Blogs

Turning a spectrum analyzer reading into a real E-field number takes more than eyeballing the display. This installment walks through the gain and loss calculations, test setups, and ambient signal workarounds that determine whether your pre-compliance data actually holds up.

Choosing the wrong shielding material can mean failed certification and costly redesigns. Explore how conductive fabrics, coatings, and metal enclosures stack up on conductivity, durability, and cost, plus which option fits consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and medical devices best.

Third-party EMC chambers can cost millions to build, so what does an accurate in-house setup actually require? This first installment breaks down the analyzers, antennas, preamplifiers, and tripods needed for radiated emissions pre-compliance testing, plus real-world test locations that stand in for a proper chamber.

Skipping pre-compliance testing can turn a routine certification into a costly redesign. This step-by-step checklist walks engineers through standards research, design reviews, documentation, and lab coordination, helping teams catch problems early and avoid the delays that derail product launches.

A simple antenna positioned right on your bench can reveal radiated emissions in real time. Learn how to separate product harmonics from ambient RF noise, track down capacitive and inductive coupling paths, and use copper tape and foil to hunt down leaky seams and apertures.

When cables become the culprit in radiated emissions failures, an RF current probe can catch what near-field probes miss. This installment of EMC Bench Notes walks through measurement technique, transfer impedance math, and a downloadable E-field calculator for pass/fail estimation.

Supercapacitors are showing up everywhere from EVs to renewable energy systems — but one safety standard determines whether they're fit to ship. This guide breaks down what UL 810A actually requires, where manufacturers get tripped up, and one costly rating mismatch to watch for.

Compliance testing labs are where products prove they're ready for the real world — but what actually happens inside one? This primer walks through the key steps, tools, and methodologies engineers use to evaluate safety, performance, and regulatory adherence before products reach market.

Not all EMC emissions look alike — and knowing the difference can save your compliance test. Kenneth Wyatt breaks down how to use near-field probes to identify and interpret broadband versus narrowband emission profiles, so you can trace noise back to its source before it becomes a costly failure.

Choosing the wrong oscilloscope can compromise compliance results before testing even begins. This practical guide walks engineers through the critical selection factors — bandwidth, sampling rate, memory depth, and built-in analysis tools — and how to match each to real-world EMC, EMI, and high-speed digital testing demands.