FAQ

This page contains all kind of Frequently Asked Questions related to RadiMation^®

Does RadiMation support the linearity check that is described in the EN 61000-4-3 standard?

In RadiMation^® it is fairly easy to verify that the amplifier is used in its linear range (and thus not saturated).

The EN 61000-4-3 2006 version specifies that the calibrations in the Uniform Field Area should be performed on electrical field strength that is at least 1.8 times higher than the field strength that will be used during the substitution test. It is also required that it is ensured that the amplifier is used in a range in which it is not in saturation. To be able to perform a substitution test on 10 V/m, it is thus necessary that the calibrations are performed on at least 18 V/m. The Uniform Field Area calculation can be performed as it is described in Chapter 12. After the the complete calculation has been performed, and a final calibration file has been created, it has to be ensured that the amplifier will not be used in saturation.

The easiest way to confirm that the amplifier is not used in saturation, is:

1. Configure a Radiated Immunity substitution test with the calibration file that was the result of the Uniform Field Area calculation. Ensure that the substitution test is configured with the correct settings:
   • use the signal generator calibration method.
   • the forward power input should be activated, because the forward power should be measured.
   • level to an electrical field strength that is exactly 1.8 times lower than the field strength that was calibrated. This will result in a 5.1 dB lower signal generator power.
   • use the same frequency range and frequency steps, as was used during the calibration.
   • use the same testsite as was used during the calibration.
2. Start the substitution test and wait until it is finished.
3. Now the forward power that is used during the substitution test, and the forward power during the calibration should be compared. It is the most easiest to do this in Microsoft Excel. Start Microsoft Excel, and create an empty sheet.
4. Open the calibration file that was the result of the Uniform Field Area calculation.
5. Open the forward power graph, and copy the data (table) of the forward power to the clipboard.
6. Paste the forward power of the calibration file into the Microsoft Excel worksheet (for example on cell A6)
7. Open the results of the substitution test, open the forward power graph, and copy the data (table) of the forward power to the clipboard.
8. Paste the forward power of the substitution test into the Microsoft Excel worksheet (for example on cell D6)
9. Compare the data of the forward power of the calibration and the forward power during the substitution. The forward power of the substitution should be 5.1 dB lower then the forward power of the calibration file. The comparison is very easy, by inserting the formula '=B6-E6' in cell H6. The formula can then be copied down for all other frequencies.
10. The EN 61000-4-3 standard assumes that the amplifier is not in saturation if the difference between the forward power values on all frequencies is within +3.1 dB to +5.1 dB.

An example Microsoft Excel file, can be downloaded here, which can be used for the calculations.

Another possibility to ensure that the amplifier is not used in saturation, is to limit the generated power of the amplifier to its 1 or 2 dB compression point. The amplifier limitation feature of RadiMation^® can be used to limit the generated power of the amplifier.

Why are the Uniform Field Area calculations of expired standards not removed?

The calculation methods for the old standards (like EN 61000-4-3:1995) cannot be removed from RadiMation^® due to the following reasons:

1. A number of product standards do mention basic standards and there year of issue, for the way of performing radiated immunity tests. As long as the product standards are not changed one should use the 'old' basic standard as well. Although many lab's do use the latest version of the basic standard for all product standards (while it is much more convenient to use only one version of the EN61000-4-3), when there is doubt about the test results, one should use the harmonized standard and it's associated basic standard as mentioned in the product standard.
2. A number of customers simply require the old methods, for the reasons mentioned above, or while they want to be able to perform verification tests on old products

Is RadiMation^® using the correct method for the Uniform Field Area calibration?

The latest EN 61000-4-3 standard describes two methods to perform a "field homogeneity verification" (also called 'Uniform Field Area calculation') (the constant field method and constant power method). RadiMation^® supports the constant field method while this will result in the highest accuracy (With this procedure, the linearity error of the field probe is not influencing the calibration accuracy. While the linearity of a power meter is much better than the linearity of a field probe, this method is, from an accuracy point of view, the better solution). Although RadiMation^® does not support both methods, this does not mean RadiMation^® can not be used for field homogeneity verification, because according to the standard, both methods should result in the same calibration file.

Why is an immunity test trying to control a field sensor, if no field sensor is selected in the used testsite?

RadiMation^® does not automatically disable a setting in a TSF file, if certain equipment is not selected in the selected testsite.

It can be possible that measurements procedures require that a field sensor is used during an immunity measurement. The fieldsensor is then activated in the Fieldsensor Inputs window of the TSF file. If however, due to circumstances the fieldsensor is not available in a certain situation, it is unacceptable that RadiMation^® silently decides to not use the activated fieldsensor. The TSF that defines the exact measurement procedure should not be silently modified, because this can lead to unexpected results in future measurements. It is of course allowed that the test engineer modifies the TSF to disable the usage of the field sensor during a specific measurement, but in that case it is a thoughtful action by and the responsibility of the test engineer. RadiMation^® does not silently perform adjustments to the configuration in a TSF file.

How does a G-TEM compare to an anechoic chamber?

A G-TEM cell is in principle not an accepted (full compliant) EMC test environment and compared to an anechoic chamber the cables will be routed and placed differently.

Sometimes the error at higher frequencies becomes smaller through the band. This is what normally is expected in case of correlation measurements between a small G-TEM in relation to a large Anechoic chamber or OATS (due to near field effects smaller test rooms will have larger deviations at low frequencies).

