I don't know about all of you, but I am sick of arguing with hardware engineering managers about what constitutes a passing EMC test and what does not.
I have seen companies impose a 6dB margin requirement, some 5 dB, and some 3dB. I have made the recommendation that the minimum here should be 3dB. I thought that this was fair. Now comes the product that has 2.8dB margin. Being a stick by the rules type of person, I listened to the engineer explain that it was the lousy PC his card was in not his card. So I suggested that we prove his theory, purchase a new machine and check the old machine versus the new one and if there is an improvement, that I would let the 2.8dB stand. Of course the manager of the group tells me that as a recommendation 3dB is good, but as a rule it is IRRESPONSIBLE. Thus I end up with the "be a b___ch" option of imposing the retest for the .2dB or starting a precedence of well if .2 is okay, is .3 etc. etc. What I would like to do is take a pole. (must be election year in the USA!!!!!!!!!!!) I would like all of you to respond as to what you feel is appropriate. Then I'll run the stats and let you what the results are. This way I can go back to the manager with the number of certification experts that responded and what they thought was right. He or I will have a hard time arguing against stats. (I am open to the possibility that I am wrong and 0 margin is acceptable). Just reply with a number and I'll let you know what happens. Thanks Cynthia [email protected]
