Handheld meter checks fields for safety

Handheld broadband meter is designed for measuring electromagnetic fields around transmitters and industrial equipment

Now available from RF and microwave specialist Link Microtek is a new handheld broadband meter designed for measuring electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of transmitters and industrial equipment. With a choice of calibrated interchangeable probes, a GPS option and a wide range of storage and documentation features, the new NBM-550 instrument sets new standards in ease of operation and result management.

Manufactured by Narda Safety Test Solutions, the meter can be operated with one hand by anyone - left-handed or right-handed - and its large backlit monochrome LCD graphic display can be easily read in darkness or sunlight.

The instrument includes a hold button to freeze measurement results for easy readout, a keypad lock to prevent inadvertent operation of control keys, and a fully automatic zeroing function to eliminate the effects of temperature on the results.

The NBM-550 can hold up to 5000 results, with each measurement automatically timestamped, and an optional GPS receiver adds the ability to store position data for each measurement.

Also available is an optional facility for recording voice comments, which are stored with the corresponding measured values.

All data can be transferred to a PC and managed using the PC software supplied with the instrument, thereby making measurement reports very easy to generate.

Covering the frequency range 100kHz to 60GHz, the NBM-550 can be supplied with a choice of isotropic probes to suit each individual application.

Particularly useful is a probe with a shaped frequency response, which is designed to produce results as a percentage of a given safety guideline.

An intelligent probe interface in the NBM-550 automatically retrieves calibration data from an EPROM in the chosen NBM probe, and this enables the instrument to achieve its full calibrated accuracy without the user having to make any adjustments at all.