LAPLACE INSTRUMENTS RF300 User manual

LAPLACEINSTRUMENTSLTD RF300 USERGUIDE
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LAPLACEINSTRUMENTSLTD
RF300 LARGELOOP ANTENNA
USERGUIDE
SerialNumber9039
Issue4February1999

LAPLACEINSTRUMENTSLTD RF300 USERGUIDE
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INDEX
Introduction3
Packinglist 3
Assembly 5
Calibration 12
Operation 13
Inusewiththe
EMCEngineersoftware 13
AppendixA...Calibrationdata15

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Introduction
TheRF300 largeloopantennahasbeendevelopedtomeettherequirementsof
EN55015, section4.4, table3, column2. Thisspecifiesthelimitsformagneticfield
inducedcurrentforluminaireswithlampoperatingfrequenciesinexcess of100Hz.
ConstructionoftheRF300 isasdetailedinannexBofEN55015. Thisantennaisfully
compliantwiththestandardanddetailsofthecalibrationfactorsareincludedinthis
manual.
Versions2.74 andhigheroftheEMCEngineersoftwareandall versionoftheSA1000
softwareprovidedwiththeLaplace analysersincludesautomaticcompensationforthe
RF300 characteristics.
Testsetup andmeasurementshouldbeconductedasrequiredbyEN55015, section7.
PackingList
OnreceiptoftheRF300, checkthecontentsofthepackagesagainstthediagramshown
infig1.
Identifyeachcomponentandcheckforshortages.
See alsolistoverleaf.

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QtyItem
3 Largeloopsfittedwithconnectorsateachend
4 Cornerposts
4 Baseextensions
1 Centralpillar
1 Switchunit
1 Shortco-axpatchcablefittedwithBNCconnectors
3 Looptransducers
5 Tiewraps
4 1¾ x8woodscrews
1 5mBNC-BNClead
3 2mBNC-BNCleadfittedwithferriteabsorbers
1 10dBin-lineBNCattenuator

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Assembly
1. Establishanappropriatearea toerecttheRF300. Thisneedstobeacleararea at
least4msquarewithaflatfloorandaceilingheightofatleast3m.
2. Inthecentreofthisarea, standthecentralpillarandfitthebaseextensionsasshown
infig2.
3. Slotthecornerpostsintothesquareholeattheendofeachbase. Secureeachwith
brass woodscrewsasshowninfig3.

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4. Preparethe3loops. Theconfigurationoftheseloopsisasshowninfig4andfig5.
Theconnectorsoneachendofthelooparematedwiththesocketseithersideofeach
looptransducer. Theretainingringoneachconnectorneedstobescrewedfirmlytothe
socketbuttakecare. Theseringswill bindandbedifficulttoturnunless theloopis
alignedproperly. Force isnotnecessary, simplejuggletheloopintoalignmentandthe
ringwill turneasily.
5. Thefirstlooptomountisthehorizontalloop. Tomounttheloops, atleasttwo
peoplearerequired. Donottrytodothissinglehanded....itwill onlyendintears.

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Mounttheloopintherecessesatthetopofeachcornerpostwiththelooptransducer
closeto(within5cm)ofacornerpost. See fig6.
Slight‘drooping’oftheloopbetweenthepostshasnoeffectontheperformance ofthe
antenna.
6. Thesecondloopisnowfitted. Figs7, 8, 9showthedetails.
Thisloopisfittedinsidethefirst(horizontal)loop, orientatedsothatitfitsinthelower
‘slot’inthecentralpillar(fig9)andisheldbetweenthe‘ears’onthecornerposts(fig
8). Arrangetheloopsothatthetransduceriswithin20 cmofthecentralpillar.
Forthemoment, theloopwill sagandgenerallynotholditsshape. Thiswill beresolved
later.

