The iNARTE Informer – February 2013

Before we get too far into the New Year of 2013, here is a final wave from Santa standing in the RABQSA Australian office. Being on the other side of the world, everyone is upside down of course. Santa is the o... Read More...

Acupuncture and Atmospheric Ions

Associate Professor Neils Jonassen authored a bi-monthly static column that appeared in Compliance Engineering Magazine. The series explored charging, ionization, explosions, and other ESD related topics. The E... Read More...

The Big Inch

The days are lengthening and daffodils are only a month away, but this challenge remembers another winter when thick sheets of sleet enveloped the ground and wipers froze to windows. It was a brutal winter ... Read More...

Current Harmonics Testing: MIL-STD-1399 Section 300B versus MIL-STD-461F

The extensive use of power electronics on vessels and offshore installations, especially on electric propulsion ships, has had a substantial impact on the power quality of the power distribution system. This article discusses the effects of current harmonic distortion created by commercial uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) being deployed in Naval shipboard applications.

Military Shielding

Shielding to control EMI is a staple in modern electronics, playing a major role in military applications. Internal design practices can do much to control EMI in commercial and industrial electronics, but there is a limit to how much you can do. The EMI demands in military electronics are such that good internal design practices are inadequate - shielding is usually needed.

Time Domain Measurement: TDR or VNA?

Nowadays, semiconductor technology requires that integrated circuits be interconnected at very high-speed data rates. Taking time domain measurements on the digital links can offer challenges for electronic engineers, one of which is to decide which is the better measurement instrument to use in the given signal integrity environment. The time domain reflectometer (TDR) and vector network analyzer (VNA) are the staple instruments to consider, each one having its pros and cons. Here we compare the responses of the two instruments when used for taking time domain measurements of typical signal integrity devices under test (DUTs): a stripline and a through hole on a FR-4 board.