imageEvery now and then, as I walk the floor of a trade show, a product or booth really catches my attention. At this show, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the EMI Avengers, in battle with Evil EMI. Leading the Avengers was Eriko Yamato, as Wonder Woman.

Once she got my attention, her gentle, persistent tug would not let me go until I learned about the latest product Tech-Dream added to their distribution list, EM-ISight. This is a new near field scanning tool which moves a robotic arm in 3D around the surface of a functioning board, “sniffing” the near field at frequencies from 10 kHz to 40 GHz.

imageHotspots in the local electromagnetic field at any frequency can be mapped over the product surface and even superimposed over a photo of the product to identify potential high field regions.

Of course, as Eriko points out, it’s always important to not confuse the near field with the far field. Sometimes a local near field hotspot is just a local hot spot and does not contribute to radiated emissions.

But a tool like the EM-ISight will give you a new window into the currents flowing on your board. And more information is always a good thing.