Henry Ott Consultants

Electromagnetic Compatibility Consulting and Training

EMC News


FCC Proposes $1,000,000 Fine

On February 16, 2006 the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (FCC 06-13) in the amount of  $1,000,000  to the importer of digital audio equipment for marketing such equipment in violation of Part 15 of the FCC  rules.  The equipment in question was subject to, but had not been verified compliant with, FCC Part 15 Class B emission requirements.  A pdf file of the Notice of Apparent Liability is available at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-13A1.


New Antenna Design Simplified  Seminar Offered by Henry Ott Consultants

Why is Henry Ott Consultants (an EMC training and consulting organization) offering a course on Antenna Theory?  Well, if a product, or PCB, or cable radiates or is susceptible to electromagnetic energy, it is acting as an antenna. Besides, antennas are used in EMC testing, both emission and susceptibility.  In all these cases an understanding of some basic antenna theory would be very useful to the engineer or technician.  However, the way that antenna theory is taught in schools and universities - it is too theoretical and abstract to be very helpful.  Hence our course, Antenna Theory Simplified.


FCC Revises Parts 15 & 18 Rules for Conducted Emission

The FCC has revised its rules pertaining to the amount of RF energy that a product can  conduct back onto the AC power line.  The Commission amended its rules for Part 15 and Part 18 devices to make them consistent with the international CISPR standards with respect to conducted emission.  This change harmonizes the FCC requirements with the international CISPR requirements.  It should be noted that for many years Part 15 devices have had the option of complying with either the FCC limits or the CISPR limits.  Now, however, complying with the CISPR limits will be mandatory for both Part 15 and Part 18 devices.

The ruling was published in the Federal Register on July 10, 2002 on pages 45666 to 45671.

The revision applies to all new products authorized under Parts 15 or 18 of the FCC rules on or after July 12, 2004.  It will apply to all existing products manufactured or imported on or after July 11, 2005.  Equipment authorized, manufactured, or imported prior to these dates will have the choice of complying with either the old or new version of the rules.

Click on this link for a pdf file of the rule changes.


European Union EMC

New EMC Directive (2004/108/EC)

A new updated version of the fifteen year old EMC Directive (89/336/EEC) was published in the  Official Journal of the European Communities on December 31, 2004 as Directive 2004/108/EC.  The new directives protection requirements  remain essentially the same, however, most other aspects of the directive have been completely rewritten.  See EMC Regulations for more information.

Revised EMC Directive Standards List

        An updated list of harmonized standards under  the new EMC directive 2004/108/EC (previously 89/336/EMC) along with their effective dates was published in the Official Journal the European Communities (OJ) on December 12, 2006.  The list replaces all previous  lists  published in the OJ.  The list is available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/newapproach/standardization/harmstds/reflist/emc.html


Location of Future IEEE EMC Society Sponsored Symposia

2008: Detroit, Michigan, August 18-22, 2008

2009: Austin, Texas, August 17-21, 2009

2010: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2011: Long Beach, Californa



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Henry Ott Consultants
48 Baker Road Livingston, NJ 07039
Phone: 973-992-1793,   FAX: 973-533-1442

  October 22, 2007