How can antennae hurt you?

[Der_Trihs]

@Roland Orzabal

Anecdotal it may be, but I can testify firsthand that you can cook hot dogs by putting them on very long sticks and holding them in front of the microwave antenna of the local NBC affiliate.

I can also testify secondhand, having seen the evidence, that however sure you are that four people who work there are lying to you that the above is possible, it is still not a good idea to climb up and place your hand directly in front of same to test your theory.

Make of that what you will.

As I recall, the idea of microwave cookery came about because some engineer or scientist noticed the candy bar in his shirt pocket melted from walking in front of a powerful radio wave transmitter

[XT]

@Roland Orzabal

Feel free to argue the point all the live long day, but I’ve done it, and it works. As mentioned above, I’ve also seen the burns on the hand of the last guy who tried to prove us wrong about it. Mythbusters can say whatever they like, but I tend to believe things I’ve actually done over statements from pseudoscientific television programs.

As you say…feel free to believe what you like. I tend to believe things I’ve seen tested to anecdotal information myself. I’ve seen to many folks who claim all kinds of stuff (UFO’s, Bigfeet, WMD, etc etc) to take any claim at face value. I wouldn’t call Mythbusters ‘pseudoscientific’ either…though of course you are correct that it IS a television program.

Out of curiosity, since you say you saw the show…what is your explanation for their results? Are you saying that the ships radar is less powerful than whatever you have seen in your experience? How about the microwave uplink at point blank range? Or was the turkey a bad test?

@Roland Orzabal

If you ever make it over to the Great South East, stop on by and I’ll prove it firsthand; I still have some contacts at the station. The hot dogs are on me.

If I ever do I would be more than interested in seeing it first hand…well, at a safe range anyway.

-XT

[Q.E.D]

@xtisme

…what is your explanation for their results? Are you saying that the ships radar is less powerful than whatever you have seen in your experience? How about the microwave uplink at point blank range? Or was the turkey a bad test?

A turkey is at least a couple orders of magnitude more massive than a hot dog. Put an average turkey in a microwave oven for five minutes and it will barely get warm. Put a hot dog in for the same length of time, and it will quite overdone and possibly on fire.

[XT]

Wouldn’t a human be the same thing then (i.e. wouldn’t a turkey be a good human analogue)?

BTW, if you saw the episode they actually put the turkey in the path of the microwave transmitter (and the ships radar) for an hour…you should be able to cook a turkey in a microwave in an hour I should think.

I’m just curious why their results were so different than what people here are saying. The turkey basically heated 20 degrees (and IMHO that was probably because it was in the sun as much as anything) when in the path of the microwave uplink running at full bore…and dropped 5 degrees (probably from the spinning and wind I suppose) when at point blank range of the ships radar.

-XT

[dmatsch]

@xtisme

Wouldn’t a human be the same thing then (i.e. wouldn’t a turkey be a good human analogue)?

BTW, if you saw the episode they actually put the turkey in the path of the microwave transmitter (and the ships radar) for an hour…you should be able to cook a turkey in a microwave in an hour I should think.

I’m just curious why their results were so different than what people here are saying. The turkey basically heated 20 degrees (and IMHO that was probably because it was in the sun as much as anything) when in the path of the microwave uplink running at full bore…and dropped 5 degrees (probably from the spinning and wind I suppose) when at point blank range of the ships radar.

-XT

Because the rigs that were used in this episode have considerably less power than the station antenna or - in my case - a microwave signal that has to make it from Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado to Offut AB in Nebraska.

Even naval radars (like the one they used) have suprisingly low power.

There were strict protocols that sent an airman immediately to the infirmary for tests for even the slightest accidental exposure to the signal we sent out. Tests incuding full oncology tests and CAT scans.

[mks57]

@xtisme

I’m just curious why their results were so different than what people here are saying. The turkey basically heated 20 degrees (and IMHO that was probably because it was in the sun as much as anything) when in the path of the microwave uplink running at full bore…and dropped 5 degrees (probably from the spinning and wind I suppose) when at point blank range of the ships radar.

As dmatsch has mentioned, much of it has to do with output power. I used to work around a steerable dish antenna that was fed by a 20 kW (continuous output) klystron. The combination of high power and a high-gain antenna produced an effective radiated power of 250 MW. Standing in front of that antenna when it was radiating at full power would be suicidal. You would be like a little ant under a large magnifying glass at high noon.

Radar systems typically have large peak power and low average power. The average power is what cooks the turkey.