25 years: Narda Safety Test Solutions celebrates its silver jubilee

High-tech from Pfullingen

Narda Safety Test Solutions has been developing and manufacturing state of the art test equipment for EMF Safety and RF Test & Measurement for a quarter century now, all under one roof at their headquarters in the town of Pfullingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany.

Leader in the Measurement of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF)

Narda’s continuing passion for technological challenges and application-oriented products as well as quality and, not least, honesty are still the core values that inspire everyone at the Pfullingen plant to increase peak performance day by day. This motivation and drive, along with the expertise and pure enthusiasm for technology of Narda’s highly qualified experts, has been the deciding factor that has put the EMF measurement tech specialist where it is today: at the forefront of electromagnetic field measurement. That is something that everyone involved in this success story can rightly be proud of, particularly now as the company celebrates its silver jubilee marking 25 years since it began.

Narda’s Products and Milestones

Narda’s origins lie in the field of EMF Safety, in broadband measurement of electromagnetic fields in both the low frequency range and the high frequency range up to 100 GHz. For 25 years now, Narda has without doubt set the international technology benchmark in this business field. The corresponding products in the form of portable test meters, measuring stations, and personal monitors are used around the world everywhere where people are exposed to electromagnetic fields. This includes everything from industrial equipment for welding and smelting through to antenna arrays for TV and radio broadcasting in particular and also telecommunications and public spaces.

RadMan and Nardalert

RadMan and Nardalert are wearable personal radiation monitors that provide users with reliable and timely warning of the presence of impermissibly high levels of electromagnetic radiation. The originals both represent the results of much more than 25 years of experience and are the all-time best selling RF personal monitors.

Narda FieldMan

Narda has opened the door to the future of electromagnetic field measurement with the FieldMan – smart technology. This broadband measuring device, with its various digital probes for dependable, non-directional, precision field measurements from 0 Hz (DC) up to 100 GHz is compact and handy and intuitive to operate. Its precise, reproducible measurements provide reliable and authoritative results for current and future applications in workplace health and safety and environmental protection.

Selective Radiation Meter

The development of the highly specialized SRM (Selective Radiation Meter) marked one of the highlights from the early days of the company. As the first of its type, this measuring device has greatly simplified the frequency-selective measurement of electromagnetic fields, and has become globally recognized and established as the leading technology. It automatically reliably and accurately determines which source (e.g. cellphone service provider) is responsible for the highest exposure level.

RF Test & Measurement

The second business field of the Pfullingen-based company derives from selective spectrum analysis coupled with the corresponding know-how: RF Test & Measurement. Narda started by developing the IDA (Interference and Direction Analyzer) and NRA (Narda Remote Spectrum Analyzer) for this area. The IDA is a powerful spectrum analyzer with integrated direction finding function for detection, analysis and localization of interference signals in radio networks. The NRA is a precision remote-controllable spectrum analyzer for continuous measurement of HF signals, perfect for monitoring applications, automatic test systems, and long-term signal monitoring. Both devices are primarily used in the field as hand-held direction finding or rack mounted instruments for urgent operations by Telcos, the military, and regulatory authorities, and as fast real-time spectrum analyzers.

SignalShark – High-Precision, Portable Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer

Customers in this sector are quick to demand much more from a suitable receiver in terms of performance, real-time bandwidth and input filter capabilities. Narda’s response to this is the SignalShark. This high-precision,  portable real-time spectrum analyzer and receiver was specially developed for the challenges involved in the detection, analysis, classification, and localization of HF signals. With it, Narda has set new standards in the fields of measurement speed, dynamic range, sampling rates, and real-time bandwidth.

Around the world, users appreciate the SignalShark as a measuring instrument with a POI (Probability of Intercept) that is unparalleled to this day. Key word: Real-time signal processing. SignalShark captures and analyzes signals with a real-time bandwidth of up to 40 MHz without gaps and is especially suited to the detection of brief impulse-type or hidden interference signals with signal durations as short as 3.2 μs (with 100% probability). It can therefore identify and direction-find fast hopping and radar signals. The SignalShark offers the highest measurement precision and dynamic range. Its high real-time dynamic range makes it ideal for high-precision spectrum analysis. This high-end instrument is also capable of detecting extremely weak signals even against a background of adjacent dominant high-level signals, thanks to its extremely low intrinsic noise density of -160 dBm/Hz.

Together with its associated ADFA Automatic Direction-Finding Antennas, Narda’s SignalShark real-time receiver is globally considered to be the most compact option for fully automatic rapid and precise direction-finding, analysis, and localization of RF signal sources between 10 MHz and 8 GHz. Insensitive to reflections, the ADFA very quickly delivers incomparably stable measurement results. Compact and universal in application, it combines an extremely wide spectrum with a minimum of equipment outlay, which makes the ADFA particularly attractive to cellphone providers and regulatory authorities as well as for military applications.

Outlook: Time-to-market is increasingly important

In contrast with the situation during the first twenty years following Narda’s founding, the time factor is of ever greater importance in dictating how the development department operates. The engineers must react more strongly and faster to international market trends and more flexibly to the needs of their customers than ever before. Now and in future, it is no longer enough to deliver technological solutions or superior quality whatever the cost.

“Now the order of the day is to develop new products with the highest possible quality and also to bring them onto the market much faster”, explained Martin Meisenburg, CEO of Narda Safety Test Solutions GmbH, recognizing the rapidly increasing importance of time-to-market in the industry. “So, our product range and offers are now and will in future be increasingly flexible and provide suitable solutions to the needs and applications of our customers much faster than before.”

To meet these growing challenges successfully in future, Narda has for several years now been developing powerful precision measuring devices that are not primarily defined by their hardware, but are also increasingly software-oriented. This means that current and future generations of instruments are based on standardized hardware and software platforms. This supports faster product development cycles and enables the utilization of rapid advances in technology, such as the use of cloud-based services or support from artificial intelligence (AI).

The ultimate goal is to get new developments ready for market much faster than before, realizing these by means of software-based product revisions or renovations.

Mr. Meisenburg emphasized: “This increased efficiency, the use of new technologies, and the smartification of our products will as always be achieved by prioritizing our core attributes, such as inventiveness, reliability, precision, quality, and sustainability, which have made Narda great over the past 25 years.” On this occasion of the silver jubilee of Narda Safety Test Solutions GmbH, the CEO wishes to express his sincere thanks to all staff and colleagues for their outstanding commitment and dedication, day after day.

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[Figure 01]

Figure 1: The Narda STS product range

[Figure 02]

Figure 2: Applications for the versatile FieldMan range from uncompromising reliable capture and analysis of low-frequency fields in the industrial workplace through to high-frequency measurements on antennas, transmitting equipment, and radar installations.

[Figure 03]

Figure 3: Here, the automatic ADFA direction-finding antenna is being used attached to a vehicle roof. Linked to the SignalShark inside the vehicle, it can locate the signal direction within 1.2 milliseconds. If the technician needs to locate the source “down to the last few meters” by entering an identified building, a hand-held antenna can be used for final direction-finding.