Post by GerryCan anyone help me with research for my degree.
I'm looking for information on ham radio enthusiasts who suffer from
manic depression (bipolar syndrome). I have a theory about rf fields
and their effect on electrical activity in the brain. I believe this
particular
form of mental illness could be specifically at risk.
Can you put me in contact with anyone who could help me?
Thanks
Gerry G.
Gerry,
Just a suggestion...
Ham radio is:
1) Mostly intermittent; i.e., many hams are only on for a couple of
hours per day or a few hours per week.
2) Hams are limited to 1000 watts of power (roughly speaking-please no
sniping on PEP and such), and many hams, for various reasons, do not run
that much power, but typically use about 100 watts output.
Therefore, you are putting several constraints on your study. Let me
offer the following suggestion:
Try studying the population near some high power commercial AM or FM
broadcast stations. The frequencies they use are a bit different than
the ham frequencies but they are using high power and are on around the
clock.
For example, the AM outlet of the TV station I worked for, was running
50,000 watts to a directional antenna system. (The TV and AM stations
were in two different suburbs, by the way). In the main lobe of this AM
antenna array, the power was closer to 500,000 watts ERP (effective
radiated power). The signal was so strong, people living in the main
lobe of the antenna pattern were getting sparks off the aluminum siding
of their houses and shocks off the rabbit ear antennas on their TV sets
(BTW, this was 30 years ago, so if you are younger, you may not even
know what 'rabbit ear antennas' are).
On the rare occasions that I visited the AM site, I remember wondering
what effect (if any) all that RF was having on the people that lived in
that neighborhood.
Good luck with your study!
Regards,
Carter K8VT