Warning - not an EMI guru, but I did have peanut butter with my bagel, and I have just recently automated C/I tests.
Process automation, when done for a good reason is almost always good. Sometimes very good. ISO17025 will be the determining factor for system complexity - so if only for pre-comp, do whatever hack is within your available resources that yields consistent and repeatable results (and ignore all of the 17025 stuff). Part of 'automation' is the fixture, so the CDN, clamp, BCI, etc should be fixed. And the calibration fixture should be built in to the overall test fixture. This is probably more easy for me to do because we are testing mostly small (<5kVA) power converters. The only thing I did for cal was to have the computer log a table of signal levels and freqs, where the same table is used to drive the test. The main reason for a non-test house company to automate is to enforce process discipline and remove humans from the loop. Drawback is that the design engrs complain about setups that cannot be modified. They will get over it. The other negative is that if rolling your own means that you are tech support when stuff does not work, but system cost will probably be <30% of a commercial integration. I am vendor-neutral for this specific test - use whatever keeps the empire from collapsing. Brian -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Sykes, Bob Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 11:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Automated testing to EN61000-4-6 I am investigating purchasing test equipment to perform 61000-4-6 R.F. conducted immunity testing. There's lots of choices out there, and I see a couple of integrated, automated systems that look interesting (albeit at a price premium I'm sure). My questions are: Does anyone on this list use an automated test setup? And what are the drawbacks (if any) of such an approach. The marketing literature doesn't seem to go there. It's all good. I suppose any vendor specific negative stories should be sent direct and not to the listserv. adTHANKSvance, Bob Sykes Unrelated Friday humor for those involved in ESD testing Please be advised that this email may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify us by email by replying to the sender and delete this message. The sender disclaims that the content of this email constitutes an offer to enter into, or the acceptance of, any agreement; provided that the foregoing does not invalidate the binding effect of any digital or other electronic reproduction of a manual signature that is included in any attachment. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher <[email protected]> David Heald <[email protected]> - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
