I NEED MORE POWER!" stuff is ludicrous anyway. It reminds me of the truckers who use 1500w linear amps on 27MHz, irrespective of the adjacent traffic's health (or the law). Also, according to one of those links you provided (thank you), it's going to take another 10 years or so of study before anything definitive can be stated either way. As an elderly guy who did plenty of time on RADAR systems, and who had cataracts at a relatively young age, I'd advise going with the prudent margins of safety meme. I use the standard and all-too reliable 5w DJ-300 Alinco HT with a hand mic. For the couple of DB that an additional 5 watts would provide, it' just not worth it the discomfort. BTW: Radioddity is another one of the ubiquitous Chinese consumer electronics companies that uses a relative's/friend's US address but ships from China--a marketing ploy I guess. Amazon's 'pre-warehoused' products may be an OK source, but they sure fool people on eBay, as I can testify! Just my two cents (which is, today, almost entirely worthless, monetarily) Steve - W7SJP
Totally agree. Note that you seem to feel comfortable with 5W, and that's within the guidelines, and I was mostly objecting to someone whose logic would make 1W HTs seem dangerous. You're also certainly right that the extra 3dB isn't all that much benefit. And they probably don't really hit their started numbers anyway!
Have you no sense of irony or humor? I quite like the name, and find RF exposure a more important topic in any case. Get your Alexa to tell you a few jokes or something.
For everyone freaking out over the 10 watts output the GA-510 puts out, do a little research on what these 5G towers they're surrounding us with, are exposing us to. It makes those measly 10 watts next to our heads seem like peanuts by comparison...not to mention the fact that there's probably a lot more radiation being released into our brains (and the rest of our bodies) by our 60 watt mobile radios and 100+ watt base stations, from those "insulated" RG cables (none of them are coated with lead, right? So where's the radiation protection?). Bottom line, anyone who knows some amateur radio basics will only be using those 10 watts under emergency conditions, but the rest of the time they'll simply use the usual 5 or 1 watt settings. Overall, the Radioddity GA-510 is a fine upgrade to the Baofeng UV-5R! 73s! KD2DKO