By the time you read this, you SHOULD be at the annual IEEE EMC Society’s Symposium in Denver, CO. At least I hope you are! I know that the fiscal environment is tight these days, and if you happen to work for the US DoD and/or are a contractor supporting the US DoD, funding travel is almost impossible. I suspect that numbers will be down, but hopefully not down too much. … [Read more...]
OMB Circular A-11: Preparation, Submission and Execution of the Budget
What’s that you say? What does OMB Circular A-11 have to do with anything EMC related? That’s a pretty good question, and one that I would have asked myself. Until I read (because it was pointed out to me) section 31-12 of the latest edition of the Circular. It starts off:“The value of radio spectrum required for telecommunications, radars, and related systems should be … [Read more...]
Commercial EMI Standards vs. MIL-STD-461 … Now What?
I seem to hear a never ending litany of complaints about how the US military acquisition community has to use more and more commercial equipment (COTS or CI) and that said equipment tends to be highly problematic from an EMC perspective. I tend to dwell on this subject in this blog space, hopefully from different angles, but at the end of the day, I don’t see much being done … [Read more...]
Apples and Oranges … If Only!
Military use of commercial equipment has grown exponentially over the last decade; and not just in the area of whole equipment, which is easy to see. The use of commercial components and subassemblies within systems has grown as well, so that parts of what look like a full military development effort are actually commercial items. What’s an DoD EMC engineer to do? I wish … [Read more...]
And Now, a Shameless Plug….
The Joint Spectrum Center (part of DISA for those of you who support the US DoD) sponsors and populates the premier electromagnetic environmental effects and spectrum supportability web site on the World Wide Web.We in the business know that compliance with Spectrum Supportability (SS) requirements and control of electromagnetic environmental effects (E3) can be critical … [Read more...]
Do You Feel Lucky?
Do You Feel Lucky? Well do ya…..PUNK?Classic line from a classic movie, Dirty Harry, who was also in the Enforcer. Frankly I forget which one came first. So who is our enforcer of electromagnetic environmental effects (E3) requirements, specifically for US DoD program? The requirement to field electromagnetically compatible systems is mandated in DoD … [Read more...]
Where are the Resumes?
Sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle to come up with something relevant to write. I try to write about topical subjects in EMC or spectrum supportability, but sometimes things are just slow. Right now we’re trying to hire a RF Spectrum engineers for some Navy work and it's just hard to find quality resumes. I started wondering why, and I’ve concluded it’s a combination of high … [Read more...]
Personnel Certification – What’s in it for Me?
I have recently heard, as part of some of my activity with the IEEE EMC Society (which really should be a lot more than it is (my activity, not the EMCs!), but that’s another story), questions about what iNARTE should do for us, as certified EMC Engineers. The gist of the question is: what is the overall benefit to the EMC Society and its members from iNARTE and having one … [Read more...]
Spectrum Soapbox
“Soapbox: Also, soap box; an improvised platform, as one on a street, from which a speaker delivers an informal speech, an appeal, or political harangue” (dictionary.com).Well, it may feel like a harangue, but the fact is that the U.S. Department of Defense remains on its soapbox about the potential impacts of continuing changes in the arena of spectrum use. … [Read more...]
Talking Smack….
So, I attend regular US DoD E3 meetings—aptly titled the DoD E3 Integrated Program Team (IPT) and chaired by the Defense Spectrum Office—held monthly and attended by representatives of the four services, the DoD CIO’s office, the Joint Staff and others. A majority of the discussion these days centers on spectrum activity, rather than purely E3 discussion (those days are … [Read more...]
