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From: cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Talking about other computers here
Message-ID: <1990Dec3.195756.27537@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 3 Dec 90 19:57:56 GMT
References: <1990Dec02.215601.7327@ecst.csuchico.edu> <1990Dec3.153120.27313@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> <1990Dec3.173941.29280@cs.ucla.edu>
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In article <1990Dec3.173941.29280@cs.ucla.edu> stephen@oahu.cs.ucla.edu (Steve Whitney) writes:
>In article <1990Dec3.153120.27313@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
>>In article <1990Dec02.215601.7327@ecst.csuchico.edu> ekrimen@ecst.csuchico.edu (Ed Krimen) writes:
>...
>>>And the reason is FCC approval. :^D  Talk about deja vu.  From what I 
>>>understand, they can't even get Class B.
>>
>>This is a load of crap.  Atari is always screaming about the FCC this,
>>the FCC that....FCC guidelines are published and most other manufacturers
>>seem to met them in a reasonable fashion.  Perhaps, people should start
>>pointing the finger at the "engineers" who design Atari's products.
>>This is what happens when you try to cut corners and then try to
>>retro-fit the sheilding problem later on when you get busted.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Chris
>
>That's not entirely true. 

I didn't mean my point of view to be considered "entirely true."  I am
just pointing out that Atari has pulled the FCC-is-holding-us-up stunt
so many times in the past that maybe (just maybe) the fault lies at
Atari.  How many times can you tell your teacher that your dog ate your
homework without finally taking the blame for not doing it? :-)

Besides, even the stuff that did pass must've been marginal.  My old
1040ST used to create snow on any TV I was watching in the same room.
Of course, matters didn't get much better when I removed the RF shielding
to make room for my RAM expansion board. :-)

>This past summer, I worked for CalComp, and one
>of my responsibilities was some EMI testing.  The VDE (German equivalent of
>the FCC) and the FCC have very similar requirements for radio frequency
>emissions testing (the levels are different, but so are the distances from
>which they are measured).  The big difference is that the VDE is self-
>ceritfying, that is, if a VDE certified testing lab says you pass the limits
>with a certain margin, you can get automatic approval.  The FCC, on the other
>hand, still requires that you submit results from a certified lab, but then
>they make you fill out some paperwork which takes approximately 3 months to
>process.  You don't know if they will decide to check your results until they
>process the paper.  Then it can take an indefinite period of time for them
>complete their own testing before giving you FCC certification.  It is entirely
>possible that Atari didn't do anything at all wrong (or even questionable) this
>time, but given their track record, the FCC decided they'd be a good company
>to spot check.  It might also be that the lab they used is being spot-checked.

Hmmm, I was under the impression that German RF/EMI leakage standards were
tougher than those set by the FCC.  That is what always boggled me about
Atari's griping about the FCC.  You'd figure that a company who gears its
products for the German/European market would use their stricter standards
when designing their products.

>I believe that Atari met the FCC guidelines for the TT and was just waiting
>for the paperwork which _should_ have come back before Comdex.  This is just a 
>guess, though.  Undoubtedly, the TT is shipping in Germany and the rest of 
>Europe because it has VDE approval.  Let's give Atari the benefit of the doubt
>on this one.

Gee, seems like there are those that always want to give them another
inch of rope. :-)

>
>		--Steve

Cheers,

chris
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