Tait Communications Opens New EMC Test Lab in Christchurch, NZ

Tait Communications has brought a new test laboratory online at its Harewood campus in Christchurch, New Zealand, adding indoor EMC and RF compliance testing that the critical-communications equipment supplier says had not previously been available in the country.

The multimillion-dollar facility sits roughly 250 meters from Tait’s main campus and replaces an outdoor test site the company had used previously. At its center is a Frankonia SAC-3 Plus semi-anechoic chamber, a dome-shaped structure 6 meters high, 9 meters long and 6 meters wide, built in Germany and designed to shield equipment under test from external interference — a requirement the company says is increasingly built into current compliance standards.

The chamber is paired with EMC and RF test equipment, along with Project 25 (P25) Compliance Assessment Program (CAP) test capability, supporting the wide range of communications technologies Tait’s products are built around. The facility has been re-certified with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), with accreditation now running through May 2028; its scope also extends to standards set by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Tait says the lab is expected to expand its accreditation scope going forward, with a near-term upgrade planned to add 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz emissions testing — coverage aimed at the Wi-Fi and wireless bands increasingly embedded in modern critical-communications equipment.