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mattheww50 said:
Two FCC classes, A and B (and technically a flashlight is exempt from both). A class A device can actually be pretty noisy. I don't remember the exact spread, but let me put it this way: You can generally achieve Class A with just good engineering practices, nothing exotic. Class B compliance has to be designed in from the outset, good engineering practices are nowhere near good enough. In some class B laptops I have worked on, I have been surprised at the number of shields and ground leads used internally to bottle up emissions. (Laptops sold in the USA must be Class B, desktops can be A or B depending upon the intended market).
FCC complaince does not guarantee RF silence, it places a limit on it, and the limit for class A is a lot higher than the limit for class B. I know from my trips out to the Test Range, that test eqipment had not trouble picking up the internal clocks at 10 meters with an omni-directional antenna, yet we were still about 3db inside the FCC class A limit on radiated emissions. My other experience is that most product that says it is class A, isn't (and that is from operating them on the test range). Class A is self certifying, and lets just say a lot of vendors take a very liberal view of the FCC regulations. Class B requires conformance, an conforming test report that the test range certifies, and the FCC issuing you an ID for the product. If your Class B product subsequently fails inspect, both you , and the Test range get fined. Suffices to say that the test range will insist that meet class B by a comfortable margin, so that any corners you may subsequently cut in manufacturing will still product a device that the FCC isn't going to fine anyone over.
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So would a resistored LED flashlight inherently meet class B, or would you expect the on/ off switch to be a factor ?
