FieldSENSE RF Personal Monitors Verified By ACRBR

The ProHD® fieldSENSE personal RF monitor was recently put through rigorous validation testing. This work was carried out by the noted Australian Centre for Bioeffects Research (ACRBR) at Swinburne University of Technology in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia.

ACRBR independently tested the fieldSENSE monitor operation for continuous wave (CW) exposure and also for signals representative of real signals found at typical mobile base station transmitter sites.

Two sample fieldSENSE monitors (one occupational, one public) were provided by EMSS for calibration. The fieldSENSE monitors are stand-alone, battery powered, handheld devices designed for use by technical personnel working in the vicinity of mobile base station antennas. They give the user an indication of the radiofrequency (RF) electric (E) field exposure level relative to either the occupational or public reference levels prescribed by exposure limits in a nominated standard. The sample units provided for this calibration were designed to indicate relative exposure to the 1998 EMF exposure guidelines issued by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).

fieldSENSE Monitor Under Test

This calibration set out to assess whether the sample fieldSENSE devices that were provided perform within the manufacturer's uncertainty specifications, with due regard to the uncertainty of the ACRBR calibration procedure. The manufacturer EMSS has calculated the uncertainty in the E-field response of the fieldSENSE devices to be +3.3 / -3.6 dB over the full frequency range of operation.

The fieldSENSE monitors were calibrated for all seven LED response levels at 900 MHz and 1800 MHz (CW), and for the highest three of the seven LED response levels for GSM and DMA modulated signals. The tests were conducted by Dr. Vitas Anderson and Ray McKenzie.

The tests found that performance of the ProHD® fieldSENSE RF monitors was well within the manufacturer specification for all tested modalities.

For CW exposures at 900 and 1800 MHz, and in the configuration tested, the average error across all LED levels in E-field response of the sample occupational and public fieldSENSE monitors ranged from – 1.29 dB to +2.09 dB. This is well within the factory expanded uncertainty specifications of +3.3 / -3.6 dB. Compared to CW exposures, the fieldSENSE monitors responded differently to the digital modulated signals of GSM and WCDMA mobile network signals by up to 0.85 dB. However, these differences still place the fieldSENSE monitors well within the factory expanded uncertainty specifications of +3.3 / -3.6 dB.

Download the full testing report here. More about the fieldSENSE ProHD® monitor and your purchase connection is at http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/fieldsense-personal-rf-monitor.php.

LBA Group, Inc. has over 50 years of experience in providing worldwide RF asset solutions and electromagnetic energy risk management for industrial and telecommunications infrastructure. The group is comprised of LBA Technology, a leading manufacturer, distributor and integrator of radio frequency systems, lightning protection, and EMC equipment for broadcast, industrial, and government users; the professional technology consultancy Lawrence Behr Associates, and LBA University, providing on-site and online professional training. LBA has been recognized as an Inc5000 growth business, a Top50 diversity business in North Carolina and is a CMSDC certified Hispanic small business. The companies are based in Greenville, N.C., USA. Visit their homepage.