Let’s talk common sense.
- Would you ever purchase a new car without first test driving it?
- Would you ever purchase a used car without having a mechanic check it out?
- Would you ever buy a house without having an engineer give it a thorough inspection?
If your answer to any of the above questions is “Yes”, then you need not read any further. But if you are concerned about saving money and getting your product to market as soon as possible, read on.
The point is that if you are going to lay out a large sum of money for something, you want to be sure that you are going to get your money’s worth. That is especially the case with EMI Compliance.
If you are a manufacturer of any electronic equipment that is classified as an Unintentional Radiator by the FCC (as described in CFR Title 47 Part 15-RADIO FREQUENCY DEVICES, Subpart A-General, ¶ 15.3 Definitions (z)), you will need to have it EMI scanned and approved by a NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory). This will be a costly endeavor (usually in the $2000 – $2500 range), and if there is a problem it will have to be fixed—and the cost of scanning will have to be incurred again.
REDCOM EMS can help you “test drive” your electronic device (such as a Printed Circuit Board Assembly–PCBA) before you send it to a NRTL for final approval. Our OATS (Open Area Test Site) is a 10-meter pre-compliance test site equipped with a four-meter antenna mast capable of scanning for emissions up to 6 GHz. It’s reassuring to know that, if your PCBA has checked out OK in pre-compliance screening, the odds are very good that it will pass the NRTL compliance test the first time.
If the screening indicates problems, we can help you trouble shoot them. We’ve been doing this for decades, and now as a full-service Electronics Manufacturing Services provider, we’d be delighted to do the same for you. For more information on pre-compliance screening, call us at 585-924-6650 or use the CONTACT US form on the REDCOM EMS web site.
About the author: Counting my time at Stromberg Carlson and REDCOM Labs, I have over 40 years of experience in telecommunications. For the past 12 years I have been assigned to the Compliance Group at REDCOM. I was instrumental in the design and building of our Open Area Test Site. I and my co-workers look forward to helping our EMS customers get their products to market on budget and on schedule by contributing our expertise in EMI compliance.
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