More Radio waves in more places

bike's picture
One thing that just dawned on me is the complete lack of information and discussion about the proposed 911 "solution" regarding the increase in radio waves that will hit our island.

When the Lasqueti Broadband was first proposed, the human health impacts of increased exposure to radio waves were one of the primary topics debated and examined.  If my memory serves me (and it often doesn't), that discussion took close to 2 years before the service came into being.

As one of two people (that I'm aware of) that actually read all of the information, the wireless technology that our Broadband system uses is very low power and can not penetrate forest.  That's why my radio antenna is 40' above the ground.

In my reading, I learned that TV and Radio broadcasts using VHF and UHF were the real health compromisers.  They are high power and do penetrate most things, including forest and buildings (and us).  And that is what is being imposed upon us if the bureaucrats win the day.

Mt. Davies overlooks our island from Texada; there were a few dark areas in the map the 911 techie showed us, but most of Lasqueti would be hit by a tower located on Mt. Davies.  What isn't hit will be hit from Errington.

This radiation will be emitted constantly; I don't know if that means every millisecond or every few seconds, but it won't be turned off until there is a need for it.  Radio pagers are similar to cell phones in that they need to be in contact with the tower serving them constantly.

Perhaps that is why the Public Information meeting was saved for the time when Lasqueti's on-island population hits its lowest point in the year?

I have no doubt that our Fire Dept and First Responders want to serve us the best that they can; some (not all) believe that the 911 "solution" will improve their service.  But clearly there has not been any discussion or investigation into whether this "solution" will actually compromise our health, rather than preserve it.

Daily, nay, continuous doses of radiation versus a few minutes less time in response to a handful of medical emergencies (I don't know how many a year) and 1 or 3 fire calls per year.

I choose longer response times and no increase in radiation, thank you.
Dave

Comments

The proposed radio system

The proposed radio system (and the existing radios used by our first responders) work by transmitting only when someone is speaking or when tones are being sent (for the pagers). Thus, there is no RF energy being broadcast during 99.99%+ of the time. (assuming the radios are used 8 minutes per day, on average)

This is unlike cell towers and radio and television transmitters, which are broadcasting continuously, and are also unlike smart meters, which in aggregate, transmit very frequently.

Talking about the health effects of RF is a much longer discussion, but regardless, the desires of people on Lasqueti to avoid RF exposure needs to be respected.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
CAPTCHA
This question tests whether you are a human visitor, to prevent spam submissions.
The answer can easily be found on this site if you don't know it.
Don't stress - if you get it wrong, you'll get another chance, just try again :-)
1 + 9 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.