Biconical antennas are used for emissions and immunity testing to meet various EMC standards specified by FCC, CISPR and EN. The broadband characteristics of the biconical antenna make it a good choice for making sweep measurements and for automated measurement systems.

Normally, tuned dipole antennas are used for EMC site attenuation measurements for better accuracy. However, the biconical antenna is easier to use for vertical site attenuation measurements, because of the long dipole element lengths at lower frequencies (5 meters at 30 MHz). According to ANSI 63.4 specification, a calibrated biconical and a log periodic antenna can be used for site attenuation measurements.

The calibration data provided with each antenna is used to calculate field strength measured for the selected frequency. The antenna factor (dB/m) for the selected frequency is added to the measured output (dBV) displayed by the EMI meter to obtain field strength (dBV/m).