RF testing: Balistics Gel for human analog?

[fizz_it]

I am designing an antenna for a consumer product. The consumer will be very close to the device. I have designed antennas for products like this many times before and have the proper equipment to do so. It's low power, meets all FCC regs for our band etc...

I am tired of doing the antenna design with my hand and head next to the equipment while I do all of the fiddling.

Has anybody ever used Balistics Gel with salt added to simulate a body parts in close proximity of an antenna (near field) in the 300 to 500MHz band?

I have used water balloons filled with salt water before to simulate a users head but in this case I have to have a hand holding the equipment

Anybody use anything else to do this type of work?

Thanks

 

[vk6kro]

The safety levels for this have been established already and all you need to do is comply with them.

See the following
http://www.arrl.org/news/rfsafety/hbkrf.html
for some data on this or do a Google search for RF safety.

Ballistics gel is probably not suitable for this as it is not meant for RF work. You could contact the manufacturer and see if they have any suitable materials. This would only give you the heating effect of the RF, though, and not an indication of cell damage.

 

[berkeman]

I don't think he's concerned with health effects in this case, only the effects on RF propagation, given the proximity of conductive stuff nearby.

 

[vk6kro]

Yes. Could be.

If he isn't concerned about safety at that frequency, though, he probably should be. Especially if he makes a habit of it.

 

[dlgoff]

I have used water balloons filled with salt water before to simulate a users head but in this case I have to have a hand holding the equipment

My first thought was to do a similar thing with latex gloves. You would probably have to use something fairly viscous so they would hold their shape however.

 

[fizz_it]

Berkeman nailed it - I'm not interested in the safety but rather reflections that are caused by the proximity of the head and hands to the device. So far a plastic bucket of water and a dash of table salt has proved to be a fair approximation of a head but the hand is now what I have to simulate

dlgoff - I like the latex glove idea. I'll give it try. I can probably cut up some soda straws to provide stiffness and the water will fill in around that. Then go with the gel

I'll just try the gel as it is simple to create

Thanks