INTRODUCTION Those graduating from university are often not trained in EMC. When they are, they are most likely trained very well in the theoretical aspects of EMC or at least some physics. However, they often lack the ability to apply these theories to gain a hands-on understanding of EMC principles. I have seen both junior and senior engineers … [Read more...]
You Measured What? 4 Must-Know Checks for Trusting Your S-Parameters
Verifying your trace S-parameters is more than just good practice—it’s essential for confident measurement, simulation, and design space exploration in modern EDA tools. Especially in high-speed digital systems where traces are long, applying a few key principles can provide valuable insights into your data and give you a head start in your design … [Read more...]
What You Need to Know to Design Your Own Kit of Near-Field Probes
One challenge for EMC engineers is the impossibility of visualizing electromagnetic fields with our own eyes. Since we cannot directly observe them, we need tools to transform what we cannot see into what we can see. There are a lot of EMC tools to measure and troubleshoot EMC problems, but their elevated price makes them accessible to only a select group of people. The … [Read more...]
CubeSats Require Special ESD Handling Protocols for Launch Integrity — Part I
Figure 1: Tu-Pod in Space (Courtesy Amin Djamshidpour, Co-Founder Teton Aerospace) CubeSats are relatively inexpensive when compared to traditional vehicle-size satellites. Since their inception, CubeSat spacecraft have shown functional success rates ranging from 40% to 75% for launch and deployment phases. According to the International Journal of Aerospace Engineering, … [Read more...]
An Easy Way to Calculate a Microwave Wavelength in Inches
A colleague, Mike Stasiowski, and I came up with this quick GHz wavelength formula while designing quad ridge circular polarized jamming antennas for the military when working at Nurad. The textbook formula (wavelength = c/f) where: c = the speed of light 3.00×108 m/s, and f = frequency in Hz, was cumbersome at times to calculate, then convert, to inches for practical … [Read more...]
Static Control Resilient Flooring Qualification Procedures Ensure Space and Defense ESD Compliance Pt. 2
This article is the second and final part of Static Control Resilient Flooring Qualification Procedures Ensure Space and Defense ESD Compliance. Read Part 1 here. ANSI/ESD STM97.2 This critical standard test method attests to the static control resilient flooring’s ability to minimize charge buildup and provides the user with traceable data to assign a voltage flooring … [Read more...]
Static Control Resilient Flooring Qualification Procedures Ensure Space and Defense ESD Compliance Pt. 1
Due to the rapid densification of ESD sensitive devices (ESDS), static control resilient flooring (ESD flooring) has found its way into FAA towers, operating room theatres, MRI/CT scan flooring areas, aircraft terminals, IT data centers, Navy ships, space & defense flight lines, call centers, medical device manufacturing, pharmaceutical delivery and the … [Read more...]
Using a TEM Cell for Radiated Emissions and Immunity Troubleshooting
Many companies would welcome a full EMC compliance test chamber if it weren’t for budget and real estate considerations. Yet, they would like the opportunity to develop a low-cost troubleshooting solution for assessing radiated emissions and radiated immunity prior to going off for formal compliance testing. While I’ve written many articles [References 1 to 8] on how to … [Read more...]
Design for Compliance Essentials
INTRODUCTION While unrealistic to discuss all aspects of product design in a single article, I’ll try to describe the most common design issues I find in the hundreds of client products I’ve had a chance to work on. These issues generally include PC board design, cables, shielding, and filtering. More detailed information may be found in the Reference section below. As … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Eliminate Ground Loops — Part 2
As we discussed in Part 1, Ground Loops, while often not obvious, can be a significant source of frustration for system operators and integrators. This phenomenon manifests as unwanted electrical noise – audible hums in speakers, jitter on screens, noisy measurements, and bad measurement data – and it can even lead to unexpected communications loss and equipment … [Read more...]
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