Quantitative experiments for hands-on training in RF and EMC measurements

Teaching measurements means educating in making experiments. Unfortunately the human body is not equipped with the tools to sense electromagnetic quantities (in a wide range of frequencies) therefore students in physics, electronics and telecommunications engineering, have to rapidly become familiar with an entirely new world of probes, sensors and measuring instruments. Students have to learn how do this equipment work and how to use it in order to effectively interact with the electromagnetic quantities (i.e., how to actually measure what you are willing to measure). This goal cannot be achieved without hands-on training. During the presentation it will be reported about the quantitative, hands-on experience made by the students attending the course in the electronic measurements of the master degree of science in electronics engineering at the University of Florence (Italy). Three basic experiments will be described: Measurement of the noise figure of a receiver, measurement of the spectral density of an impulse and measurement of the parasitic of a capacitor. The importance of comparing different measurement results obtained by measuring the same quantity through different measurement methods will be stressed.