Some other important items to consider when selecting an EMC test lab to work with include things like turnaround times for reports, technical expertise, cost, layout of the facilities and accommodations, responsiveness to request for quotes, and thoroughness of quotes. It’s not that accreditation is meaningless, it does establish that a test lab has met certain credentials and qualifications, but it doesn’t make it clear whether or not any particular test lab will be a good fit for you and your particular EMC testing needs. Take note that just because a test lab is accredited does not necessarily mean they are going to be perfect EMC test solution providers. A list of FCC-recognized accredited testing laboratories is provided on the FCC website at. Be sure to check if accreditation is required and, if so, that the EMC test lab is properly accredited. For equipment authorized using the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) procedure, it is not necessary to perform the testing at an FCC-recognized accredited testing laboratory if that is the route you need to take however, an accredited testing laboratory may be used if desired. For instance, under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Chapter I, Subchapter A, Part 2, Subpart J, Section 2.948, the FCC requires that equipment authorized under the certification procedure be tested at an FCC-recognized accredited testing laboratory with the appropriate scope of accreditation (meaning the tests you need performed are included on the lab’s scope of accreditation). Sometimes this will be driven by your customer and other times by the type of approval you need in order to ship your product legally. There are several resources available out there which can get you pointed in the right direction and reference #1 described at the end of this article is one that is highly recommended.ĭetermine if you need to use an accredited EMC test lab. Setting up an internal pre-compliance testing capability is not that hard or expensive. This means performing some kind of pre-compliance testing very early in the program to ensure a higher probability of passing formal EMC qualification tests when the time comes. Think about going to the EMC test lab to pass, not to fail. In order to solve EMI problems during this late stage of the product development program, the available techniques are few and relative costs of them are high. Now is not the time to find out your product fails radiated emissions or some other EMC test. Often times it is the last step in the product development process to occur before production units can ship. Taking your product out to a third-party test facility is expensive and time-consuming. With this background in mind, this article will quickly highlight what every engineer can do in order to ensure they select the best EMC test lab to work with.īefore we get started, here is a quick note about the importance of performing pre-compliance testing early in the product development cycle. Selecting the wrong EMC test lab could mean non-acceptance of test reports, incorrectly performed tests and associated added rework, inability to sell product into specific countries, late product launches, excessive test budgets, added liability, added overhead and other headaches that are usually associated with inefficient test and certification processes. Choosing an EMC test lab to work with is one of the most important decisions any electronics design engineer or product developer has to make.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |