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Old 21st Jan 2011, 09:12
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IO540
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
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Yes - I used to be a radio ham in the 1960s (OK1OFA) and we could light up a small (very small, not 25W) bulb from a 80m shortware aerial strung between two blocks of flats.

That was just picking up the mix of normal distant broadcasts, mostly from outside the country; stuff like the BBC World Service

Near a transmitter I can imagine you would get a lot more power.

But at the same time there is no known effect on biology from radio frequencies, apart from the heating effect on tissues (the old mobile phone safety debate).

This is why GPS installations need to be done properly, with a rooftop aerial, RG400 cable, etc. GPS has a great property that if it fails it is normally really obvious (unlike navaids which can do all kinds of funny stuff) but it is of no help to the pilot if it stops working.
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