TL;DR LXRobotics is opening its EMC lab on a pro-bono basis for non-profit ham radio projects.
At my company LXRobotics we develop electronic products such as the Pika Spark which need to pass electromagnetic compliance (EMC) standards. The default approach in electronic design is to build your prototype and then keep visiting a certified test lab (and iterating on your prototype) until your product is EMC compliant. This can be quite an expensive endeavor. In order to keep costs down we’ve has invested in test equipment to perform EMC pre-compliance testing ourselves. A certified test lab is only booked when we have confidence in passing EMC compliance testing.
Let’s take a short tour of the LXRobotics EMC lab, categorized by measurement capabilities:
Conducted emission
Conducted emission refers to unwanted electromagnetic energy transferred back into the power grid or signal lines through the EUTs (Equipment Under Test) power and data cables. We use LISN devices which can be thought of as a low-pass filter between the DC power source and the EUT while also providing a known RF impedance for measuring conducted emission.
Radiated emission
Radiated emission refers to unwanted electromagnetic energy broadcasted by the EUT via radio waves. We use a open TEM cell which emulates far field electromagnetic field characteristics without the need for physical distance (and a shielded chamber). However, the measurement results obtained using a TEM cell are only an approximation of the measurements obtained in a shielded chamber with an antenna set at the required physical distance from the EUT.
Another issue with a open TEM cell is that stray RF from the environment will be part of the measurement result. This can be prevented by performing the measurement results inside a shielded tent which keeps stray RF out.
If there are anomalies in the spectrum recorded with the TEM cell, they can be investigated more precisely in an open-area test site (OATS) using calibrated measurement antennas. We’ve got two different measurement antennas covering different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum: a biconical antenna (30 – 300 MHz) and a logarithmic periodic antenna (250 – 1300 MHz).
If you are a licensed ham radio operator working on a non-profit project and you are interested to have your device checked for EMC compliance, I am looking forward to hearing from you (my contact data can be found in the imprint). The lab is located within our facilities in Hagenberg im Mühlkreis. Aside from your EUT you’ll need to bring all cables required for operating it.