Club helps companies avoid test failures
An
EMC Test Club product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
May 1, 2006
A Hertfordshire-based club has a mission - to help companies avoid EMC test failures.
Companies who have had a product fail EMC testing know what their problem is, but not necessarily the best way to fix it.
The EMC Test Club provides a facility where designers and engineers can experiment with their product until they are sure it will pass EMC tests.
They can test for radiated and conducted RF emissions, radiated and conducted RF immunity, burst, surge, ESD and voltage dips and interruptions, refining their design as they go.
The EMC Test Club has been set up by Peter Morgan-Smith with the aim of making electromagnetic compliance testing accessible, understandable and affordable.
And it is already proving its worth.
Morgan-Smith recalls: "A club member had a problem with radiated RF emissions, and put a variety of fixes into the product, all costing more money".
"Testing at the club, all the fixes could be removed, one by one".
"The cure was a simple one: forget the extra parts, just bond a metal bracket to ground (which had been left floating by a layer of paint), and the problem was solved".
Where extra parts really are needed, Wurth Electronik has provided Test Club members with a kit of ferrite components, gaskets, inductors etc to supplement the club's selection of standard components, and a workbench is provided for members to make changes during their EMC tests.
Members can use this as an extension of their own labs, modifying and testing until the EMC performance is right.
New tests and facilities are being added all the time, responding to needs of members.
The most recent introduction is a higher capacity turntable, rated in excess of 150kg load.
Equipment is already set up for standard tests in the screened test rooms, one of which (for radiated emissions and immunity testing) is lined on all surfaces with RF absorber to make it fully anechoic.
Training is a cornerstone of the EMC Test Club, and there are 2-day courses for nonmembers, and induction training days and ongoing updates for members, whenever they need.
Users need not be daunted by the prospect of making tests themselves, but will easily acquire new skills to continue their professional development, learning a lot not just about EMC, but about their own products too.
After training, people can join the club, or continue to use the facilities of the club as a nonmember, on a "pay-as-you-go" tariff.
This is ideal for users who have a "one-off" requirement only, or would like to try the test rooms out before joining the club.
The EMC Test Club is situated in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, near the A1(M) motorway, and is easy to get to from the UK motorway network.
London Luton airport is a half hour drive away, for members from further afield.
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