Below are the questions asked during the live event, along with their respective answers.
Q: Does AR offer solutions to other MIL/DO tests beyond Radiated Immunity?
A: Absolutely. On many occasions, AR has provided full turnkey MIL-STD-461 systems to include a majority if not all of the tests encompassed by the standard. While AR has a focus in Radiated Immunity, we have a great deal of experience in the other testing requirements of MIL-STD-461 and DO-160, among other standards.
Q: Does AR offer solutions for high field strength pulse testing such as Cat L/G in DO-160 or MIL-STD-464?
A: Yes we do. The Predefined Systems discussed in this presentation again are a starting point and not indicative of AR’s complete portfolio. AR has routinely quoted and designed systems to meet these requirements, as well as building and installing these systems.
Q: How much power do you need to generate 200V/m from 30 MHz to 200 MHz in vertical and horizontal polarization?
A: It really depends on the antenna used. And the antenna used depends on the size of the test object. For smaller test objects, you can probably get away with using a small E-field generator and fit the object between the elements of the generator. In these scenarios, only a few hundred watts would be needed for 200 V/m. As the size of the test object increases, so does the size of the antenna and amplifier. Moderately sized objects and vehicles can utilize generators/antennas and a 2500 watt amplifier. Larger vehicles will need a stripline and greater than 10 kW of power. And there are solutions in between.
Q: MIL-STD461G warns against harmonics in the RS103 test. What is your solution to harmonic issues especially in the low-frequency range where large antennas act as a high-pass filter? Is there a harmonic measurement feature in your proposed system?
A: An important place to start is at the amplifier. Especially in low frequencies, you would commonly be using a solid-state amplifier. AR’s solid-state amplifiers, for example, have harmonic performance better than -20 dBc (often much better) at high powers. In order for harmonics to become a serious issue, there would need to be a huge increase in gain over the bandwidth of the antenna. And regarding the comment on antennas acting as a high-pass filter, I’m not sure that this is true. Antennas are specified to operate within a given bandwidth. Outside of this band, the antennas would act as poor conductors, thus acting more as a band-pass filter in a sense than high-pass.