NSI Announces New Antenna Test Facilities

Two new test chambers have been installed at our Torrance, CA facility that greatly enhance our in-house test capabilities. These chambers include planar, cylindrical and spherical near-field test solutions, the latest NSI2000 professional software and high performance RF instrumentation. The chambers are capable of testing antenna apertures up to 12' (3.7m) in diameter from 400 MHz to 26.5 GHz. Chamber No. 1 includes the NSI-300V-12x12 Vertical Planar Near-field Scanner with cylindrical and spherical scanning options. Chamber No. 2 features the NSI-700S-75 Spherical Near-field Scanner.

New Near-field Book

NSI’s Stuart Gregson is the author of a new book, Principles of Planar Near-field Antenna Measurements.  This publication is a guide to planar near-field antenna measurements aimed at non-experts and provides a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of planar near-field antenna measurements. The book is co-authored with Dr John McCormick and Prof. Clive Parini, and is published by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET).  The new book is available for purchase through the IET website at www.theiet.org. 

New LAN Software Driver for Agilent PNA

NSI2000 software now supports the LAN interface as an alternative to GPIB for many NSI supported receivers, including the Agilent PNA and PNA-X Vector Network Analyzers. Ethernet has advantages over the traditional IEEE-488 GPIB interface that make it an attractive and cost effective alternative for instrumentation control.  Unlike GPIB, Ethernet does not limit cable lengths or the number of devices co-existing on the same network.  In addition, Ethernet offers improved bandwidth, resulting in higher data transfer rates and higher throughput for your antenna test applications. See more info on NSI RF Systems at http://www.nearfield.com/RF/RF_Systems.

NSI Hosts Near-field Short Course

NSI held a 3-day short course at the Torrance, CA facility. The course featured an in-depth review of near-field theory and included presentations of technology used in the NSI product line. Twelve attendees from across the globe attended the course this year and contributed to the success of this unique format.

If you missed this year's course, make sure to reserve your place at NSI's next Near-field Course to be held 3 - 6 March 2009.

CTIA Wireless 2008 - NSI Joins CTIA

NSI attended this year’s CTIA Wireless 2008 show in Las Vegas, April 1 - 3.  As a new member of the CTIA organization, NSI participated in standards meetings related to wireless testing. 

NSI currently has two products for CTIA wireless testing: the NSI-700S-90, an overhead swing-arm system (Theta-over-Phi), and the smaller more compact NSI-SC-5606-3DZ, which is a Phi-over-Theta system with a unique Z-shaped design.  Both are combination 3D spherical near-field and far-field systems - OTA measurements apply only to far-field systems at this time.  NSI also has installed two ranges that have received the CATL certification (Certified Authorized Test Lab) from CTIA.

NSI Exhibits at LAPC Show

NSI had a very successful showing at this year's Loughborough Antennas and Propagation Conference (LAPC) http://www.greenwavehosting2.co.uk/lapc/ held 17 - 18 March 2008 in Loughborough at the Burleigh Court Conference Centre. This NSI sponsored event featured a record number of paper submissions. This was a great opportunity to meet many existing customers and to demonstrate the speed and simplicity with which antenna measurements can be taken with the NSI-700S-20 spherical near-field system which was demonstrated at the show. 

NSI Attends COMITE08 Conference

NSI and EMV GmbH jointly exhibited at the COMITE08 conference in Prague on 23 & 24 April 2008. This conference was well attended by engineers mostly from the Czech and Slovak Republics but also a smaller contingent from across the globe. Daniel Janse van Rensburg and Greg Hindman delivered a paper on NSI’s sub-mmWave near-field system heritage, which provides an overview of planar near-field antenna test systems developed for earth observation and radio astronomy up to 660 GHz and 950 GHz. Shown at right are Zuzana Wood of EMV GmbH and Daniel Janse van Rensburg of NSI in the exhibit area.

Learn More About Near-field Antenna Measurements

If you've wondered about near-field measurements and whether they can improve your antenna measurements, see NSI's Near-field 101 page for a short tutorial on near-field measurements.