Most magazines like to review the top ten most viewed articles this time of year and Interference Technology is no different. We think our readers and authors are awesome and enjoy highlighting some of the most popular articles to date. So, here we go: What is differential and common mode current, by Ron Brewer. Unwanted conductive and radiative emissions can be … [Read more...]
Review of MIL-STD-461 CE106 Conducted Emissions, Antenna Port
Introduction Let’s take on the challenging evaluation of detection and measurement of antenna port emissions – the unintentional emissions that creep through the device circuitry and are presented to the world through an intentional wireless connection. We are NOT going into an in-depth study of antennas and we are NOT exploring what the unintentional signals may reveal. … [Read more...]
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: EN 60601-1-2 fourth edition
We are getting closer and closer: at the end of this year the new version of the standard concerning EMC tests and measurements on medical electrical equipment will become reality… yes, the old one will be superseded. This change will influence (actually is already doing that) the whole approach to the EMC testing of these devices… on both sides! On one side, the EMC … [Read more...]
What You See With Near Field Probes (part 2) ….
In the second part of this topic I will explain how to understand the output of a square magnetic near field probe. My good friend Doug C. Smith explained me this idea many years ago and it is really useful for EMI troubleshooting. In my last post (June 2018), I reviewed the response of a magnetic near field probe. The conclusion was basically that the output voltage … [Read more...]
DIY Near Field Probes & Preamplifiers
Introduction A very useful tool for troubleshooting EMC issues is the near field probe. Due to its small size (compared against antennas) the most common use of these tools is to aid in detection of the source of a particular signal (emission), or as a local field-generating source (immunity), helping you to find weak spots in your device under test. There are several options … [Read more...]
DO-160 Critical Sections – Cable Bundle for Indirect Lightning
In the last article of critical DO-160 sections we talked about pin injection testing for indirect lightning. Like pin injection, cable bundle is under Section 22.0 of DO-160. However, cable bundle is a completely different beast and warrants its own discussion. For future articles we will also be discussing the following sections of DO-160 so stay tuned for more great … [Read more...]
Design for DO-160 Pin Injection for Indirect Lightning
In my first article, I gave an overview of RTCA’s DO-160 and the electrical EMC sections that it entails. In the next few articles I will be discussing the most critical EMC section of DO-160. Critical sections DO-160 Sect 16.0 - Power Input Sect 20.0 - Radio Frequency Susceptibility (Radiated and Conducted) Sect 21.0 - Emission of Radio Frequency … [Read more...]
Interview: Dr. Ralf Heinrich discusses the new IEC 61000-4-31 immunity standard
Does your product use AC mains <16A? IEC 61000-4-31 relates to the conducted immunity of electrical and electronic equipment to electromagnetic disturbances coming from intended and/or unintended broadband signal sources in the frequency range 150 kHz up to 80 MHz. In this blog post, Kenneth Wyatt, Senior Technical Editor at Interference Technology, spends some … [Read more...]
RFID Takes AIM
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been in use for the last 50 years. The technology is used as an identifier of a device for inventory or status tracking. It serves similar functionality as bar-coding, with continuously increasing advantages. The reduction in costs to produce the components of RFID has caused the technology to proliferate in recent … [Read more...]
Review of the SAE G46 Subcommittee Meeting (Long Beach, July 31, 2018)
Report on SAE G-46 Standardization Progress Meeting at IEEE EMC+SIPI 2018 (signal and power integrity) Symposium and Expo, July 30 to Aug. 3, Long Beach Ca, USA Introduction One attraction of these IEEE EMC Symposia to me is always Workshops, Tutorials and Standards On Tuesday, July 31st, I was able to attend the SAE G-46 EMC Subcommittee meeting from 12 – 5 … [Read more...]
