Subject: [Tweeters] Questions: birds & radio waves; crow roost
Date: Sep 10 16:09:57 2014
From: Roger Moyer - rogermoyer1 at hotmail.com


I am a radio broadcast engineer so I am not one who studies these topics. However, I have worked with what we in the industry call low and high power AM, FM, shortwave, and TV transmitters. Meaning from 1,000 to 50,000 watts on the AM side and from 1,000 to 100,000 watts on the FM side and up to 3.5 megawatts on a TV transmitter. On the AM side of things the tower is usually the antenna. While FM antennas are much smaller and are usually as high as you can get them for more distant coverage. That being said I can tell you that I have had birds at every antenna site where I have worked. From the Florida Keys, Fargo, North Dakota, Aberdeen, Washington, Las Cruces, NM to Guam, Costa Rica and Bolivia. We have had from Snow Buntings to various other types of sparrows right around the base of a 50KW AM transmitter. In Aberdeen we had an 2.5KW FM site where were Wilson's Warblers and other birds nesting right in the forest around the tower. Right now here in Las Cruces, NM I have large numbers of Mourning Doves, House Finches, Gambel's Quail and other birds sitting on guy wires at an AM/FM transmittersite. At another site a Red-tailed Hawk built a nest on a cell tower and raised a brew of young this summer. From my observations over the 14 years I have been a radio broadcast engineer the RF doesn't seem to bother the birds. So I would seriously doubt that they would be bothered by the microwatts a "smart meter" puts out.

Roger

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:35:52 -0700
From: r_craik at shaw.ca
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Questions: birds & radio waves; crow roost






Good luck on picking any reality out of
that search. CK Park hit the nail on the head.



On 10/09/2014 1:49 PM, Larry Schwitters wrote:


It's certainly a broader issue than just Renton.
Google "smart meters and their effect on wildlife".



Larry Schwitters
Issaquah


On Sep 10, 2014, at 1:09 PM, ck park wrote:


i keep wanting to write a scientific
explanation why smart meters (that transmit a maximum RF
on the order of microwatts) are not a danger. i kept
getting feedback from my mind saying folks weren't
interested in a detailed class on the math or the
physics. SO, i will suggest only that a basic
understanding of the inverse-square law would probably go
a long way towards calming your worries.







i can think of other more rational reasons why
the renton birder wasn't seeing as many birds, to
include unseen raptors (brought up in the article)
or chemical poisons in the neighbourhood... has
anyone checked with either the city of renton or
the gentleman in the article, which was written 18
months ago? perhaps someone has a preliminary
answer?






00 caren

http://www.ParkGallery.org

george davis creek, north fork




On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at
11:53 AM, Helen Gilbert <helen.gilbert at juno.com>
wrote:



Hi --

Has anyone heard of
bad impacts on birds from "smart
meters", which use radio waves to
communicate usage? City Light is looking
into using them. A Renton birder was
reported to have seen a dramatic
decrease in birds at his feeder after
the city brought in smart water meters.



http://www.rentonreporter.com/news/192319761.html





Second question: any idea if the
crows have started roosting in large
numbers yet? And is there a new roost
somewhere? I used to see all crows north
of the Ship Canel heading north to the
UW Bothell roost. But now I see many
going south.


Helen Gilbert




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--
Roger Craik
Maple Ridge BC



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