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7. ThefinalloopisnowfittedINSIDE theothertwo. See fig10.
Thisfitsintheupperslotinthecentralpillar, betweenthecornerpost‘ears’andunder
theotherverticalloopatthetop. Againarrangetheloopsothetransduceriscloseto
thecentralpillar.

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8. Theloopscannowbeadjustedforbestshapeandposition. Generallythevertical
loopswill tendtosagintothelowerhalfoftheantenna. Theseareheldup inposition
byusingthetiewrapsasshowninfig8oneachcornerposttotakesomeontheweight
oftheloop. Thetopoftheverticalloopscanbeadjustedforbestshapeandthetwo
loopsfastenedtogetherwiththefifthtiewrap. Withcare, thetiewrapscanbeadjusted
toproduce reasonablecirclesforeachloop.
Notethattheexactshapeisnotcritical. Deviationfromperfectcirclesisinevitablebut
thishasnosignificanteffectonantennaperformance. EN55015 statesinsection7.2
thateventhepositionoftheUUT intheantennaisnotcritical.
9. Withintheloop, constructawoodenstandortabletosuittheproductstobetested.
ThisisnotincludedwiththeRF300 becauseitneedstobematchedtoindividual
customersrequirements. Thestandshouldholdtheproductroughlycentralwithinthe
loop.
10. Connectthelooptransducerstotheswitchunitasshowninfig11. The3
transducercablesareidentifiedbyhavingthickRFabsorberfiltersalongtheirlength.
Fitthecablessothatthesefiltersarenearesttotheswitchunit.
Theswitchunitisintendedforfloormounting, ormaybemountedonasuitabletableif
preferred. Theshortco-axcableactsasapatchcabletoswitcheachinput, oneata
time, totheoutput.
Theoutputfromtheswitchunitisconnecteddirecttotheanalyserorreceiver.

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Calibrationloop
TheRF300CcalibrationloopismanufacturedtocomplywithCISPR15 andEN55015.
Full detailsoftheuseofthisloopareprovidedinthesestandards.

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Calibrationdata
See appendixA
Thecalibrationdataforeachloopisvirtuallyidentical. Thefollowingdetailstherefore
applytoall three axes, althoughfull dataforeachaxisisgivenintheappendix.
Forreference, the‘ideal’curveisshowningraph1. Thisistakendirectlyfrom
EN55015, annexB.
ThecorrespondingcurvesfortheRF300 arealsogiven.
This‘antennafactor’correctiondataconvertstheoutputfromtheRF300 (measuredin
dBuV)directlytodBuA.
ThedatacanbeusedwithanyanalyserorreceivercapableofEMCmeasurements.
Theestimatedmeasurementuncertaintyis3dB.
Note:IfusingtheLaplace SA450Banalyser:
(a)Themeasurementsweretakenusingthefollowingsettings....
10KHzto100KHz........Scanmodesetto100KHz/div(Lowfrequencyrange)
100KHzto5MHz........Scanmodesetto500KHz/div(Lowfrequencyrange)
5MHzto30MHz.........Scanmodesetto1MHz/div(highfrequencyrange)
Foraccuratereadings, usethesamesettings
(b)Theantennafactordataintheantenna.inifileshowsvalues20dBhigherthanthose
quotedintheattachedplot. ThisisbecausetheEMCEngineersoftwareshiftstheYaxis
valuesby20dB.
Thusat2.5MHz(forexample)thetrueA.F. correctionis-22.2dBandtheantenna.ini
fileshows-2.2dB
IfusingtheSA1000 analyser:
TheRF300 islistedunderthenormal Inputs menu. Justselectthisdevice andthe
softwareautomaticallyappliestheappropriatecorrectionfactorssothatthetrace reads
correctlyindBuAandcanbecompareddirectlywiththeEN55015 limits.
Furtherdetailsaregivenoverleaf.

