Antenna Coupler Selection Guideline

Why antenna coupler should be used

RF conducted test is commonly and widely used for RF test of DUT. This current way needs the physical RF connection, which can make a few problems. First, the way with the physical RF connection is commonly tested under the ignorance of characteristics of antenna. In most cases, it is difficult to do impedance matching perfectly for a multi band or wide band antenna. Gain of an antenna may vary a lot for each frequency band. This does not provide the reliable test result, especially for multi-band or wide band antenna. Second, connectors and cables used for the physical RF connection have their own RF characteristics such as VSWR, which can affect the test result as well. Third, the worn or broke RF connector may affect the test result. In addition, the physical RF connection test requires them to be repaired much often. This can degrade the productiveness of a factory. The non-physical connected test with an antenna coupler is the solution for all problems stated above.

Considerations when antenna coupler is used

Generally, antenna coupler requires to be tested in the shield box in order to block any spurious or noises. There are several considerations in order to increase its test reliability. The first thing to consider is the reflected or scattered RF signal generated in the shield box. Even though the shield box or shield room absorbs most of RF signals inside, but there are a lot of scattered and reflected RF signals still remain in the shield box. This can affect the test result, depending on the position of DUT and antenna coupler. Second, the scattered and reflected RF signals can change the modulation characteristics of DUT. Those undesired signal can go back to RF chip through DUT's antenna or cover due to bad isolation performances of a chip. It may shift the carrier frequency and result the undesired modulation. The third 

consideration should be the change of characteristics of an antenna from undesired RF signals in the box. Usually, an antenna of DUT, which uses narrow band, requires high Q value. The input impedance of an antenna with the narrow band is highly sensitive to the location of an antenna coupler in a small shield box because an antenna coupler can generate RF coupling with DUT's antenna.

In conclusion, not only antenna couplers' performances should be considered, but also absorbency performances or size of a shield box should be strongly considered due to the properties of RF. A good shield boxes can absorb inside RF signals effectively and give you the high reliable test result.

Antenna coupler selection guideline

Antenna coupler would be chosen to make the most optimized test environments from considerations of test purposes, characteristics of antenna coupler, size and shape of DUT. Generally, a bigger antenna coupler has a slightly better performance than a smaller one has, but it requires a bigger shield box as well. For example, even though TESCOM's equi-angular spiral antenna couplers, TC-93060A and TC-93061A, have less coupling loss and do not matter of the location of DUT much, they require a big shield box due to its sensitivity to the reflected RF signals. 

Talk about HiPot Testing

Hipot Test is short name of high potential (high voltage) Test and it is also known as Dielectric Withstand Test. A hipot test checks for "good isolation and safety", not a function.

Hipot test makes surety of no current will flow from one point to another point.

Hipot test is the opposite of a continuity test, but an isolation test

Continuity Test checks surety of current flows easily from one point to another point while Hipot Test checks surety of current would not flow from one point to another point (and turn up the voltage really high just to make sure no current will flow).

Importance of HIPOT Testing

The hipot test is a nondestructive test that determines the adequacy of electrical insulation for the normally occurring over voltage transient. This is a high-voltage test that is applied to all devices for a specific time in order to ensure that the insulation is not marginal.

Hipot tests are helpful in finding nicked or crushed insulation, stray wire strands or braided shielding, conductive or corrosive contaminants around the conductors, terminal spacing problems, and tolerance errors in cables. Inadequate creepage and clearance distances introduced during the manufacturing process.

The production-line hipot test, however, is a test of the manufacturing process to determine whether the construction of a production unit is about the same as the construction of the unit that was subjected to type testing. Some of the process failures that can be detected by a production-line hipot test include, for example, a transformer wound in such a way that creepage and clearance have been reduced.

Such a failure could result from a new operator in the winding department.

HIPOT test is applied after tests such as fault condition, humidity, and vibration to determine whether any degradation has taken place.

Other examples include identifying a pinhole defect in insulation or finding an enlarged solder footprint.

As per IEC 60950, The Basic test Voltage for  Hipot test is the 2X (Operating Voltage) + 1000 V, such as in USA, normally set as 2X120+1000=1240VAC@60Hz. Note: different countries perhaps have the diffeeent standard. 

