Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!bunny!js07
From: js07@GTE.COM (Jack Shaio)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: 386 PCs and FCC Class A and Class B certification.
Keywords: business use ONLY, RF interference, low cost 386PCs
Message-ID: <6930@bunny.GTE.COM>
Date: 15 May 89 17:22:37 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: GTE Laboratories, Inc., Waltham, MA
Lines: 24

A recent issue of PC Magazine tested 100 386 PCs from many manufacturers.
A good proportion, around 30%, have only FCC Class A certification, meaning
they can cause enough RF (radio frequency) interference to damage
reception of TV and AM radio signals. Most of the high performance/low cost
386s fall into this category, including ALR, Tandy 5000, Northgate. 

I've heard that you can turn on a Class A device in your home, but if
you interfere with someone's TV or receiver, the FCC can force you to
stop using your device, or modify it to stop interfering. Amateur ham
radio operators run into this often.

Does anyone know more about this topic ? Some very competitive brands,
like ALR, are class A, and would make a terrific buy, if only one could
be sure of being able to turn them on at home. There are enough
Class A PCs on the market that it would be helpful to know what can be
done about the Class A bummer.

One way of turning a Class A into a Class B is to put conductive paint all
over the inside of the box; any experience with this ?


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P.S.: if you MUST email a reply, please don't bother including the FCC's
number. I have it, but feel embarassed to ask about fines/jail terms.