Comment Re:Safety (Score 1) 63
They may be, given the horrendous loss involved and the use of directional coupling. That 50 Watt limit is not absolute, it's more of a guideline for Amateur radio stations specifically, not all emitters. Your cell phone at < 4W is also closely regulated due to its proximity to human tissue. Please refer to the FCC RF exposure site for the full regs.
RF exposure is a function of frequency, duty cycle, distance, transmitter power, and antenna gain. I have a tiny 10mW 10GHz transmitter that couples its power via WR-90 waveguide. If my math is correct, that's 3.1 mW/cm^2 at the mouth of the waveguide - WAY over the exposure limit of 1.0 mW/cm^2 at 10 GHz for uncontrolled access.
Remember, sunburns are actually RF burns.