Steve G1KQH has told me of a link that I was not aware about. According to a video on the Essex Ham website OFCOM has held consultations which could mean in future radio amateurs may have to know their EIRP either by calculating or measuring it.
As a dedicated QRP man this does not bother me, but if OFCOM ever investigated an interference complaint they could ask for a risk assessment. Imagine if you ran full legal power and a big HF beam.
This is rather overblown I think. I just calculated for 400W on 20m assuming 6dBi gain. This gives a separation of 12.7m. However, that assumesg full-power key-down over 6 minutes. If you assume FT8, with a TX duty of about 40%, then the separation figure falls to 8m. How many large HF beams will point directly at a human within 8m distance? If we assume that the gain under the beam is that of a dipole, then any sensible mast height will put you at a safe distance.
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