Product category:
Compliance Engineering
News Release from: Schaffner | Subject: Compliance 3
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 September 2002
Software verifies EMC test chamber
uniformity
New software from Schaffner will help EMC test laboratories meet the test chamber field uniformity tests specified by IEC61000-4-3.
New software from Schaffner will help EMC test laboratories meet the test chamber field uniformity tests specified by IEC61000-4-3 According to Schaffner, the limitations of software currently available on the market, mean that most test laboratories and test houses are unable to meet the requirements of the standard
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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IEC61000-4-3 requires that the field in the test chamber be measured at 16 locations on a 1.5m grid, in a plane 0.8m above the ground, to demonstrate uniformity.
For testing larger, floor-standing equipment additional test points are required above and below this plane, and it is this peripheral test point requirement which, in Schaffner's experience, many test houses are not able to meet.
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Even with the proliferation of highly professional EMC test laboratories in the UK, many companies have found it necessary to set up their own in-house test facilities.
The standard requires that the full calibration is performed once a year, and when any changes are made to the set up.
Further it specifies that spot checks are made before each test is run.
Again, says Schaffner, these spot checks are often not routinely done by many test houses.
John Dearing, General Manager of Schaffner explains: "If cables are damaged or equipment performance changes, the field in the chamber can be different to when it was calibrated.
It is important to make regular checks to confirm the consistency of the field over time".
The new functionality, now standard with Schaffner's powerful test management software, EMC Compliance 3, facilitates field uniformity testing in the 1.5m grid, and at any number of additional peripheral points above, below or around it.
As required by the standard, measurements in the grid are used in the IEC calculation, and peripheral measurements are simply recorded and presented with the results.
The new software also allows you to perform regular checks on one or more of the 16 test points to confirm the stability of the field over time.
EMC Compliance 3 stores the data with a time and date stamp, and creates a three dimensional graph of frequency range, time and deviation, to show any variation clearly.
There are user-adjustable alarm levels.
This "spot-check" is made at every frequency included in the main calibration, and takes just 10 minutes to carry out.
EMC Compliance 3 is a highly flexible, fully configurable Windows-based test management tool for creation, execution, data acquisition and reporting of all EMC emissions and immunity tests.
In addition to a comprehensive library of standard test programs and subroutines, EMC Compliance 3 allows engineers to customise any aspect of a test program.
Routines can be edited, created and combined in functional blocks - to control a mast or take a measurement from a receiver for example - using a simple, graphical flow-chart approach.
Complex test programs can be constructed easily and quickly in this way, for highly efficient production of new test procedures.
The addition of the new field uniformity test functionality is further demonstration of Schaffner's commitment to continued development of EMC Compliance 3 as a comprehensive EMC test management tool. Request a free brochure from Schaffner ...
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