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Operation
ThemethodofmeasurementisgiveninEN55015, section7. Acopyofthisshouldbe
consultedifperformingcompliance tests.
TheUUT shouldbemountedonawoodenframeortableinthecentreoftheantenna.
Thepositionisnotcritical.
Therearenospecialinstructionsforthesupplywiring. (AccordingtoEN55015)
Eachaxis(loop)shouldbemeasuredinturn. Eachshouldmeettherequirementsofthe
standard. Theloopsareindividuallyselectedbyconnectingtheshortpatchleadtothe
appropriateinputsocketasshowninfig11.
MeasurementwiththeSA1000 and EMCEngineerWindowssoftware.
1. Selectthe RF300 itemundertheinputmenu. Theverticalscalewill indicateunitsof
dBuA. (Ifthisitemisnotavailable, youneedalaterversionofthesoftware. Contact
yoursupplier) All versionshigherthan2.74 havetheRF300 item.
2Underthe limits menu, selectthe EN55015 ......... 2mloopantenna limitline.
3. Connecttheswitchunittotheanalyserinput.
4. WiththeUUT switchedoff, checkthebackgroundsignallevel. Atfrequencies
below1MHz, thebackgroundcanbeverystrong. Ifstrongsignalsdoexist, checkthat
theanalyserisnotincompressionbychangingtheinputattenuatorsettingonthe
analyserandcomparingscans. Apartfromthebaseline, thetracesshouldoverlay. If
thishappensthenitisOKtousetheanalyserwiththatattenuatorsetting. Ifnot,
increasetheattenuationandtryagain.
5. Ifthebackgroundisstrong, itisadvisabletoeitherfinda‘quieter’locationorscreen
theroom.
6. SwitchtheUUT on. Checkthelevelsofsignaloverthebackgroundlevelsusingthe
techniquesusedforconventionalradiatedtestingasdescribedintheuserguide.
ThelevelsdisplayedarefullycompensatedfortheRF300 characteristicsandcanbe
compareddirectlywiththelimitlines.
7. ALWAYScheckforcompression(overload)whentakingmeasurements. The
amplitudeofthereadingonthescreencannotbeuseddirectlyasaguidefor
compressionbecausethereadingshavebeenadjustedfortheRF300 characteristics.
Ifitissuspectedthatthesignalsaretoo strongevenwiththeattenuatorswitchedin,
install the10dBattenuatorintheinputleadtotheswitchunit. Thisadditional
attenuatorcanbeautomaticallycompensatedforinthesoftwarebyadjustingthepre-
ampsettingsonthescreen.

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8. Ifthebackgroundandtheproductis‘quiet’, andespeciallyatfrequenciesabove
20MHz, theSA1020 pre-amplifiershouldbeusedtoincreasethesensitivityofthe
system. SetthePre-ampbuttonsonthescreenaccordingly. Careshouldbetakenwhen
usingthepre-amplifierastheantennathenbecomesextremelysensitive.

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APPENDIXA
CALIBRATIONDATA
1. EN55015 ‘ideal’plot
2. Calibrationdata.
3. RF300 actualsensitivityplotsandRF300 correction
plot(AntennaFactor)

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EN55015 Standardantennaresponse
EN55015 standard antennaresponse
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Frequency (MHz)
Output(dBuV)

