Are our phones, computers & wireless devices safe?

[petermisc]

Well if it concerns you that much add tinfoil slippers to the tinfoil hat I suggested earlier. 

  I've just thought, I hold on to the cable when I'm using the vacuum cleaner, I'm surprised I'm not dead or at least glowing in the dark.

You misunderstand.  I am not concerned about the radiation given off by overhead power lines.  But if I were, I would have to be even more concerned about the radiation given off by my mains wiring.

[daviemac]

You misunderstand.  I am not concerned about the radiation given off by overhead power lines.  But if I were, I would have to be even more concerned about the radiation given off by my mains wiring.

I don't 'misunderstand' I don't understand your concerns at all so I'll leave it there and let you get on with worrying about whatever it is you're worried about. 

[petermisc]

I suspect that a key difference, apart from  the voltage being up to 2000-times lower is that domestic cables carry both live and neutral conductors in close proximity so they generate equal and opposite fields. Obviously not the case with overhead cables.  Howver, it's many years since I studied physics so am happy to be contradicted by someone appropriately qualified.

The fields given off by the live and neutral conductors only balance out if you are equidistant from the live and neutral.  The power lines carried on pylons are three-phase.  Assuming the three phases are carrying the same loads, they only exactly balance out if you are equidistant from them - in other words, somewhere in the middle between the three lines.  Not a very safe place to be!  However, although the fields given off by three phase lines are unlikely to balance out if you are standing under them, in most cases they do tend to balance out better than the fields given off by L&N lines/cables.

If you are in a house under a pylon line, your house will help to shield you from the radiation being given off by the power line.  Whereas the ring main and other cabling in your house generally run under the floor-boards and in the ceiling immediately above you, giving you very little shielding.

When you say that the voltage on the pylons is 2000 times greater than that in domestic cables, you are confusing single-phase and three-phase voltages.  The 240v domestic single-phase supply is one phase of a 415v three-phase supply.  So the voltage on the pylons is only 1000 times higher if you compare like for like.

And anyway, it is the current being carried that is critical when considering the size of the magnetic field being given off.  And the reason the grid uses such high voltages, is to minimise the currents being transmitted.

[petermisc]

I don't 'misunderstand' I don't understand your concerns at all so I'll leave it there and let you get on with worrying about whatever it is you're worried about.

You keep claiming that I have concerns and worries about either power lines or domestic wiring, so you obviously misunderstand.

The point I am making is that there is no point in worrying about the fields you might receive from overhead power lines, when we are quite happy to receive far greater from our domestic wiring.  And I was very careful there to say "receive" (as opposed to the fields they give off).

[daviemac]

You keep claiming that I have concerns and worries about either power lines or domestic wiring, so you obviously misunderstand.

The point I am making is that there is no point in worrying about the fields you might receive from overhead power lines, when we are quite happy to receive far greater from our domestic wiring.  And I was very careful there to say "receive" (as opposed to the fields they give off).

Look mate, I've already shown that you have no clue what you are talking about so leave me out of it.

I don't 'misunderstand' I don't understand your concerns at all so I'll leave it there and let you get on with worrying about whatever it is you're worried about.

[Doc Holliday]

On occasions, there can be quite a delay before a text message gets through.  Do pagers suffer from the same?

The pager message is always almost instantaneous (up to 10 secs I think from memory?). However it is a one off transmission and if very occasionally it isn't received, then its lost unless resent.

As you say there can be delay with text messages via phones dependent on signal strength and how busy the network is etc, but the system will keep re sending it until it is hopefully delivered. In an emergency situation that potential delay is not ideal.

[lamboman]

You keep claiming that I have concerns and worries about either power lines or domestic wiring, so you obviously misunderstand.

The point I am making is that there is no point in worrying about the fields you might receive from overhead power lines, when we are quite happy to receive far greater from our domestic wiring.  And I was very careful there to say "receive" (as opposed to the fields they give off).

 

[petermisc]

As you say there can be delay with text messages via phones dependent on signal strength and how busy the network is etc, but the system will keep re sending it until it is hopefully delivered. In an emergency situation that potential delay is not ideal.

I had assumed that when I got the message "It has not been possible to deliver your message" (or such like), that the system had given up on trying to send it?

[Watts.E.Dunn]

On occasions, there can be quite a delay before a text message gets through.  Do pagers suffer from the same?

Not normally though. A pager message is sent as its received, the sending transmitter has no way of knowing that it has been received from the Pager. So its sent then thats that. Normally such as Hospital pagers have a quite powerfull transmitter that easly saturates the building with signal.

Whereas a text sent to a mobile has an ACK (acknowlogment) back else it can do store and forward, if it can't send the txt or get an Ack back, it can wait then do a retry ands retry again.

[Marmalade]

The more obvious safety concern I would have thought is External Link/Members Only

And if your Alexa isn’t safe possibly Siri as well.

[David1970]

We know that radiation is harmful but there are mixed messages on whether radiation from our phones, tablets and the Googles and amazon products are harming our health due to radiation exposure. 

On one hand I think it is safe for the majority of us to use them because some houses have got wireless devices in every room. On the other hand apparently it would take years to get brain tumour after being exposed to radiation so you may not know the effect till then which then makes it harder to determine whether the cause was the radiation.   

Best thing to do it throw all your electronics in a lead bin, go to a deep bunker with some cans of food and a big bottle of water. I will phone you when it’s ok to come out.

[Blackpool Rock]

Best thing to do it throw all your electronics in a lead bin, go to a deep bunker with some cans of food and a big bottle of water. I will phone you when it’s ok to come out.

That will be the electronic phone that's in the lead bin then  I have a cunning plan 

[David1970]

That will be the electronic phone that's in the lead bin then  I have a cunning plan 

I was hoping he would fall for it and stay in the bunker, but you have foiled my cunning plan