Alas the murky world of EMF safety measurement equipment isn’t straightforward and we're seeing equipment coming to the market that is less than adequate.

There are no standards to which EMF measurement equipment has to conform so it tends to be a case of buyer beware.

Even apparently credible (and expensive) equipment can have serious flaws. A common issue is that the measurement range of the instrument doesn’t marry up with the maximum permissible exposure levels for an assessment e.g. EMF Directive 2013/35/EU Action Levels or ICNIRP Reference Levels. If the measurement range is too low then you won’t be able to prove compliance with higher field strengths. A good example is the magnetic field Limb Action Levels listed in the EMF Directive, these provide important relaxation of the whole body Action Levels so that hand held tools can be successfully assessed. Because the limb values are higher then some equipment simply doesn't have the requisite measuremnt range to cover them.

Another problem is EMF immunity i.e. EMF measurement equipment needs to work in high field strengths without suffering the effects of interference. The problem is that you may not know if the reading you’re getting is too high or too low because the meter is being affected by the ambient field; obviously not ideal for safety assessments.

The cornerstone of Narda equipment is providing suitable measurement values under all conditions and we're happy (and capable) of discussing all of the ins and outs of our specifications. Some manufacturers out there (and certainly their sales teams) don't have enough experience to know the limitations of their own kit so it's all to easy to purchase measurement equipment that simply isn't up to the job.