The Cassiopea Project

The Council of the City and County of Swansea and Vodafone have teamed up to address public concerns about emissions from mobile phone masts with a pioneering scheme to provide 24-hour monitoring.

A central unit, named Cassiopea, continuously records emissions from mobile phone base stations, and other sources, and sends this data to a data server at the Councils Pollution Control Division office.  Here the data is processed and published on the councils website. 

An easy-to-read graph shows total emission levels set against the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) precautionary health guidelines.  Similar collaborative exercises are being undertaken in England and have also been carried out in Greece and Italy.

The Cassiopea unit has been supplied by independent manufacturers.  Vodafone has assisted with the initial installation of the unit and will continue to provide technical support as and when necessary.

The Cassiopea Unit is solar-powered and can be housed in a discreet pole or roof-mounted box.  It monitors Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) from a range of sources, including emissions from TV and radio, as well as from nearby mobile phone base stations.  The frequencies monitored range from 500 Kilohertz to 3 Gigahertz.  EMF data is then sent automatically to a Swansea Council server and from there, after conversion to a graph, to the local authority website.

It is worth emphasising that Cassiopea monitors emissions from ALL sources and does not report levels attributable to mobile phone installations only.

Careful location of the unit will enable residents in those areas to obtain information relating directly to the area in which they live or work and it is the intention that the unit will be relocated at intervals to different locations throughout the City and County area.