EMC Information

The final word on the subject by Mr. John Zentner of WPAFB ASD. When people still didn't get it right, he terminated the entire NB/BB issue altogether in MIL-STD-461D (1993).

This paper explains the close relationship between MIL-STD-461 RS103 and CS114, and EN61000-4-3 and EN61000-4-6, both qualitatively and analytically. It also addresses many of the critiques raised against conducted techniques that stand in for traditional radiated methods.  This was still quite controversial in 1997 when the paper was given.  The paper presentation was followed up by a series of debates between the author and the late Dr. Jose Perini, who was a foe of the conducted techniques. These debates were held in the Pacific Northwest, sponsored by the Seattle area chapter of the IEEE EMC Society, in 1999.  It should probably also be noted that the inspiration for the paper was an article by the late John Adams in the IEEE Transactions on EMC periodical, which also criticized conducted techniques that attempt to simulate electromagnetic field-to-wire coupling.

The strange colors in the graphs and figures result from a conversion from the original MS Word 5.1 for Macintosh to a later cross-platform compatible version of Word. The original was all black and white, as required for submittal for the EMC Symposium Record, at least at that time.

The requirement as written has limits holding harmonics underneath a 0 dB noise figure noise floor...

The basic CE102A range is 30 Hz to 50 MHz. But extensions as low as 0.1 Hz and as high as 1 GHz are fraught with perils and potholes.

Warning: The CE102A limit is similar to MIL-STD-461 CE102, but subtly different. Equipment designed to meet CE102 might fail CE102A.

This standard has lots of issues.  The critiques offered below detail some of the problems. The list grows over time, as people phone in to complain or flag a new issue.  If you have to work to this standard, and you have problems or questions, please contact us and we will try to help, or at the least, add your issue to the (growing) list below.

SMC-S-008 provides for extending the MIL-STD-461F RE102 limit beyond 18 GHz.  It does so by keeping the limit constant at the 18 GHz value.  The limit below 18 GHz increases at 20 dB/decade, reflecting the performance of an antenna of fixed gain, as noted in the rationale appendix of MIL-STD-461D/E/F for that section. The zero slope extension assumes that main beam gain increases with increasing frequency, and that the main beam gain is in the direction of equipment a meter away which could cause interference. If this were the case, the antenna beam would be physically interfered with by looking back upon its own platform.  Further, above 18 GHz, there are only a few relatively narrow windows where rf is not absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, so that the spectrum is not widely used above 18 GHz, but in windows; obviating the need for wideband sweeps. The attached critique  explains all this in complete analytical detail.

What SMC-S-008 should have been....