The EMC Blog  RSS

- May 16, 2013

Kenneth Wyatt is an independent consultant and specialist in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) design, test and troubleshooting. In The EMC Blog, he discusses issues, trends, EMC design, and product troubleshooting techniques. One specialty is his use of do-it-yourself probes and use of low-cost test equipment and measurement techniques for evaluating EMC issues on the workbench.

Free PC board viewers

As an EMC consultant, I have a constant need to review other company's PC board layouts during my design reviews. These free PC board viewers help me do this. Read More...

Review: Bay Area electronic surplus stores

Living in Colorado, there are only two decent electronic surplus stores in the state. So, when I traveled to the Bay Area for an EMC presentation this last week, I took the opportunity to spend one day exploring and reviewing the collection of electronic surplus stores centered in the Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and San Jose area. Read More...

Analyzing polar plots

Oh, for a chance to see electromagnetic fields! Wouldn't this be a cool thing during EMC troubleshooting of radiated emissions (RE) problems from products? Well, in a fashion, we can get an idea of what the field pattern is around a product under test. Read More...

Review: Amazing USB 5.35 GHz spectrum analyzer

Always on the lookout for useful, but inexpensive test equipment, I recently ran across the Triarchy Technologies USB spectrum analyzer, model TSA5G35. The one thing that really struck me was the whole thing was built into a USB dongle, just a little larger than a memory stick. What's more, the advertised frequency range was 1 MHz to 5.35 GHz. This, I had to see for myself. Read More...

EMC troubleshooting parts storage

For those of you who regularly troubleshoot EMC issues, wouldn't it be convenient to have all your "fix-it" parts all in one place? Read More...

Unusual EMI Sources

These unusual EMI sources may be used to perform pre-compliance testing (radiated or conducted immunity) to determine the immunity characteristics of your circuits or product. Read More...

Using a DTV antenna for EMC troubleshooting

Ever since over-the-air (OTA) digital television (DTV) was mandated by the U.S. FCC in June 2009 (http://www.dtv.gov) and the myriad of low-cost aftermarket DTV antennas became available, I've wanted to test one for use as an EMC antenna for troubleshooting. Read More...

PC board log periodic antennas

Always on the lookout for low-cost and small broadband antennas I can pack into my EMC troubleshooting kit, and having seen a few displayed at the EMC Symposia, I thought I'd look into PC board designs. It wasn't long before one antenna designer rose to the surface in my research - Kent Britain (WA5VJB). Read More...

Review: Com-Power PAP-501 broadband preamp

Com-Power makes a variety of EMC measurement tools and probes and they graciously allowed me to review their broadband preamp. Read More...

DIY 6 GHz comb generator

Most simple DIY comb generators seem to run out of steam about 1 GHz. I recently ran into David Bowman's 2.4 GHz circuit and measured an upper usable range of about 6 GHz. While greatly attenuated above 3 GHz, this circuit should still be valuable for measuring semi-anechoic chambers in the GHz ranges. Read More...

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