An impressive new EMC test chamber has been officially launched at the Blue & Amber Light Fleet Exhibition by one of the UK’s leading specialist vehicle conversion companies.
MacNeillie have invested around £500,000 in a purpose-built semi-anechoic electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) test chamber, located within its secure facility in the West Midlands. The aim of the facility is to eradicate the costs of transportation, enhance project security, reduce the risk of delay and offer customers a true one-stop-shop solution.
The facility incorporates the latest test equipment from industry leading suppliers such as Rohde & Schwarz and Amplifier Research. Customers are expected to include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), police forces, ambulance authorities, fire and rescue services, and other government agencies.
Managing Director Nigel Rowley said: “The launch of our new EMC test chamber at the Blue & Amber Light Fleet exhibition marks a significant investment by MacNeillie, achieving one of our business plan’s medium term goals ahead of schedule.
“Our business model is simple, we asked ourselves – how can we improve our service to our customers? The obvious answer in these current times of austerity is to pare down conversion and integration costs. Over the past 36 months, we have worked on various initiatives to reduce costs, further improve efficiency and restructure our procurement.
“Our EMC chamber follows other initiatives where our internal services have been strengthened. We recently opened our southern facility where we carry out conversions and deploy client support engineers from to cover London and the South. We are now a recognised MOT facility, testing, repairing and servicing customer’s vehicles using security cleared staff and there are several new initiatives ahead.”
MacNeillie will be working closely with a number of government departments including the Home Office Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST), to provide EMC assessments of vehicles for emergency and security markets. These assessments include:
- Antenna performance
- Radiated emissions
- Mutual interference / interoperability between vehicles and installed equipment
- Electrical supply disturbance and consumption
- Earth bonding
- Radiated field strength measurements
Equipment level testing, in accordance with CISPR and EN61000-4 standards, includes:
- Radiated emissions from 30MHz to 3GHz
- Immunity testing from 80MHz to 1GHz
Mr Rowley said the investment demonstrated MacNeillie’s commitment to combining professionalism with the flexibility to respond quickly to customer requirements. The company is seeking to gain accredited test house status and to expand the scope of testing into related markets.