Part 15 testing
Part 15 testing
(OP)
For a simple small product that can be dropped into a test space and isn't expected to have any issues at all does anyone have a cheap test site for Part 15 registration.
Or does someone have a setup that lets them prove their product meets the requirements so a test house can be asked to quote on a slam dunk?
Or does someone have a setup that lets them prove their product meets the requirements so a test house can be asked to quote on a slam dunk?
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com





RE: Part 15 testing
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Part 15 testing
Hadn't thought about doing it myself.
Did you use a hand-held antenna hooked to a scope and do a walk-around?
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Part 15 testing
The biggest difficulty is to stop external EMI from getting in. Use line filters for your mains connection. And double walls are always nice.
Do a reference run to see what the residual levels are and then subtract the reference level from the actual device's measured level.
This will take you a long way when getting it right. But you may need a final "official" measurement.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
RE: Part 15 testing
Scope is outside the room, so I didn't include that in the cost
No need to purchase an expensive scope... plenty of older stuff will be acceptable. I have a spectrum analyzer from the 70's (?) that cost me $20 (got three for $60, actually, and sold the other two on eBay for around $2k total), good up to a couple GHz.
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Part 15 testing
Also, if you get into anything marginal, then a homebrew test set-up probably wouldn't be precise enough to determine which side of the limit the UUT sits.
The accredited lab will of course provide the actual graphs, so one could (afterwards) go home and try to replicate those exactly... ...assuming one has many months of free time and unlimited patience.
RE: Part 15 testing
Is your device an intentional emmiter or an unintentional emitter? What's the highest frequency inside? Lots more things can be exempted from part 15 than you'd expect if you read carefully...
Good on ya,
Goober Dave
RE: Part 15 testing
Unintentional, battery power-able (for testing) 8MHz internal RC oscillator.
If I use a Credence ScanEM-EC probe turned to maximum sensitivity it doesn't sense anything anywhere on the board. If I use a ScanEM-HC probe in one very specific place it senses enough to change the brightness of the probe's first (green) of 5 LEDs about 50% once a second.
As for TUV, that is the biggest bunch of jerkwads I have evah had the displeasure of trying to work with. I cannot understand how they stay in business. An awesome demonstration of ineptitude, created by mandatory rules, I have ever seen.
ETL seems to have been sequestered by Inertek. They appear to have their act entirely together but the prices are way beyond the subsumed ETLs.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: Part 15 testing
If you were in EU, you could present a TCF and self-declare that your device is OK. Does that possibility exist in the US? Of course, you need to be fairly sure about what you say.
Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
RE: Part 15 testing
Since you haven't mentioned the exact nature and use of the device, though, it might be worth taking 10 minutes to review the list of exceptions. There are quite a few. Section 15.103.
http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/info/rules/
Good on ya,
Goober Dave
RE: Part 15 testing
Dave; Thanks a bunch for that link. Good stuff there that's clearly written. There are a lot of exemptions I wouldn't have expected.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com