Foreword?Almost from the beginning of radio broadcasting@ the electric utility companies were faced with problems of radio noise. In 1924 the National Electric Light Association appointed a committee to study the subject. The manufacturers of electric power equipment had encountered similar problems@ and@ in 1930@ a subcommittee of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Codes and Standards Committee was set up. The following year@ the EEI-NEMA-RMA Joint Coordination Committee on Radio Reception was organized. During World War II@ the needs of the armed services for instruments and methods for radio-noise measurement@ particularly at frequencies higher than the broadcast band@ became pressing and@ in 1944@ work on developing suitable specifications was begun by a special subcommittee of ASA Sectional Committee C63@ Radio-Electrical Coordination. This subcommittee developed a wartime specification that became the joint Army-Navy Specification JAN-1-225@ issued in 1945 and later approved as American War Standard??Method of Measuring Radio Interference of Electrical Components and Completed Assemblies of Electrical Equipment for the Armed Forces from 150 kc to 20 Mc@ C63.1-1946. This American War Standard included the specifications for a radio-noise meter similar to those included in the JCC 1940 report with the addition of some refinements and improvements.In 1950@ the ASA Sectional Committee C63 completed preparation of Proposed American Standard Specifications for a Radio Noise Meter@ 0.015 to 25 Mc/s@ C63.2@ which was published in March 1950 for trial and study. An effort was made to take advantage of the extensive experience with meters made under the specification in the 1940 report as well as advances in radio engineering practice.Experience with the proposed standard indicated that a number of revisions and improvements were needed. The various branches of the Armed Forces had developed new specifications for radio-noise meters after 1950@ and the International Electrotechnical Commission published for CISPR (International Special Committee on Radio Interference) Specification for CISPR radio inteference measuring apparatus for the frequency range 0.15 Mc/s to 30 Mc/s@ Publication 1@ First edition@ 1961. The revised standard was published as American Standard Specifications for Radio-Noise and Field Strength Meters 0.015 to 30 Mc/s@ C63.2-1963. In 1964@ standard C63.3@ covering instruments for the frequency range 20 MHz to 1000 MHz was issued@ which was based upon the principles of measurement used in standard C63.2. In 1977 CISPR Publication 16 was issued.*The experience gained with the earlier specifications@ and the desire to make this American Standard compatible with international standards@ resulted in ANSI C63.2-1987@ which also combined the earlier documents C63.2 and C63.3. This 1996 edition extends the frequency range down to 10 Hz to accommodate requirements for compatibility measurements at lower frequencies.ScopeThis standard delineates the requirements of electromagnetic noise instrumentation for the frequency range of 10 Hz to 40 GHz incorporating quasi-peak@ peak@ rms and average detectors.NOTE-Examples of the types of voltages@ currents@ and fields to be measured are unmodulated and modulated sinewaves@ and components of electric and electromagnetic disturbances@ including transients that may interfere with the operation of communication@ electric@ or electronic equipment.The basic instrument is a frequency-selective voltmeter (FSVM). With appropriate coupling devices@ such as antennas and current probes@ the instrumentation will also measure other physical quantities such as field strength and current.The parameters for the quasi-peak detector are specified to agree with the requirements of the Comit?? International Special des Perturbations Radio??lectriques (International Special Committee on Radio Interference) (CISPR) [see CISPR Publication 16 (1987)]. An optional discharge time constant is also specified.The requirements of this specification should not be construed to imply that one instrument is required to cover the entire frequency range or that the instrument is permitted to have only the specified detector or detectors. Many users have measurement requirements over a smaller frequency range or may require additional detection capabilities.Although spectrum analyzers are frequently used in electromagnetic-noise measurements@ it is not within the scope of the present standard to cover such instruments. A separate document covering spectrum analyzers for use from 20 Hz to 40 GHz is in preparation as a proposed supplement to this standard. However@ a measuring set configured around a spectrum analyzer that meets the requirements of this standard may be used.For measurements made on paired telecommunications lines@ refer to IEEE Std 743-1984. Instrumentation specifications for measurement of telecommunications terminal equipment for compliance to technical standards of regulatory authorities are under consideration.