In a message dated 1/17/01, Courtland Thomas write: > I have a question concerning coninuing compliance for Part 68. I believe > that we are required to submit units for testing every six months. If the > FCC audits and finds that the test reports aren't up to date, then there can > be problems. This testing costs around $1500.00 for our ITE products. This > becomes a very expensive process. Is there anything that can be done to > eliminate this cost. I would like to test the units in house and log the > results and use that info as my continuing compliance data. Any thoughts on > this? >
Hi Courtland: To the best of my knowledge, there is no reason why you can't do the continuing compliance testing yourself. In fact, you can even do the initial testing yourself if you are equipped to do so. For the initial testing you would have to submit a written report to the FCC, but there is no filing requirement for continuing compliance. You simply have to keep the test data on file. If you have a lot of different products in production, the economics favor in-house testing. A few years ago one of my clients who had about 30 different products decided to do their continuing compliance testing in-house. They figured the savings of at least $60,000 per year would easily justify the cost of the test equipment and a part time technician. They purchased the FCC Part 68 test equipment from Compliance Design, but never actually used it. I guess they just got too busy with other priorities to set up the in-house capability. Recently they told me they would like to unload the equipment, so if you are interested I will put you in touch with them. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the Compliance Design equipment for a new purchase, but if the price is right on the used equipment, it might be an attractive option. Joe Randolph Telecom Design Consultant Randolph Telecom, Inc. 781-721-2848 http://www.randolph-telecom.com
