On Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 07:38:23AM -0500, Edward Swynar wrote:
> On 29th March, Mike wrote:
>
> "...These are man-rated systems chock full of
> electronics, and EMC testing damn well ought to be mandatory."
>
> ************************************
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> This will doubtlessly be taken as my being biased/prejudiced by any & all
> who know that I'm a General Motors salaried retiree...!
Not at all. I have seen your posts over two or three years now, and have
formed a good opinion of you. Besides <tongue-in-cheek>, you're Canadian
and from Ontario, and hence capable only of truth </tongue-in-cheek>.
> Irregardless, I can honestly say that I personally saw a HUGE "...drive-in"
> EMF susceptability tester at the Milford (Michigan) proving grounds when I
> toured that facility YEARS ago. That part of the site was brimming with
> licensed Hams, too. There was a gigantic GMC "Bison" tractor-trailer being
> tested when I was there---and there was room to spare, that's how large the
> thing was.
I do believe you here; friends at two other US carmakers tell me very much
the same sort of thing about EMC testing in those organizations. That is
one of the reasons I'm so taken aback by the Toyota CEO's statement. In
the context of designing and building vehicles, EMC testing is *NOT* a big
cost center, and it is a Very Big A$$-Covering Center when, later on, some
congresscritter or USDOT investigator or Canadian MOT investigator asks if
a problem could have been caused by some Cretin Broadcaster with an 8-pill
linear in his truck one lane over.
> As well, when GM Oshawa Development Engineering was in full-swing here some
> 25 years ago, a friend of mine who worked in the local electronics supply
> place told me he'd seen an invoice cross his desk from GM for a legal-limit
> linear amplifier: the guys there were obviously into some sort of RFI
> testing, too.
I wouldn't be surprised if that amp got connected to a yagi from time to
time, as well, but _yes_, what you write is consonant with what I've
been told.
> RFI / EMF compatability was taken seriously by the General decades before
> any of this latest stuff blew up in Toyota's face, FWIW!
Yep. And, AIUI, by Chrysler and Ford, as well. Our Ford dealer had a
sheet on where to put ham gear for least EMI to the car's electronics
and on how to route cables. The Chrysler dealer had very much the same
thing for our van. _AND_ the Pontiac dealer had placement and routing
info for the Sunfire I drove for a while and then gave The Boy.
--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
mikea@mikea.ath.cx
Tired old sysadmin
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