RE: EMSCAN (was TV nostalgia/EMI sniffer goggle)
----- Original Message -----
From: Frank Krozel
To: George Stults ; 'Ehler, Kyle' ; 'Ken Javor' ;
emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 12:17 PM
Subject: Re: EMSCAN (was TV nostalgia/EMI sniffer goggle)


Hi George:
You are most correct the earlier units did only have frequency coverage to
1.0Ghz, but the newer units go up to 2.7Ghz.
Frank Krozel

Frank Krozel
TEL: 630-924-1600
FAX: 630-924-1668
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Electronic Instrument Associates-Central, Inc.
Serving the Midwest with Electrical Engineers Since 1971
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Suite 300
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
----- Original Message -----
From: George Stults
To: 'Ehler, Kyle' ; 'Ken Javor' ; emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 8:09 AM
Subject: RE: EMSCAN (was TV nostalgia/EMI sniffer goggle)


I also looked at EMSCAN about 2 years ago.  I seem to recall that it was
limited to a little over 1GHz on the top end at that time.   We didn't buy
it, because we had harmonics above 1 GHz.

-George

-----Original Message-----
From: Ehler, Kyle [mailto:keh...@lsil.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2001 12:24 PM
To: 'Ken Javor'; emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
Subject: RE: EMSCAN (was TV nostalgia/EMI sniffer goggle)

I mini-evaluated an EMSCAN about 4 years ago.  Cute tool!
At the time, this little gem utilized a planar array of 1,024 microantennae,
coupled to an RF processor and pc.
The radiation display is a user-variable-interpolation color map (spectral
or spatial), but a bit imprecise in X-Y location, and forget about the Z
plane.  You could see a circuit trace acting as an emitter, but you have to
be diligent in comparing the pwb layout with the schematic and the tool's
radiation profile report.  It was also a bit slow.  That might have changed
since then.
Here's a link:  http://www.emscan.com/product/prodline.html
I could not sell our pcb design engineers on the tool -not even for use as a
prescanner.  Now our mechanical folks are having a dickens of a time
containing 2Gbps fibre channel harmonics after the pcb design is done.
Thanks for the job security. <boneheads>
The biggest problem with this weapon was the absolute need for close
proximity and repeatable indexing.  This severely affects the accuracy and
repeatability of the results, making before/after comparisons questionable.
For many of us, placing an operating pwb on a planar surface for scanning
presents a major challenge.
I dont know about you, but we have a backplane that the pwb plugs into, then
of course there is cabling, power supplies and cooling to worry about.  Not
to mention the CRU canisters for each module.  Then it needs to be
functional.
I witnessed differences in emission profile that were highly sensitive to
operating modes of the firmware loops and application software.  It is
extremely difficult if not impossible to do an accurate comparison of a bare
board to an assembled and completely functioning EUT.  So you are forced to
scan a bare board rather than a fully configured and functioning system.
For our purposes (debugging the EMI containment) this was of no
practicality.  Back to sniffer loops and horns..
On the other hand, one of the proper ways to design for compliance is to
design for containment of the emissions at the [board level] source.  This
is where the practicality of the EMSCAN comes into play.  I found the tool's
virtue for scanning the solder side of the board (close proximity)
excellent, but for the component side (which is where most of the radiation
sources and fixes would occur) the proximity was poor, grossly affecting the
location and precision of the readings.
btw I dont work for, or have any connection with, EMSCAN.
kyle
-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Javor [mailto:ken.ja...@emccompliance.com]
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001 5:58 PM
To: John Woodgate; emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
Subject: Re: TV nostalgia

You could use an array of very short dipoles or small loops and gain in
resolution by giving up efficiency, meaning that the viewer would have to be
near the source.  Although I have no detailed knowledge of it, I expect this
is the principle behind the devices upon which you lay an operating PCB and
the device maps hot spots.  But clearly you will never get optical or IR
viewer resolutions.
----------
>From: John Woodgate <j...@jmwa.demon.co.uk>
>To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org
>Subject: Re: TV nostalgia
>Date: Mon, Aug 6, 2001, 12:28 PM
>
>
> <95fbd8b0830ed511b7720002a51363f1319...@exw-ks.ks.lsil.com>, Ehler, Kyle
> <keh...@lsil.com> inimitably wrote:
>>    Doug has touched on what I think would be a great tool for the
>>    EMI hunter...but rather than a 'sniffer', a 'goggle' similar
>>    to what Geordi wears that facilitates the direct viewing of EM
radiation.
>>
>>    Ideally, the device would allow adjustable band 'viewing' of the
radiation
>>    frequency, intensity, polarity and propagation pattern(s).
>
> Yes, it sounds much more attractive than a sniffer, which would produce
> BAD smells around some equipment. And it isn't technically unfeasible.
> The problem is the poor resolution, even a microwave frequencies, due to
> the wavelength of the emission. At 150 kHz, the wavelength is 2 km, so
> only very BIG things are visible.
> --
> Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only.
http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk
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