Northwest EMC

2011 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility Wrap-Up

October 24 2011

Northwest EMC team members had the opportunity to attend the recent 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility held August 10-14 in Long Beach, California. IEEE members from across the United States attended the week-long event, taking part in workshops, technical sessions and paper presentations from electromagnetic compatibility professionals covering a wide range of topics. Our very own Customer Service/Sales Manager Alee Langford served as Marketing Chair for the Symposium, which attracted over 120 exhibitors this year.

The event, sponsored by the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, included social events for networking opportunities, an exhibitor’s hall, three days of peer-reviewed paper presentations, and a technical program that included meetings, workshops, demonstrations, experiments and IEEE Society awards. NW EMC staff enjoyed the opportunity to learn about emerging trends in testing, current testing requirements and new methodologies as well as a chance for networking with their industry peers during the exhibitors’ expo.

The show highlights included conference technical papers on topics covering automotive component testing and radiated emissions measurements between 3m or 5m to 10m test distances, along with the NVLAP assessor training session. Northwest EMC took great interest in the automotive component testing technical paper since our testing facility in Irvine, California is currently expanding to include the capability for automotive testing. Northwest EMC will expand this service at our other locations in the coming months.

• NVLAP Assessor Training session: This all-day workshop, attended by Northwest EMC President Dean Ghizzone and Director of Engineering Greg Kiemel, covered communication between assessors and NVLAP during third-party accreditation for testing and calibration labs.
• Automotive Component Testing technical paper from Vince Rodriguez of ETS Lindgren: This paper highlighted CISPR 25, ISO 11452-2, and equivalent standards along with the antenna and chamber requirements in order to conduct these tests.
• Radiated EMI Measurements technical paper from John Maas of IBM: This discussion was regarding inverse distance fall off theory, which is often used to project radiated emissions measurement from one distance to another. For example, 3m or 5m to 10m. This commonly used technique can result in errors of up to 14dB.

Northwest EMC President Dean Ghizzone had the opportunity to discuss our new SAR testing capabilities, Northwest EMC’s newest facility in Minnesota, and our growing list of international accreditations with Espresso Engineering. Watch the video for details.

One of the exciting moments on the show room floor was AR’s daily drawing of prizes. This drew a big crowd to the AR booth, and generated a buzz throughout the week as people anticipated the announcement of winners. After 11 years of attending the IEEE EMC Symposium and every year entering in the big AR raffle, Kim Valleen of Northwest EMC won an Apple Ipod Shuffle.

Korea RRA Announces New EMC Regulations, Including New KC Mark

February 18 2011

Korea’s Radio Research Agency (RRA) announced new regulations that take affect immediately. Be aware that these regulations could significantly affect the approval processes for EMC product registration in Korea. We’ve listed the changes below. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

1. Wireless Module Approval is now allowed.
2. There is a new KC logo or “mark” that will be effective on July 1st of 2011. The old KCC logo will be allowed until this date, however, after July 1st, only the new KC Mark will be accepted. **See additional notes below for more details.
   
3. The KC logo and approval number must be on the unit and shipment package.
4. The new format for the EMC Registrations number will be as follows: KCC-REM-AAA-XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   • The REM stands for Registration EMC Manufacturer.
   • You will still need to have a company ID code, which is what the “AAA” represents.
   • There is no longer a class “A” or “B” marking requirement.
5. You will need to submit 3 forms upon registration:
   • An Application
   • Local Agent Agreement
   • DoC letter
6. The EMC registration Certificate will be issued on the same day of submission.

The process outside of these changes remains the same as before. You will still have to submit your test report and technical files for RRA’s review to make sure they comply with their regulations.

The RRA will also conduct serious audits. If any issues with the data and/or technical files should arise, your registration is subject to immediate cancellation.

Additional Notes

**The new KC logo is dark blue (indigo), gold, and silver or black. The certification mark size can be adjusted, but never less than 5mm in height. If the device is extremely small, you can put the certification mark on the package/box. Or you can put only the KC logo or only the certificate number on the product. These new label requirements must be adhered to starting on July 1st, 2011.

All EMC testing will be required starting in July, while safety tests are still under consideration and not fixed. If the device or system currently uses the old KCC approved RF module, it doesn’t need to repeat the RF testing and approval. Product list for 2 schemes: Conformity Certification and Conformity Registration, has been announced.

For questions and further information on what this means to our clients, do not hesitate to Contact Us!

New Korea Requirement – KCC

July 15 2010

As of April 1, 2010 Korean officials have tightened importation requirements. Now, a manufacturer must provide a KCC certificate and two photos of the product (front and label) in order to get customs clearance. Every shipment to Korea must contain these documents.

Northwest EMC can help you obtain a KCC certificate. Our U.S. laboratories are accredited to the Korean KN standards and our in-country agents make obtaining approvals fast and easy. Typically, KCC certificates are received within 5 business days after submission to Korea.