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Diamond Jubilee: The 60th Anniversary of the Use of the 41 Inch Rod Antenna in Military EMI Testing

1308 F2 coverThis 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.

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EMC Archaeology: Uncovering a Lost Audio Frequency Injection Technique

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]

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EMC in Military Equipment

Military EMC design can be particularly vexing. Multiple environments combined with multiple threats lead to multiple requirements. The threat levels, and the resulting requirements, are usually more stringent than found in the commercial world.