What is EMC?

Electromagnetic interference is a serious problem in today's highly technological world. It's an unseen form of environmental pollution and can play havoc with electrical devices. Problems can be extremely minor and may slightly ruin user-experience. On the other end of the scale, faults due to interference could put lives at risk. For example, faults induced in aviation or military systems

Reports of interference-incidents have been on the rise since the early days of electronics. Since then electronics system have spread into every aspect of our lives. Also, today's systems utilise faster technology and work at comparatively low power levels, meaning that it takes less energy to create a problem.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). Products must be fit to operate in such EM-polluted environments whilst functioning correctly and reliably. The flip-side of this statement is that products should not contribute to the growing levels of EM-pollution in the surrounding environment.

The EMC Directive, 89/336/EEC.

Adopted on January, 1st, 1992, by the European Commission as part of the new approach directives, the EMC directive aimed to tackle the growing number of EM-related conflicts. The idea was to enable the free movement of goods within the EU by establishing one set of technical requirements for manufacturers in all states.

The directive states that the product in question shall be constructed so that:

"the electromagnetic disturbance it generates does not exceed a level allowing radio and telecommunications equipment and other apparatus to operate as intended..."

"the apparatus has an adequate level of intrinsic immunity to electromagnetic disturbance to enable it to operate as intended..."

Conformity is demonstrated by use of the "CE" mark. This will also indicate conformity with the European directive covering safety, as well as a number of other directives should they be applicable.

It is an offence to knowingly supply "CE-labelled" goods that do not meet the requirements of the directives. Such an offence could result in fines, removal of goods from the market, as well as legal action against individuals with in your company.

EMC Services

Keats Audio has successfully dealt with EMC-related issues on a number of high-risk audio products, and has the technical knowledge needed to produce a workable solution for your product.

Such issues are best dealt with in early design stages, however, there are a number of measures that can be applied to existing products to help curtail any EM-related interactions.

A lot of expense can be saved by designing for EM-compliance, especially when combined with in-house testing and reiterative re-design. Test houses are very expensive and there is a lot the designer can do to help guarantee success first time.

Please get in touch for more information.