Read other posts in the "Elephant in the Test Room" series here. I apologize for the prolonged absence, my attention was drawn elsewhere for a while – back in the saddle now for the foreseeable future at a rate of at least one blog post per month.For this new raft of posts, I decided to highlight open EMC controversies that everyone seems to know about, yet few talk about. I … [Read more...]
Upcoming Revision to the Medical Standard
We asserted last time that the existing amplifiers in the current test set up might be used to generate the higher stress levels if the test distance was reduced from 3 meters to 1 meter. As a reminder, we argued that testing at 1 meter means testing takes place in the near field as is the case for the threats faced by medical equipment (nearby cellphones etc.). Using the same … [Read more...]
Comment from Blog Reader Plus Test Field Calculations
Before launching into calculating the power required to create the test fields proposed by the upcoming medical standard, we have a comment from a blog reader on the realistic threats faced by electronic equipment….Comment from blog reader:I think the real question here is valid for all testing. Do we test according a repeatable verifiable and implementable and above all safe … [Read more...]
The EMC Community Perspective
As indicated in a previous blog post, it seems hard to justify the rationale behind testing medical equipment for RF immunity at 3m distance. It is this greater test distance (as opposed to the 1m test distance accepted in automotive and MIL-STD testing) that is driving the high price of the replacement amplifiers. A change from the current test field strength of 10v/m @ 3m to … [Read more...]
Part II: The Impact of the Upcoming Medical RF Immunity Revision
The test-house manager’s perspective continued: At well over a quarter of a million dollars just to replace the existing 26-1000MHz amplifier and the same again to cover 1-6GHz at 200W (will take two amplifiers), the test manager will need to justify half a million dollars for the amplifiers alone. And the total will likely rise to around $600,000 or more with other equipment … [Read more...]
Impact of the Upcoming Medical RF Immunity Revision
As indicated last time, there are two key parties with a vested interest in the outcome of the upcoming Medical RF immunity revision:The test house manager who has to justify an upgrade to his test system to the people holding the purse strings.His customer, the company wishing to sell medical equipment compliant with the revised standard.I shall add a third … [Read more...]
Welcome!
Welcome to the EMC Zone, an avenue for discussion on the current issues affecting today’s EMC industry.This inaugural posting concerns a hot topic in the industry - the current state of revision to Medical Standard 60101, specifically as regards proposed changes to the RF immunity stress levels / test-bands.At last year’s Long Beach symposium, the word around the water cooler … [Read more...]