The reason for using 1000 V as part of the basic formula is that the insulation in any product can be subjected to normal day-to-day transient over voltages.

Experiments and research have shown that these over voltages can be as high as 1000 V.

Test method for HIPOT Test

Hipot testers usually connect one side of the supply to safety ground (Earth ground). The other side of the supply is connected to the conductor being tested. With the supply connected like this there are two places a given conductor can be connected: high voltage or ground.

When you have more than two contacts to be hipot tested you connect one contact to high voltage and connect all other contacts to ground. Testing a contact in this fashion makes sure it is isolated from all other contacts.

If the insulation between the two is adequate, then the application of a large voltage difference between the two conductors separated by the insulator would result in the flow of a very small current. Although this small current is acceptable, no breakdown of either the air insulation or the solid insulation should take place. Therefore, the current of interest is the current that is the result of a partial discharge or breakdown, rather than the current due to capacitive coupling.

Time Duration for HIPOT Test

The test duration must be in accordance with the safety standard being used. The test time for most standards, including products covered under IEC 60950, is 1 minute.

A typical rule of thumb is 110 to 120% of 2U + 1000 V for 1–2 seconds.

Current Setting for HIPOT Test

Most modern hipot testers allow the user to set the current limit. However, if the actual leakage current of the product is known, then the hipot test current can be predicted.

The best way to identify the trip level is to test some product samples and establish an average hipot current. Once this has been achieved, then the leakage current trip level should be set to a slightly higher value than the average figure.

Another method of establishing the current trip level would be to use the following mathematical formula:  E(Hipot) / E(Leakage) = I(Hipot) / 2XI(Leakage)

The hipot tester current trip level should be set high enough to avoid nuisance failure related to leakage current and, at the same time, low enough not to overlook a true breakdown in insulation.

Test Voltage for HIPOT Test

The majority of safety standards allow the use of either ac or dc voltage for a hipot test.

When using ac test voltage, the insulation in question is being stressed most when the voltage is at its peak, i.e., either at the positive or negative peak of the sine wave.

Therefore, if we use dc test voltage, we ensure that the dc test voltage is under root 2 (or 1.414) times the ac test voltage, so the value of the dc voltage is equal to the ac voltage peaks.

For example, for a 1500-V-ac voltage, the equivalent dc voltage to produce the same amount of stress on the insulation would be 1500 x 1.414 or 2121 V dc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of use DC Voltage for Hipot Test

One of the advantages of using a dc test voltage is that the leakage current trip can be set to a much lower value than that of an ac test voltage. This would allow a manufacturer to filter those products that have marginal insulation, which would have been passed by an ac tester.

When using a dc hipot tester, the capacitors in the circuit could be highly charged and, therefore, a safe-discharge device or setup is needed. However, it is a good practice to always ensure that a product is discharged, regardless of the test voltage or its nature, before it is handled.

It applies the voltage gradually. By monitoring the current flow as voltages increase, an operator can detect a potential insulation breakdown before it occurs. A minor disadvantage of the dc hipot tester is that because dc test voltages are more difficult to generate, the cost of a dc tester may be slightly higher than that of an ac tester.

The main advantage of the dc test is DC Voltage does not produce harmful discharge as readily occur in AC.

It can be applied at higher levels without risk or injuring good insulation. This higher potential can literally "sweep-out" far more local defects.

The simple series circuit path of a local defect is more easily carbonized or reduced in resistance by the dc leakage current than by ac, and the lower the fault path resistance becomes, the more the leakage current increased, thus producing a "snow balling" effect which leads to the small visible dielectric puncture usually observed. Since the dc is free of capacitive division, it is more effective in picking out mechanical damage as well as inclusions or areas in the dielectric which have lower resistance.

Advantages and Disadvantages of use AC Voltage for Hipot Test

One of the advantages of an ac hipot test is that it can check both voltage polarities, whereas a dc test charges the insulation in only one polarity. This may become a concern for products that actually use ac voltage for their normal operation. The test setup and procedures are identical for both ac and dc hipot tests.

