What if you think you have got radio frequency RF radiation [1] in your home but you do not want to, or cannot, go to the expense of buying a dedicated RF meter?
Worry not, you can use your portable AM radio to detect certain radio frequency (RF) sources, otherwise known as electromagnetic fields or EMFs.
How To Detect RF Radiation With Your AM Radio Step By Step
[2]Here is how you can detect RF radiation with your portable radio:
1. Turn your radio dial to the white noise between stations, where there is no radio signal.
2. Move around turning your radio antenna in all directions.
When you hear it start to hiss this means you are picking up static and that there is a source of radiofrequency radiation present.
Detect RF Radiation Using Your AM Radio – Different Sources
– place your AM radio near a Compact Fluorescent Bulb (CFL), switch it on and listen to what happens.
– hold your AM radio next to your electrical appliances and listed. Many of them are now being equipped with RF transmitters to link up with the smart meters which are being deployed
– move round your house holding your portable AM radio near your electrical sockets, if your radio starts to hiss as you are doing this this is a good indication that there is dirty electricity (a GS meter [3] will give you accurate readings).
You can buy a basic AM radio like the one shown above on Amazon.com [2].
Limitations Of Using Your AM Radio To Detect RF Radiation
You cannot use your AM radio to detect all sources of RF radiation. It won’t pick up certain sources, such as certain Wi-Fi and Wimax sources, which are too high a frequency and don't generate a strong enough electric field to create static.
In the absence of a sensitive RF meter [4] your AM radio can be a reliable indicator of where radiofrequency fields are present, given the limitations listed above.