
Welcome to the seventh instalment of Meet Your Maker Q&A! Meet Your Maker is a series of behind-the-scenes videos and blogs that illustrate the wide range of in-house skillsets used to design and manufacture our market-leading broadcast technology whilst exploring the amazing people behind Calrec.
This week we spoke to Gary Burns, Calrec's Compliance Electrical Design Engineer. Gary knows why responsible manufacturers run regular EMC emission and ESD tests, and explains why he is already obsessing over the damage the open road can cause to an audio console even before the prototyping phase.
1. What is your role and what does it entail?
I am responsible for all areas relating to product compliance. This includes EMC and safety testing of products to ensure they adhere to the relevant standards. My role also includes product design, at which stage I can ensure all product compliance aspects are addressed. By designing for compliance upfront, we save on costly re-testing and re-design during product development.
2. What are the international standards that Calrec adhere to?
Calrec sells its products worldwide. As a result, we need to adhere to globally accepted international standards for professional audio equipment.
The standards we adhere to are constantly changing so we have to work hard to stay up-to-date and maintain compliance across our full product range. We are currently in the process of re-testing to the new IEC62368 safety standard, which comes into force in December 2020.
3. Why is it important to meet these standards?
This allows us to sell our products internationally, guaranteeing to both our customers and distributors that our products will be safe to use and compatible with other electrical devices in their regions. It is a legal requirement to meet these standards.
4. How does the wider broadcast environment influence development?
Across the industry, we are seeing the move to IP-based systems in broadcast. This means many of the specific standards for professional audio equipment have been combined with standards for IT-type products. This has resulted in the re-classification of our products and hence changes to requirements to meet these new standards.
A good example of this is the new IEC62368, which attempts to bring together a more common set of requirements for a wider range of products. This has resulted in changes to vent design with regard to fire safety.
5. What equipment does Calrec use in-house, and how does that make the process more efficient?
We use only very basic in-house test equipment to pre-test designs before testing externally at professionally certified test houses; however, at the early design stage, we make use of PCB and thermal simulation tools to help us design compliant solutions. We run in-house EMC emissions and ESD tests at each stage of prototyping to ensure that by the time we get a final product, we have a high level of confidence in achieving a pass. By designing for compliance and testing each design iteration, we reduce the total number of development cycles required.
6. What exactly is an anechoic chamber? What is the advantage of having one on-site at Nutclough Mill?
An anechoic chamber is a room designed to prevent the refection of electromagnetic waves. The small, custom-built chamber we have at the Mill allows me to test the level of electromagnetic radiation produced by a product in isolation. This is a great advantage as this is one of the most common reasons for products to fail EMC testing and allows me to test as early and often as required. Booking time in an external chamber is both expensive and inflexible.
7. Why is EMC/ESD compliance so important?
It is important because it cannot only prevent our products from working or being damaged but also avoids them affecting other systems around them which may have critical functions.
8. What environmental considerations are tested, and why?
Our products are designed to work in somewhat harsh environments, such as high temperatures or altitude. They are often installed in cramped spaces in outside broadcast units where they will experience shock and vibration. To perform reliably in these environments this needs to be considered and tested during the design phase. To achieve this, we test all our products over a wide range of temperatures and, where necessary, vibration test.
We also consider the environmental impact of our products and where possible utilise recyclable materials in both the product itself and the packaging. All our products meet the requirements of the EU RoHS directive.
Missed our previous Meet Your Maker Q&As?
Take a look at the following:
First Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Gareth Frimston, Product Manager
Second Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Darren Silcock, Lead Customer Support Engineer
Third Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Sally Baines, Production Manager
Fourth Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Andrew Munt, Software Manager
Fifth Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Maria Mitchell, Senior Product Test Engineer
Sixth Instalment of Meet Your Maker with Joe Gulaiczuk, Project Engineer
To view Calrecs product range click here
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
03/09/2026
Yospace will be at IBC from 11th - 14th September (booth 5.C78). For more inform...
03/09/2026
NEP Group has announced leadership changes at Creative Technology Group. Founder and CEO Graham Andrews will step away from day-to-day leadership at the end of ...
03/09/2026
The NFL and TikTok have announced a multi-year partnership renewal expanding the league's presence on the platform. NFL posts on TikTok increased more than ...
03/09/2026
Grass Valley has appointed Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras. Van Geel began his career in 1999 at Philips DVS and moved into product management in 2005...
03/09/2026
Telestream has announced Vantage Super Resolution, an AI-powered upscaling capability for the Vantage media workflow platform, developed in collaboration with N...
