May I add to this thread, my personal experience, having lived in Japan for 13 years and having been responsible for the certification of US and European made transmitting equipment in Japan - albeit not amateur radio equipment, but more severely regulated commercial transmission equipment.
I want to reiterate what has been said by the Japanese participants to this thread. ONLY changes in transmission parameters (not receiving) that impact waveform (e.g. transmission mode), frequency capability, spurious emissions and the like would require re-certification. All of the firmware changes relating to functional or operational matters such as occupy the bulk of the traffic on this reflector do not require re-certification. It's the "radio", friends, and this is not an unreasonable requirement if the regulator's task is to control the use of spectrum and ensure its proper employment. As for the certification processes themselves, yes, they are incredibly detailed requiring significant amounts of data that is submitted to an independent organization that is under the control of the government. It is not an inexpensive process, but it is not outrageously burdensome or technically difficult - just detailed and complex. Read: not cheap to do for the manufacturer. In no instance did I ever find that the rules for imported equipment were any different from the rules applied to domestically produced equipment in Japan. Of course, the Japanese manufacturers, because of their long experience in the market and with the regulator could do this process in a smoother way than American or European companies. My nightly phone calls to the US manufacturer: "You want WHAT data? We don't make that measurement". My response: "Well, if you want to sell in Japan, do it". And they did. 73 Buzz W3EMD Ex 7J1AAY ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Frantz" <fra...@pwpconsult.com> To: <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 11:44 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] JARD Technical Standard Certification Number for K3orK3X > But Elecraft doesn't have to get a new type approval from the FCC every > time they change the firmware. The post I quoted (included below) > indicates that the Japanese manufacturers need to get approval from JARD > whenever they want to change the firmware. Having the expense of jumping > thru a bureaucratic hoop would certainly act as a disincentive. > > Cheers - Bill ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
