Detecting Radio Waves possible?

Question

Is there a device that can detect all the radio wave transmissions or general electromagnetic waves around me (you know from radio towers, cell phones/towers, etc), even the faint signals and can tell me their signal strength in watts?

Tx

Answer 1

Yes but it would cost a lot.

http://www.astro-canada.ca/_en/a3400.html

Answer 2

They are called field-strength meters. They are commercially available. They are generally calibrated in Volts/meter, but there are conversion factors to get to Watts from the readings. A very simple (and cheap) FSM is called a grid-dip meter.

Field strength meters are generally tuned to a narrow band of frequencies (one frequency).

To get a measure of ALL EM activity in a wider band (say, all UHF-TV, cell phones, and more) you use an EMI test set. These are also commercially available, and you buy wide-band antennas to cover a broad range of the EM spectrum. EMI test sets can be set to display Watts.

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Answer 3

by using fact the only indicators we've the technologies to seek for (SETI is often purely piggybacked onto different study instruments) are beacons interior the radio spectrum. IE intentionally set up omni-directional extreme capability radio indicators designed to announce somebody's presence. And for all all of us know, it is the equivalent of attempting to discover smoke indicators, IE there's no specific reason a complicated civilization might do this. we've not set up this form of beacon as an occasion, and no one is even calling for the belief. it could be insanely high priced for starters, and there is incredibly some people who might discover the belief of intentionally signalling our presence to extraterrestrial beings a foul concept. So in certainty we've not got here across something by using fact to this point the character of the technologies we've obtainable for SETI has limited our seek to an extremely limited subject of alien indicators, indicators that may not even exist. As our technologies improves this might get greater ideal. we are additionally very on the portion of being waiting to examine the atmospheres of planets around interior sight stars for their chemical parts as an occasion, and business pollution could be a lifeless giveaway. different seek technologies, like searching for laser indicators, are interior the pipeline. If there are extraterrestrial beings available, we can finally spot them. in certainty we are interior the very very early a while of SETI, it could be staggering if we had gotten effects so some distance, that we've not isn't any marvel at this element. it truly is fullyyt additionally a hazard there are no longer any extraterrestrial beings, or that they are so uncommon that the possibilities of looking them are actually 0. If a hundred years from we've got here across no extraterrestrial beings, properly then you truly can initiate getting discouraged.