Household appliance interference due to broadcast transmitter (Australia)

(Sydney Morning Herald, 24th February 2003)

Residents living near the ABC's main radio transmitter at Liverpool have complained repeatedly of interference from the powerful signals it emits, amid concerns that planners have overlooked the impact of electromagnetic radiation on the area. Residents in a new housing estate at Prestons, which is across the road from the tower, have had the signal from the ABC radio station 702 interrupting phone calls, throwing lines across television screens and turning electronic equipment on and off without warning.

"There would be music at the back of our phone calls," one resident, Arvin Prasad, said. "Telstra kept saying it was not their problem but finally they fixed it. They put some kind of filter on the lines." Another resident, Marina Baldin, said: "1 had one of those touch lamps. It used to go off and one by itself. I got rid of it."

The Herald reported last week that the five AM radio transmitters at Homebush Bay will have to be moved because Planning NSW has given approval for a multistorey building 200 metres from the 2UE-2SM transmitter. No one is yet living at Homebush Bay, and the issue is who will pay the $40 million cost of moving the transmitters.

But at Prestons people have been living for more than a year in two-s.torey houses within 350 metres of the ABC tower. The ABC broadcasts at 50 kilowatts - ten times the power of the AM stations at Homebush. The packaging company Amcor, which is investigating a new plant on the old Liverpool showground site 400 metres away, commissioned a study which yielded alarming results. Readings at ground level were well below safe levels for non-ionising electromagnetic radiation, but at five metres were above the safe limit. The company has been advised it would need to shield equipment in the factory to avoid malfunctions.

The ABC's director of technology, Colin Knowles, disputed the Amcor findings yesterday, saying the ABC's own testing at Prestons showed radiation levels were well below those permitted under Australian standards. "This is the same problem that airports experience. People complain about airport noise, but they build out near the airport," he said.

The ABC tower has been at Liverpool for 67 years. One resident who complained to the ABC was told to direct his concerns to Liverpool Council, which gave permission for the new housing development. A council spokesman was not available yesterday.

Government admits radio towers, units were too close

(Sydney Morning Herald, 18th February 2003)

Eastern Creek has emerged as a possible site for Sydney's five commercial AM radio transmitters as the NSW Government admitted yesterday it approved residential development too close to the Homebush Bay towers. The Opposition has said the 1998 decision to allow Payce Constructions to build a 1200-unit residential development within 200 metres of the tower used by 2SM and 2UE was "a first-class bungle", But the Minister for Planning, Andrew Refshauge, said his department had acted with the best evidence before it and that no one had raised the issue of electromagnetic radiation from the towers when the masterplan was advertised in 1998. "There was no information to suggest radio broadcasts would cause any problem despite the fact the proposal was advertised widely. There was no submission made that would suggest that there was any problem."

The Herald reported yesterday that the Australian Communications Authority had warned PlanningNSW 14 months ago that there were concerns about electromagnetic radiation from the tower, which could cause serious interference with electrical and electronic equipment. The authority also raised potential health risks associated with exposure to high-powered electromagnetic radiation. Waterside, being built in Bennelong Road, is so close to the tower used by 2UE and 2SM that it is within the "drop zone" - the area usually kept clear in case a tower falls. This occurred recently in Brisbane, when DMG's tower was sabotaged and toppled, putting the station off air for several days.

The Opposition spokesman on planning, Andrew Humpherson, yesterday accused the Government of trying to cover up the debacle which he said had exposed taxpayers to substantial costs and claims for compensation, not just from the radio stations, but also from the developer and people who had bought the units. "We need answers. Just what was the Government aware of in 1998?" Mr Humpherson said. Dr Refshauge's office said yesterday that there had been no submission from the broadcasters when the 1998 plan for residential development was exhibited. But the chief executive of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, said the industry had commented on the plan.

PlanningNSW, the Sydney Olympic Park Authority, broadcasters and the Australian Communications Authority are studying Eastern Creek as a relocation option.

Pop-up toasters in Dorset speak Russian

(Sunday Times 12th May 2002)

Villagers in Dorset were baffled when their pop-up toasters began to speak Russian. Phones and other electrical appliances in Hooke also chatter away in foreign languages and play music. The phenomenon has been blamed on a powerful radio transmitter in nearby Rampisham that transmits BBC World Service.

John Dalton, chairman of the parish council, says: "I've heard foreign voices through an electric organ. And I was amazed when I got the World Service signature tune through a toaster".

Rampisham's effect on aircraft

This author also has a story about Rampisham. Some years ago I was in a small and rather elderly light aircraft, with limited navigation instruments, flying from Goodwood in Sussex to Dunkeswell in Devon. Visibility wasn't that good, and the countryside en route had no major towns (after Southampton) or other features to navigate by. After signing off from air traffic control at Southampton I didn't expect to make radio contact again until we approached our destination. But some way into the flight, I began hearing unidentifiable but typically Asian voices on the headset. I changed radio channel, but the voices persisted, and slowly got louder. I tried turning the volume control down, but it had no effect. Looking out of the window, the murk was increasing; I was starting to think of those stories of the Bermuda Triangle and wondering if the whole aircraft had somehow been transported, without us noticing, to Kyrgyzstan. But it still looked like the English countryside below. Finally the voices got so loud that I was on the verge of deciding on a diversion back to base on grounds of deteriorating mental state, as well as being temporarily uncertain of my position (aero-speak for "lost"), when during the turn I looked down and there, right below me, were the masts of the antenna farm at Rampisham.

The penny dropped. Rampisham has a HIRTA (High Intensity Radio Transmitting Area) around it - see map. It extends up to 2500 feet. Pilots are advised to avoid it. It needs to be respected! But at least I knew where I was - and continued on to the destination, with the voices gradually fading away.