"A Guide to Transponders in Sailplanes" - updated!

On Feb 15, 12:08 pm, Mike the Strike wrote:


A colleague who deals with radiation safety said that the argument
that low energy long-duration doses of radiation are equivalent to
high energy short duration doses is like equating jumping off a 3-foot
wall ten times with jumping off a 30-foot wall once.

It's my understanding that microwave radiation at these power levels
and the mass of tissue involved will primarily cause heating by
vibrating water molecules, and no significant ionization. The amount
of heating produced depends on the amount of energy delivered and the
amount of mass. So, 5 watts is the important number in this case, and
most of that will not be delivered to the body, but will be radiated
in directions away from the body.

I hope it's clear that I don't recommend putting the antenna close to
your body; however, it but that pilots have done it and have
apparently suffered no ill effects. Unfortunately, I don't know of any
documents addressing this question directly.