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Calibrationdata
Freq.
Calibration
Freq. EN
MHz 9039A 9039B 9039C MHz Average Max Min Range Freq 55015 Freq A.F
0.01 42.00 42.00 42.00 0.01 42.00 42.00 42.00 0.00 0.01 46 0.01 4.00
0.04 50.00 50.00 50.00 0.04 50.00 50.00 50.00 0.00 0.04 46.5 0.04 -3.50
0.10 57.00 58.00 58.00 0.10 57.67 58.00 57.00 1.00 0.10 46.5 0.10 -11.17
0.50 70.00 71.00 71.00 0.50 70.67 71.00 70.00 1.00 0.50 46 0.50 -24.67
1.00 73.00 73.00 74.00 1.00 73.33 74.00 73.00 1.00 1.00 45.5 1.00 -27.83
2.50 72.00 73.00 73.00 2.50 72.67 73.00 72.00 1.00 2.50 44 2.50 -28.67
5.00 69.00 69.00 69.00 5.00 69.00 69.00 69.00 0.00 5.00 41 5.00 -28.00
10.00 63.00 63.00 64.00 10.00 63.33 64.00 63.00 1.00 10.00 37.5 10.00 -25.83
11.00 63.00 63.00 63.00 11.00 63.00 63.00 63.00 0.00 11.00 37 11.00 -26.00
12.00 62.00 62.00 62.00 12.00 62.00 62.00 62.00 0.00 12.00 36.5 12.00 -25.50
13.00 61.00 61.00 62.00 13.00 61.33 62.00 61.00 1.00 13.00 36 13.00 -25.33
14.00 61.00 61.00 61.00 14.00 61.00 61.00 61.00 0.00 14.00 35.5 14.00 -25.50
15.00 61.00 61.00 61.00 15.00 61.00 61.00 61.00 0.00 15.00 35 15.00 -26.00
16.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 16.00 60.00 60.00 60.00 0.00 16.00 34.5 16.00 -25.50
17.00 59.00 60.00 60.00 17.00 59.67 60.00 59.00 1.00 17.00 34 17.00 -25.67
18.00 59.00 59.00 59.00 18.00 59.00 59.00 59.00 0.00 18.00 33.5 18.00 -25.50
19.00 58.00 58.00 59.00 19.00 58.33 59.00 58.00 1.00 19.00 33 19.00 -25.33
20.00 57.00 58.00 57.00 20.00 57.33 58.00 57.00 1.00 20.00 32.5 20.00 -24.83
21.00 56.00 57.00 57.00 21.00 56.67 57.00 56.00 1.00 21.00 32 21.00 -24.67
22.00 56.00 56.00 56.00 22.00 56.00 56.00 56.00 0.00 22.00 31.5 22.00 -24.50
23.00 55.00 55.00 56.00 23.00 55.33 56.00 55.00 1.00 23.00 31 23.00 -24.33
24.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 24.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 0.00 24.00 30.5 24.00 -24.50
25.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 25.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 0.00 25.00 30 25.00 -25.00
26.00 54.00 54.00 55.00 26.00 54.33 55.00 54.00 1.00 26.00 29.5 26.00 -24.83
27.00 54.00 54.00 54.00 27.00 54.00 54.00 54.00 0.00 27.00 29 27.00 -25.00
28.00 53.00 54.00 54.00 28.00 53.67 54.00 53.00 1.00 28.00 28.5 28.00 -25.17
29.00 53.00 53.00 53.00 29.00 53.00 53.00 53.00 0.00 29.00 28 29.00 -25.00
30.00 52.00 53.00 53.00 30.00 52.67 53.00 52.00 1.00 30.00 28 30.00 -24.67
Calibrationsources
Laplace InstrumentsLtd, RF300CcalibrationlooptoCISPR15
Laplace InstrumentsLtd, SA1000 Spectrumanalysers/n3061
Calibration:Laplace:14.12.07
MarconiTF2016Asignalgenerator, s/n118032/004
Calibration:CheckedagainstMarconiTF2019A, s/n118449-169
AdvantestR4131DcalibratedbySchaffner, 20.11.02 andcheckedagainst
MarconiTF2019A, s/n118449-169
MarconiTF2019A, serialnumber118449-169, calibratedbyIndustrial
CalibrationLtd, 22.06.07

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Actualoutputplotsfortheloops
Output-RF300 s/n9039
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00
Frequency(MHz)
Output(dBuV)
AntennafactorRF300s/n9039
-35.00
-30.00
-25.00
-20.00
-15.00
-10.00
-5.00
0.00
5.00
10.00
0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00 100.00
Frequency(MHz)
Antennafactor(dB)