Heatwave in between a monopole antenna and the ground counterpoise

Hi all,

I have a unit with monopole antenna which radiates at 800MHz. I can feel there is a heat wave coming in between the antenna and the ground counterpoise. is this normal? the power is around 3 watt. is it due to antenna mismatch or how to we curb this problem? thanks.

regards
spid3rx

For it to heat up, there must be a high current flowing at that point, AND a lossy metal. What is the metal you are using?

its a stainless steel metal. is it when high current flow through that part, we can feel the radiation "heat" wave? thanks

Or is it the power amp under the enclosure?

The highest RF current in a monopole antenna is where you mentioned.
Is normal (for some people) starting with approximately 3W RF power (or above) to feel the heat of the RF.

To check the antenna matching, you need a VSWR meter or a network analyzer. But you should remove your hand from the antenna,
because it changes the antenna impedance considerably.:D

..... and you are on the verge of suffering RF burns ... mmmmm nasty!

Dave
VK2TDN

thanks all for the comments.
At first I suspected the mismatch, I measured and the worst for one of the particular frequency is 3.8 : 1.0 , will this be sufficient to cause RF burns?
if hand touch, yes, it will improves the VSWR.

after a couple of tests including thermal scan, i am starting to suspect that when the hand touch the grounding of the antenna, the RF is flowing through the finger and cause the burn "heat" sensation.

anyway, will anyone experience like there is a heat (RF) wave coming out from an antenna when our hand is close to it? with only 3 watt of power? will this be frequency dependency to feel it ? I can feel like its intermittent heat wave.

btw the rf amp is not in the same enclosure. so I rule that possibility out.