Narda Safety Test Solutions, an L-3 Communications company, introduced the NBM-550, a lightweight, handheld meter for broadband measurement of electromagnetic (EM) energy that incorporates a range of features never before available in a single instrument in the RF radiation safety marketplace.
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.
Among the many new features of the NBM-550, three stand out:
• 4-in. backlit monochrome LCD with 240 x 320 pixel resolution that is far superior to color LCD displays when viewed in direct sunlight or through sunglasses.
• Optional GPS receiver and antenna that mount on the instrument and allow precise geographical coordinates to be incorporated in the measurement record. GPS accuracy in enhanced mode is 3 m.
• Comprehensive software (NBM-TS) for WindowsXP and Vista that provides all capabilities required to manage the data required for survey reports. It even 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 performs the most common instrument functions with soft keys shown on the display that are dedicated to buttons below them on the instrument body.
The display can show measurement results as actual, minimum, 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.
To accomplish this, the NBM-550 computes results obtained at specific frequencies, determines the percentage of a standard’s allowable level that is present, and shows that percentage on the display. Total field strength can be displayed with readings from each axis (when used with a probe with separate axes), and the unit continuously records and stores eight hours of measurement data that can be viewed simultaneously with maximum, minimum, average and maximum average field levels.
The NBM-550 weighs 1.6 lb. (740 g) with a typical probe and GPS and measures 1.7" x 3.8" x 11" (45 x 98 x 128 mm).