03/09/2026
Solid State Logic (SSL) will debut the TCA Tour at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.B45), a portable production system built from System T components in a desktop frame...
03/09/2026
DPA Microphones has announced the 6388 CORE Headset Microphone, making its debut at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand D60). The supercardioid headset features a physicall...
03/09/2026
Qvest will present a multi-vendor Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) showcase at IBC2026 (Booth 10.C24), demonstrating how the EBU's DMF architecture can be imple...
03/09/2026
Imagine Communications will showcase the Magellan PanelFlex control surface and other control portfolio updates at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, Septembe...
03/09/2026
Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 production probe is now available as a software-based solution, deployable on commerci...
03/09/2026
Audio-Technica has unveiled the BP350ST MS (mid-side) microphone in two versions: the camera-mount BP350ST-UL and the boundary or gooseneck-mountable BP350ST-UB...
03/09/2026
Telos Alliance will introduce updates to the J nger Audio flexAI audio processin...
03/09/2026
DUNKMAN, the professional dunk league founded by Shaquille O'Neal in partner...
03/09/2026
Orlando's WRDQ TV 27, WFTV Channel 9 previously named over-the-air broadcast...
03/09/2026
EverPass Media has announced a multi-year commercial distribution agreement with Netflix, expanding on an existing partnership that has delivered NFL Christmas ...
03/09/2026
Yahoo Sports and Apple TV have announced a partnership to deliver alternate broadcasts of select Friday Night Baseball and MLS games on the Yahoo Sports website...
03/09/2026
With another academic year underway, college athletic departments across the cou...
03/09/2026
Facility becomes permanent home of NFL Live on Sept. 9; centerpiece studio for c...
03/09/2026
Create musical synth bass sounds from scratch
Anthony Marinelli Music have recently announced the launch of Bass DNA, a new online course that teaches music...
03/09/2026
Most powerful Tonex hardware to date
IK Multimedia's latest release introduces their most advanced Tonex hardware unit to date, combining their AI Machi...
03/09/2026
Upmix & downmix software upgraded
Penteo Audio Plugins have announced that the latest version of their powerful upmix and downmix software is now available....
03/09/2026
With the start of the new apprenticeship year, young talent has once again begun their professional careers at SGL Carbon's sites in Germany. Recently, the ...
03/09/2026
With the industry increasingly embracing hybrid, software-defined production models, Calrec will preview a series of Argo and ImPulseV software enhancements at ...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
Recognizing the ever-increasing demands for media throughput in challenging environments like post-production, two leaders in network technology have worked tog...
03/09/2026
EVS, a leader in live video technology and production infrastructure solutions, and Matrox Video, a leader in software-defined media technology and IP-based vid...
03/09/2026
AJA Debuts OG-FiDO-4 openGear Four-Channel SDI/Fiber Conversion Cards
Brie Clayton September 3, 2026
0 Comments
New product family expands 12G-SDI and...
03/09/2026
Nice Touch launches V2 of its AI edit assistant for professional editors
Brie Clayton September 3, 2026
0 Comments
Built by two editors with twelve ye...
03/09/2026
Accedo, a global provider of video streaming software and services, and MediaKind, a world-leading video technology company and the number one independent provi...
03/09/2026
International research from Big Blue Marble puts a consumer churn number against a technical failure, and sets out what streaming providers must fix before 2030...
03/09/2026
High-performance points of presence power video streaming delivery to large audiences across Latin America with guaranteed quality of experience
Broadpeak , a ...
03/09/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, will unveil the next evolution of Dalia at IBC2026 (7.A43), its media-aware agent...
03/09/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the world's largest independent IT and business consulting services firms, will showcase CGI OpenMedia Evolve and CGI d...
03/09/2026
LiveU is participating in the IBC Accelerator Incubator 2026: Smart Stories The New Knowledge Architecture for Content Production, an industry-wide initiative...
03/09/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast and media industry, has taken another major step in its...
03/09/2026
Quortex today announced that it will showcase how it is accelerating innovation and the transition to IP at IBC 2026. The company will debut its newest intellig...
03/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/09/2026
The EZDRM approach to Revenue Security on streaming video can be visualized as a multi-dimensional set of solutions. A growing dimension of that approach is the...
03/09/2026
From field capture to management, control and production, Kiloview will demonstrate one connected Hybrid AV-over-IP workflow including a complete 4RU producti...
03/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced Mediagenix Curation, a new...
03/09/2026
LucidLink, the Emmy-winning cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, today announced the next step in its vision to make ...
03/09/2026
Fraudulent communications purportedly from Screen Australia 3 September 2026
Screen Australia is aware of scam attempts involving fake emails and promotional m...