EMC lab kit. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: David Chamberlain
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 24, 2017, 07:47:10 pm
content: Was at a test house today. These places blow me away so much expensive kit. This test receiver is 20Hz to 40GHz - list price US$130K They had a sad old Tectronics 500MHz 2GSPS four channel DSO gathering dust on the shelve with a blown channel 1. I was bold enough to offer my free disposal services, however they did not take me up on the offer. Was worth a try especially as they had a newer 1GHz version and admitted they never used DSO's normally.

author: charliedelta
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2017, 09:55:21 am
content: Everything related to the EMC world is super expensive. Antennas, probes CISPR documents and test equipment are priced right out of reach of most ordinary people and engineers. Even more bizarre is the secrecy around the pricing of EMC test equipment. You will never find an advertised price for any piece equipment all "POA" meaning dont ask because you cant afford it.These days with the readily available SDR receivers that are available cheapily I am surprised that nobody has even offered a basic 9khz to 30mhz EMC receiver with calibrated EMC bandwidths and Quasi Peak dectectors. Even as something like tunable SDR receiver with quasi peak would be useful as a pre-compliance tool.Then lets look at the prices of current probes from Fischer and many other companies. They are so expensive for such simple pieces of equipment. Most of my homemade RF current probes offer better S21 and transfer impedance performance. Its a lump of ferrite in a screened case, theres really no need for these to cost a small fortune for what they really are. I have opened a number and you would be shocked at the crap thats inside them. Balsa wood, hot melt glue, 8 turns of teflon wire and a cast case. When i get some time I will post some pictures of the internals of the Fischer RF current probes.The same goes for Rod and EMC loop antennas. The rods are classic example, they want thousands of dollars for battery operated J310 fet amplifier whose calibration can calibrated quite easily with the capacitor substitution model. Same goes for the EMC loop. Even when you consider what the calibration fee would be at say NPL for a home made 9khz to 30mhz loop, its total cost of a home made loop is substantially less than the commercial product. Horn antennas can be mass produced within micron accuracy using laser cutting. There is no need to have such ridiculous prices for horn antennas and a calibration for every antenna produced. The EMC market is ripe for the Chinese entrepreneurs to enter and produced some reasonably priced equipment.Then lets not talk about the ESD generators and their targets that are such simple pieces of equipment. How can anyone justify a copying a CISPR target and selling it for 5000 dollars when its a 20 dollar piece of aluminum? Then lets talk about the 20 dollar higher voltage generator! All documented with designs in the standards!So in many areas the EMC suppliers certainly know how to gouge you especially when most of the hard design work and consideration as been formulated by people like the CISPR people. Anyway, I could do most of my own certification using calibrated equipment if the equipment and standards were more affordable.End of my EMC equipment rant, maybe I am just too poor whining about every thing that is probably the most expensive test equipment that any person could buy. It makes Keithley and Keysight test equipment look like a bargain!Might be a good idea for a EMC section in this forum!

author: KE5FX
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 25, 2017, 10:17:18 am
content: Quote from: charliedelta on May 25, 2017, 09:55:21 amCheck out the various products from Signal Hound.