Happened to glance at the back cover of the July 2026 issue of In Compliance magazine, and saw some ETS/Lindgren ad copy that was very inaccurate, and wanted to set the record straight. I had previously been in receipt of some similar email marketing from the same company, and wrote to them asking them to correct the misstatements. That was not in time to forestall the publication of the subject ad in the July issue. I expect this same ad copy has appeared in various publications and venues, worldwide.
For reference, I am one of several industry representatives to the Tri-Service Working Group that writes MIL-STD-461. As I wrote in a review of MIL-STD-461H that appeared in the June 2026 issue of the same magazine, MIL-STD-461H does not require any new test equipment acquisition. None. ETS/Lindgren has been saying that MIL-STD-461H disallows certain previously accepted antennas for testing below 30 MHz. Again, that is simply not true. There is an appendix statement saying that electric field generators should not be used below 30 MHz, and why. The placement of the admonition in the appendix and the attendant use of the word “should” were both carefully selected and intentional: MIL-STD-461 section 1.3 states that, “...The appendix is non-contractual and provides rationale for the requirements and guidance on their interpretation and use.“ Accordingly, there are no “shall" statements in the appendix, because “shall" indicates a requirement. And this admonition regarding electric field generators is just that: guidance. Further adding to the confusion in this ad is ETS/Lindgren using this misinterpretation to try to sell an antenna that operates above 30 MHz. The “Intelli-I-Tune” Model 3170 antenna they procured from SteppIR some time ago was designed to meet a MIL-STD-461F (2007) RS103 radiated electric field susceptibility test method requirement. The specific requirement was that broadband electric field sensors used in the RS103 leveling control loop needed to level on the amplitude of the fundamental frequency and not its harmonics. Leveling on harmonics is primarily a problem with the biconical antenna used below about 80 MHz. When 200 V/m is required, the combination of the biconical’s gain increasing rapidly with increasing frequency below 80 MHz, coupled with the use of high power amplifiers outside their linear range leads to a situation where the harmonics are transmitted at or above the level of the fundamental. The “Intel-I-Tune antenna is efficient enough to allow amplifiers to operate linearly while producing clean field intensities up to 200 V/m from 30 MHz to 200 MHz. This is a useful product, but its use is in no way a new requirement in MIL-STD-461H. This kind of performance was required by MIL-STD-461F and further revisions, including “H,” but it is not a new requirement in “H” and it does not address the “H” appendix suggestion to eschew electric field generators below 30 MHz. Please share this information with any of your colleagues who are not members of this forum. Thank you, Ken Javor Ph. (256) 650-5261 Mobile: (256) 348-1611 Mobile email: [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: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Website: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ Instructions: https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: https://pses.ieee.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EM-PSTC-List-Rules.pdf For help, send mail to the list administrators: Mike Sherman at: [email protected] Rick Linford at: [email protected] For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> _________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the EMC-PSTC list, click the following link: https://listserv.ieee.org/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=EMC-PSTC&A=1
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