ategories of green-safe, yellow-caution, and red-unsafe.
The downside of this meter is that it is only a single-axis meter. This means it can only read the radiation coming from the direction you are pointing it. So if you want to measure the radiation in any given spot, you need to rotate and point the meter at 8 different points/directions around in a complete circle – pausing at each new point to let it pick up the new reading. Obviously, this is going to be very tedious. But if budget is your primary concern, then this may be the option for you.
Also, for me, the other big drawback of this type of meter is the range it reads goes from ‘less than’ 20 microwatts/cm2 – ‘over’ 100 microwatts/cm2. Well, in Canada and the U.S., the upper allowable radiation limit is 1000 microwatts/cm2, so whilst this meter would be fine for Europe, Russia etc (where the upper limit is only 10 microwatts/cm2) it doesn’t provide enough information for North America. And yes, whilst obviously, anything over 10 microwatts/cm2 is not safe, I still want to know HOW much radiation over the safe limit my kids (and I!) are being exposed to.
The other feature about this meter you need to keep in mind is that it reads BOTH RF (radio frequency) microwave radiation and magnetic fields. So if you get an unsafe reading in your child’s classroom, for example, you won’t know whether that’s due to the WiFi or the lighting in the room – so you would need to turn off all the lights and unplug anything in the room. But again, if you don’t care about the details and budget is key, then this one may meet your needs.
This meter covers 50 Hz – 3 GHz – so it will give you readings for most cell phones, wireless computers and cell towers. However, the newer generation of cordless phones and other technology on the 5.8 GHz frequency will not be picked up by this meter. More details here… (scroll down the page)
2. E-Alert Meter ($29.95) – Another really simple RF meter – but like the one above, this one also measures magnetic fields, which is either a beneficial feature, or a confusing one – depending on your needs.
This one also does not give actual readings, but just has different colored lights: green-safe, yellow-caution, and red-unsafe. Also like the one above, this one is only a single-axis meter. This means it can only read the radiation coming from the direction you are pointing it. So if you want to measure the radiation in any given spot, you need to rotate and point the meter at 8 different points/directions around in a complete circle – pausing at each new point to let it pick up the new reading.
The better feature of this meter (over the Simple Radiation Meter above) is that covers 30 Hz – 5.5 GHz, so a much wider range of devices – but it still won’t catch the new 5.8 GHz cordless phones, baby monitors, etc.
It is also really small (keychain sized) only 1″x3″ – which again, may be a positive or a negative, depending on what you want it for. More details here… (scroll down the page)
3. Basic RF Meter ($89.95) – This is another simple RF Meter and this one ONLY measures radio frequency microwave radiation (not electrical, nor magnetic fields), so less room for confusion. This one only measures up to 58 microwatts/cm2, so same problem using in North America where our upper “safety” limit is 1000 microwatts/cm2 – you’ll know it’s unsafe, but you won’t know how bad it is.
Also like the meter above, this one is only single-axis. So you’ll have the same tedium of having to measure at 8 different points/directions around in a complete circle – pausing at each new point to let it pick up the new reading – to get an idea of what radiation exists in any one spot. The good part about this meter is that it will give you the actual meter reading (e.g. 18 mW/m2) PLUS give you the color-coded ranges of safe/green-caution/yellow-unsafe/red.
This meter covers 100 Hz – 3 GHz – so it will give you readings for most cell phones, wireless computers and cell towers. However, the newer generation of cordless phones and other technology on the 5.8 GHz frequency will not be pick