A minor disadvantage of the ac hipot tester is that if the circuit under test has large values of Y capacitors, then, depending on the current trip setting of the hipot tester, the ac tester could indicate a failure. Most safety standards allow the user to disconnect the Y capacitors prior to testing or, alternatively, to use a dc hipot tester.

The dc hipot tester would not indicate the failure of a unit even with high Y capacitors because the Y capacitors see the voltage but don't pass any current.

Safety precautions during HIPOT Test

During a HIPOT Test, There may be at some risk so to minimize risk of injury from electrical shock make sure HIPOT equipment follows these guidelines:

• The total charge you can receive in a shock should not exceed 45 uC.
  
• The total hipot energy should not exceed 350 mJ.
  
• The total current should not exceed 5 mA peak (3.5 mA rms)
  
• The fault current should not stay on longer than 10 mS.
  
• If the tester doesn't meet these requirements then make sure it has a safety interlock system that guarantees you cannot contact the cable while it is being hipot tested.
  

For Cable

• Verify the correct operation of the safety circuits in the equipment every time you calibrate it.
  
• Don't touch the cable during hipot testing.
  
• Allow the hipot testing to complete before removing the cable.
  
• Wear insulating gloves.
  
• Don't allow children to use the equipment.
  
• If you have any electronic implants then don't use the equipment.
  

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Orginal linkage here with a little bit modification and thanks, and iTestGroup also provide the HiPot testing solution for your product and safety, contact with iTestGroup via sales@itestgroup.com 

Noise: 为什么电压端子悬空仪器显示仍有数值？

功率分析仪、功率计，万用表在测试电压时，有时会发现还没有接入测试电压，仪器就显示有一定的数值，其实这不是仪器故障，今天我们一起来揭秘。

    电磁感应原理

    大家是否还记得我们高中时学习的物理知识，电磁感应原理。相信很多人在学习电磁感应原理以及左右手定则的时候一定非常痛苦，我们先来回顾一下。电磁感应定律也叫法拉第电磁感应定律，电磁感应现象是指因磁通量变化产生感应电动势的现象，例如，闭合电路的一部分导体在磁场里做切割磁感线的运动时，导体中就会产生电流，产生的电流称为感应电流，产生的电动势（电压）称为感应电动势。所以导体在磁场中运动就会产生感应电流，形成感应电动势（电压），同理静止的导体在变化的磁场中也会产生感应电流形成感应电动势（电压），这就是电磁场变化的原理。

空气中的电磁环境

如今我们的生活中与电是万万分不开的，家用电器、电瓶车、电动车、广播、电机等等，因此空气中会存在着各种各样的电磁场，所有这些会对测量仪器造成影响的电磁场，我们称为电磁噪声。

        一般的电磁噪声对测试测量不会产生影响，各类电磁噪声频率范围不同，在空气中会不断衰减，所以通常可以忽略不计。但是因为电磁噪声的存在，对一些带宽、精度比较高的测试仪器就会造成影响。比如功率计和功率分析仪等产品，其精度高、带宽大，在小量程时如果操作不当，容易受电磁干扰影响造成误解。比如仪器电压端子悬空，量程设置较小时，仪器会显示一定的电压值，这个就是典型的受电磁噪声影响的结果。

如何避免噪声影响

首先我们要说明一个问题，电压通道输入为零的状态其实并不是开路状态，而是输入短路（用短线连接高低端子）状态。电压通道测量输入阻抗极高，开路状态下会拾取空间电磁噪声，就会出现电压测量值不为零的现象。所以如果我们发现仪器出现悬空时电压不为零，可以拿一根短线，把仪器电压端口的高低端短接，然后再查看数值是否为零，此时才是电压通道的零状态，显示也就为零了。除了短接之外，我们还有注意仪器的一些关键设置，比如PT比例是否设置正确，PT是否正常开关，电压量程是否合适，仪器供电接地是否良好，以保证最终测量准确进行。

（注：以下段落是周立功广告部分，既然转载ZLG文章，也不避讳地同时转载其软文广告了。）

ZLG立功科技・致远电子PA8000拥有丰富的触发方式，可以针对不同的场景进行触发，是一款认证级功率分析仪，功率精度高达0.01%、带宽高达5MHz，是逆变器、变频器与电源产品能效测量的基准，也是标准实验室认证检测的依据。