Beside this, one should realize that even full compliant radiated emission measurements still have relatively high measurement uncertainties. To give you some concrete figures:

• The absolute accuracy for an OATS measurement (including all uncertainties of equipment, site attenuation and antenna factor) are about +/- 5 dB.
• For emission measurements in anechoic chambers this figure is about +/- 6 dB for a SAR and even +/- 10 to 20 dB for a FAR.

So one can imagine that you can expect even higher uncertainties in a (G)TEM cell

Generally when comparing two sites with each other it is important to make the correct calculations for both uncertainties (root sum of the squares). So if both sites have 5 dB uncertainty (which is not feasible with a TEM cell) the total expected difference will be maximum 7 dB. In other words a measured 10 dB difference is not even bad at all!

What is the difference between the Report Generator and the Excel Exporter?

The report generator and the Excel exporter are using two different ways to export the information from RadiMation^®.

• The report generator is fully configurable by the report generator template which specifies the information that should be exported, and how it should be represented in the final report. The formatting, generated information and amount of information is completely configurable.
• The Excel exporter can not be configured, it just dumps all the raw data into a Microsoft Excel worksheet. By design, all the data is exported without any correction factors applied to the values. The order and the location on which the information is exported cannot be modified, and is always the same.

The report generator is also capable of generating customizable reports in Microsoft Excel. The most common usage of the Excel exporter is to have all the information available in Microsoft Excel to perform further calculations.

Why are the TXT and the HTML formats not supported anymore by the report generator?

The report generator is being using more than in the past, for the inclusion of tables and pictures in the final report. The support in the report generator for the TXT and HTML files has been removed in version 5.3 and higher because those file types do not support embedded tables and pictures within the file. For the same reason the file types XML and RTF are not supported anymore.

The decision to stop the support of these file types in the report generator will not have a large impact, because to our knowledge, these file types are not use by any customer.

How can I overlap two graphs in multi band?

To overlap two graphs, open both the test results. In one of the two test results press the graphs button. you will see that the other test is available for selection. You can add any line from the other test result into the current graph.

Signal generator is going to -100 dBm and RadiMation is reporting that it can not go any lower

If the signal generator is going to -100 dBm during a test, then there is something wrong in the hardware configuration or the software configuration.

Possible causes and solutions:

1. Verify that the hardware configuration is the same as the software configuration. It is possible that an attenuation is not included in the test-site configuration. It is also possible that a coupler with another attenuation was selected in the test-site configuration. Adjust the configuration of the test-site in such a way that the hardware configuration and the software configuration are equal.
2. Check the noise level of the powermeter, so the minimum power level which can be measured with the used power meter is known. The problem can be caused by a combination of the noise level of the used powermeter and the attenuation in front of the powermeter, which is in total higher then the requested power level during the test.

Creating a pause in a multi-band test

There is no real pause inside multi band, but in general the only time you need a pause is when changing the test set up. For this you can use the before and after action in the test set up.

Auto attenuator is going to 10 dB even with low emission values

When auto attenuation is selected, RadiMation^® sends a command to the receiver or analyser to select auto attenuation. The attenuation that will be selected by the receiver or analyser is then depending on the used measurement device itself. When an analyser is used, it can help to decrease the reference level to for example 50 dbuV. Verify if the attenuator has been decreased at the lower reference level setting. A lot of analysers can only use a 0 dB attenuation value, if the reference level is lower or equal to -20 dbm (or 87 dBuV).

Why is there a big drop between the value during and after a G-tem measurement?

For a G-tem measurement you need to change the EUT to all three axis (X,Y and Z). During the measurement of one side you will see the emission coming out of that side. After measuring all three side the G-tem correction to the OATS can be applied, including the normalised site attenuation. For frequencies smaller then 1 Ghz this can mean that the total value is lower then the measured on one side. For example the attenuation for a horizontal 3 meter site at 30 MHz is 15.8. For the horizontal 10 meter site at 30 MHz this is 29.8. See the standard for the rest of the values.

How can I reset the administrator password in RadiMation^®?

The password of the administrator cannot be cleared, it is however possible to remove the administrator account. If RadiMation^® is started without an Administrator account, RadiMation^® will automatically create a new Administrator account with the default RadiMation^® password.

Use the following steps to remove the Administrator account:

1. Close RadiMation^® before continuing.
2. In the RadiMation^® CONFDVDR folder (most often: C:\Program Files\DARE Development\RadiMation\CONFDVDR\) the file SETTINGS.INI is present. Open this file, and search for the keyword [Engineers]. After this line, search for the engineer that is named Administrator. (for example: Engineer1=Administrator).
3. Remove all the lines that start with: Engineer<NR>, where the <NR> is the same number (in the example: 1) as the number of the engineer that was named Administrator.
4. Save the file and start RadiMation^®.

What is the default RadiMation^® password for the Administrator?

The default password for the administrator is: Radimation

How can I see which pages have been changed recently?

This RadiWiki site is using the MediaWiki software that is also used by Wikipedia. Most of the features that are present on Wikipedia, are thus also present on this RadiWiki site. Some possibilities to monitor recent changes are:

• Use the Recent changes link on the 'tools' section on the top-left, to see all the recent changes.
• Use the New pages page, to see all recently added new pages

I have found a problem. What should I do?

If you have found a problem in the RadiMation^® software, it is best to report it to us. We will categorize the reported issue, register it in our defect database, and investigate the problem. When a workaround or solution is available, we will report this back to you.

I have another question, that is not answered yet

Just send your question by e-mail to the RadiMation^® support team (radimation-support@raditeq.com), and we will give you an answer.