SB QST @ ARL $ARLB017 ARLB017 RFI changes proposed ZCZC AG83 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 17 ARLB017 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 16, 1995 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB017 ARLB017 RFI changes proposed RFI changes proposed The FCC has proposed to permit manufacturers and suppliers of computers and computer peripherals to market their equipment without having to apply for equipment certification and await FCC approval, in ET Docket 95-19. These devices now must be FCC-certified to ensure that they do not cause interference to radio services, including amateur. Certification requires that all measurement data and a detailed description of the product be submitted to the Commission's laboratory for review and approval. The certification process can take 35 days or more, the FCC said, and eliminating the wait could save the computer industry some 250 million dollars a year, the industry has said. The FCC called the current regulations ''particularly burdensome for small manufacturers'' and said its proposed new authorization procedure would ''align'' FCC requirements for personal computers with those ''used successfully in other parts of the world.'' Under the proposed new procedure, FCC authorization would be replaced by a process based on a manufacturer's or supplier's Declaration of Conformity (DoC). The Commission also has proposed the option of permitting personal computer compliance to be based on tests and DoCs of individual components, without further testing of completed assemblies. NNNN /EX