Narda Safety Announces EM Field Meter For RF Radiation Safety Tests To 60 GHz

Hauppauge, NY -- Narda Safety Test Solutions, an L-3 Communications company, introduced the NBM-520, a lightweight, hand-held meter for broadband measurement of electromagnetic (EM) energy.

Broadband EM field meters are employed by safety officers and engineers in a broad range of industries to evaluate the compliance of their facilities with international standards, such as IEEE C95.1-2005, that set permissible levels of exposure to nonionizing (radio frequency) radiation. Typical applications include measurement of fields generated by industrial heat-sealing, drying, and plastic welding equipment, medical, wireless communications, and many types of defense electronic systems.

New features of the NBM-520 include:

• Small Size -- The NBM-520 uses a small, custom LCD to display important field strength information. The supplied software allows users to pre-configure the meter for the specific survey task, keeping the meter smaller and lighter.

• Remote Data Acquisition -- The NBM-520 can be controlled by the larger NBM-550 as far as 40 meters away. All control can be done with the NBM-550 controlling the measurement. This allows customers to acquire the smaller 520 meter now while providing a clear and comprehensive upgrade path.

• Comprehensive software (NBM-TS) for WindowsXP and Vista that provides all capabilities required to manage the data required for survey reports. It lets the user integrate satellite photos and maps from services such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth into survey reports. The software orchestrates instrument remote control and performs firmware upgrades as well.

The operator configures the most common instrument functions with the supplied software. The display can show measurement results as actual, maximum, average, and maximum average, and units are selectable as V/m, A/m, W/m2, and mW/cm2. The instrument will also display the reading as "percent of standard", to show how the measured electromagnetic field strength compares with values allowed by an accepted standard or guidance, when used with shaped probes.

The NBM-520 works in conjunction with calibrated probes (antennas) that are available to cover frequencies as great as 100 kHz to 60 GHz. Each of the 10 available probes is calibrated at multiple frequencies, and this calibration information is stored in the probe and transferred to the meter when it is connected. The new probes have a calibration interval of 2 yr. versus 1 yr. with previous models. Probe types include electric and magnetic field, flat or shaped response (E-field), and diode and thermocouple detectors, all of which can be connected directly to the meter or via fiber optic cable for remote operation at up to 60 ft. away. Flat response probes have the same level of sensitivity over their operating frequency range, and shaped-response probes have varying levels of sensitivity that mirror a particular standard (or guidance) as closely as possible.

The NBM-520 weighs 1.6 lb. (740 g) with a typical probe and measures 1.5 x 2.1 x 7.7 in. (38 x 52 x 195 mm). The NBM-520 with no backlighting will operate for 22 h on a charge of its replaceable NiMH rechargeable batteries, and 16 h with it's backlight on continuously. It is supplied with a hard case, battery charger, rechargeable 2500 mAh NiMH batteries, shoulder strap, NBM-TS software, calibration certificate, manual, and F.O. cable and RS-232 converter.

SOURCE: Narda Safety Test Solutions - An L3 Technologies Company