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“Fried pigeon anyone?”

Frequencies? Power levels?

I found an absolutely gorgeous ten acre lot that was wonderfully located. It was covered with mature trees. It was amazingly cheap. I couldn’t believe my luck. It was a short drive from town and everything around it was developing like mad. I was chomping at the bit. My realtor said, “Okay, calm down. This has been on the market for a full ten years. The price has dropped every few months. It has major power lines running down the center.” I said, “I don’t care. There’s a couple of beautiful spots where you can’t even see the power lines.” She said, “People won’t buy it from you. You can build your dream home, but you won’t even be able to get your costs out of it.” Why? People are afraid of the power levels hurting their health. Now, I cut my teeth as a radio engineer. We are bombarded by radiation from the sun our entire life. We can’t see it or hear it, but it’s there. I have measured it. There is no evidence that “radiation” from power lines does anything to our health. None. But, common sense prevailed. (Okay, it took some beating, but I finally agreed. And, that lot is vacant today and not on the market.)

Now, about microwaves. Yeah, you can be injured or killed by them. I worked for a company called EMR, which, back in the fifties (long before me) had built a mobile radar. Two techs were out in the field with it. They were arguing over a girl. While one of them sat some distance away eating lunch, the other turned the antenna on him and cranked up the power. The guy eating lunch died. Now that is an unusual circumstance. Typically, microwave towers are high up and the “lobes” (oblong areas that are on the sides and behind the antenna which receive some amount of power that is not being sent downrange) are set so they won’t hurt people. But, believe me, long term exposure to high frequency, high power is bad for your health. (It’s the same way you cook food in a microwave oven.)

I don’t see this catching on. Maybe in really remote areas, but it will likely kill wildlife. (Of course, dead eagles are okay if you’re running a windmill. But harm a single feather and it’s a $15,000 find and a possible several years in jail in Florida.)