Can Radio Waves Penetrate Through a Solid Steel Box Enclosing an RF Transmitter?

[plimph]

Can radio waves propagate through the walls of a solid steel (1/2" wall thickness) box that completely encloses the RF transmitter? Do lower frequencies work better? Any insight would be great. I'm a newbie her, so please be gentle.

 

[berkeman]

Can radio waves propagate through the walls of a solid steel (1/2" wall thickness) box that completely encloses the RF transmitter? Do lower frequencies work better? Any insight would be great. I'm a newbie her, so please be gentle.

Yes, a good conductive enclosure can significantly attenuate the RF that can get through to the outside. The key concepts are how well the box is sealed (like if there are doors, they need RF gasketing), and the frequency of the RF versus the thickness of the material. This link to "skin depth" information at wikipedia.org should be of help to you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_depth

.

 

[Pumblechook]

Almost infinite attenuation at all frequencies I would have thought if the box is well sealed electrically all around the edges.