KØHB wrote:

"Mike Coslo" wrote


And that 50 watts affects calss A different than Class B?


Of course not. (This is another of those 'novel' questions.)

But my intention is that the Class B (learners permit with training wheels)
test be ultra simple, to allow as many applicants as possible. For that
reason, requiring qualification in esoterica like "Biological Effects and
Exposure Criteria for Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields" is
inappropriate. Thus the 50W power level recommended by the NCRP and
ANSI/IEEE ensures a modicum of safety for these beginners.

I would counter that it is a good idea for the initiate to know right
off the blocks that RF has some potential problems associated with it.

And while everyone talks about RF exposure, there are other problems
associated with RF that a person should know before they are allowed to
legally operate a rig. I had a problem trying to tune a longwire once,
and my trusty MFJ tuner nailed me good - bad knob design - it shouldn't
have the metal rim on the knob, which allows for some capacitive
coupling, so it seems. RF burns hurt! Power was probably around 50 watts.

I think the responsible thing to do, if safety is a concern, would be
to get those safety guidelines out of the way BEFORE going to advanced
licenses.


I also hope that your regulations would prohibit the Class B hams from
making or using a magloop antenna. I just did some calcs on a small
magloop for 40 meters, and at 50 Watts there is almost 5 kV across the
tuning cap. Ouch!


In the process of preparing for Class A (without training wheels) license,
the candidate would need to explore the RF-exposure safety issues which
would be on the qualification test. Then we could expect that they'd have
some appreciation of the hazards and how to ensure that their station is
engineered in compliance with the MPE criteria mandated by 97.13(c).

I think the candidate needs to know the safety issues long before this.
If the potential ham is smart enough to learn them for class A, they
should be smart enough to learn them for class B. If safety is first,
they shouldn't learn it second.