Before You Build

About this book

Most injuries in amateur radio come from putting antennas up, not from the transmitter, and every UK amateur has a licence, an exposure condition and neighbours to think about. This book brings together what every builder needs first: how to stay safe, what the law requires, and the essentials that make every antenna easier.

• Safety: ladders and working at height, overhead power lines, masts, trees and throw lines, lightning, UK mains earthing (PME), high voltage and RF burns.
• The 15-point "Before you go up" checklist, ready to copy.
• The law: licence power limits, the Ofcom exposure condition with compliance distances worked out with Ofcom's own calculator, planning permission, leases and neighbours.
• Essentials: what an antenna does, reading NEC patterns and SWR curves, the choke at the feed point, cutting and trimming.
• A fault-finding sequence for when nobody hears you.

The companion to every Aerial Works build book. Each build book summarises these rules in its opening chapters; this is the full version, with every regulation dated and referenced.