ken javor

"A rose by any other name would stink." – Kenneth Adamson

We have all seen advertising copy for test equipment manufacturers’ “EMC receivers” and “EMC test services” provided by commercial EMI test facilities. While we know what the aforementioned receiver does, and what sort of services the test facility supplies, the nomenclature is wrong and is symptomatic of a deeper problem.

This year marks not only the title anniversary, but arguably also that of the beginning of the modern era in vehicle electromagnetic interference (EMI) testing. Radiated emission (RE) testing of equipment to be used on self-contained vehicles is performed at one meter or less versus testing at a distance of three meters or more for equipment designed for use in homes, offices and factories.

Control of low audio frequency magnetic fields from cables, as required by some spacecraft EMI control standards, is best implemented as a conducted emission measurement, but these may require exceptionally efficient transducers and techniques, which are discussed herein.

Injection of audio frequency ripple on equipment input power conductors has a long history, going back to 1953 (MIL‑I‑6181B) in the United States military, and at least as far back as 1961 in commercial aviation (RTCA/DO‑108). Audio frequency injection has been accomplished by inserting the secondary windings of a coupling (isolation) transformer in series with the power conductor to the test sample. While various transformers had been used prior to the 1960s, one has become standard since 1963. That Model is the Solar Electronics Model 6220, designed in 1962 and accepted by the United States Air Force in 1963 as being superior to previously used injection transformers. [1]