ARRL HQ Test Engineering Staff (was RE: [TenTec] Re: ARRL Rcvr 3rd and 2nd IPs Test Methods)

[Hare,Ed, W1RFI]

>I certainly agree. And I can see that I made a BIG mistake in one of my
>previous post by saying something unfounded about the engineers at the ARRL.
>Based on these discussions, I was way off base about the engineering staff
>at the ARRL. It's pretty obvious by these post that they know their stuff
>AND they also care.

>Tom/W4BQF

 Thanks, Tom.  I must admit, I was a bit surprised to see some of the assumptions, but I thought 
 back to the mental image I had of ARRL HQ before I started working there, and I can understand.  
 The best way to correct misunderstandings is with information, and when it comes to the ARRL Lab, 
 I am always willing to provide! Let me offer this as the first of 3 posts that will talk about the 
 experience of the HQ engineering staff, the ARRL Lab test equipment and methods used and a brief 
 overview of the ARRL Product Review process.   

 I will discuss it more in a post about the test methods and equipment, but in all cases, ARRL 
 then and now knew the limits of its test equipment and always ensured that the equipment under 
 test had results that were below those limits, indicating that we had measured the product, not the 
 test fixture.

 I was hired at ARRL in 1986 as its test engineer, so I have done the job that Mike Tracy is presently
 doing. Though not a degreed engineer, I had been employed as a test engineer for about the previous 
 15 years, designing test fixtures and software to test analog and digital integrated circuits in production
 and quality-control environments. I had also recently supervised a team of QC technicians, doing 
 mechanical and electrical testing of components to finished product in cable-television RF/fiber system
 environment. Prior to that, I had a strong background as an electronics technician, with a strong 
 emphasis on troubleshooting, so that on-the-job experience has given me years of practical experience
 figuring out what can go wrong. 

 When I started at ARRL HQ, the test process was rather limited, and over the years of being test
 engineer, I made continuing improvements and additions to the test methods and test suite. At the
 time, it was not very well documented, but having the same engineer doing all of the tests ensured that
 the tests were all done to the same method.  Naturally, as the current Lab Dad, I continue to bring my
 years of experience to bear on the Product Review testing process.  I stick my nose into the screen 
 room often, as any manager will do (I am a proponent of MBWA -- management by walking around),
 and often consult as a fellow test engineer any time there is a testing issue.

 I did the test-engineering  job for about 4 years, when we hired Mike Gruber, W1MG, to do the test 
 engineering job.  Mike came to ARRL with a BSEE and about 15 years of engineering experience,  
 most of it in a test-engineering environment in the aerospace industry.  I was tasked with training Mike 
 and over the years, I served as an experienced resource to him when any testing questions came up.
 Mike continued to build on my work and progress, further refining test methods and -- most
 important -- fully documenting the test methods in a test-procedures manual. Mike left our employ to go 
 back to aerospace, but he has recently rejoined us as ARRL's "RFI" engineer, so his significant
 experience is once again an in-house resource.
 
 Our current test engineer is Mike Tracy, KC1SX. Mike holds an ASEE and is currently working
 towards a BSEE at the University of Hartford. Mike's previous experience is in the power-supply
 industry, where he worked as a test technician for analog and switch-mode power supplies. He has
 been ARRL's test engineer for about 6 years now, if memory serves, and has also continued to develop
 and improve tests and the test-procedures manual.

 We also have Zack Lau, W1VT.  Zack also comes to us with a BSEE. Though we hired him right out
 of college, the man is absolutely brilliant when it comes to RF and he is an important resource to us in
 all areas of the ARRL Lab responsibility.  Just as one test-related example, we were asked by our DC
 office to provide some field tests of the interference potential of IEEE 802.11a devices on 5.6 GHz.
 Unfortunately, the 5.6 GHz stuff is all high power and high cost, so we were not able to get a system
 into the Lab to create the on-the-air signals we needed. On a Monday, I talked to Zack about this and 
 by Thursday, he had a transverter designed and built that took an IEEE 802.11a 5.2 GHz card and 
 moved it up to 5.6 GHz, so we could do the testing. 

 In addition to the HQ staff, ARRL also maintains a cadre of technical advisors, formal and informal, 
 that we rely on heavily for technical input on all sorts of issues. The League can't afford to hire the 
 likes of Ulrich Rohde, for example, but the likes of Ulrich can and do work closely with our staff. He
 has given us lots of sage advice -- and test equipment -- on our test methods, as have a number of the
 manufacturers. 

 When you put this combination together, for testing the types of commercially manufactured amateur
 equipment, there is no doubt in my mind that the team is world class! Some of the IARU societies do
 testing to a similar level as that done by ARRL, although I believe that ARRL does testing more often
 than the others.  Although I am sure there are engineers more familiar with specific tests on specific
 products, I don't believe that anyone in the world has more current experience in testing the wide range
 of products and testing types than does Mike Tracy! And when you add to that the years and years of
 testing experience that is in the Lab right now between me, Mike, Mike and Zack, coupled with the help
 we get from low friends in high places everywhere, I think that we have a team and capabilities that 
 we can both be proud to support as a member!

 BTW, the test-procedures manaual is available for download from the product-review area on the
 ARRL members-only web site, btw, and if anyone reading this list is not a member, if you email me at
 w1rfi at arrl.org, I will send you a non-member URL where it can be downloaded. (I keep a copy in my
 working area on the ARRL web site, so I can share it with manufacturers or engineering colleagues on
 the several industry committees on which I serve).  This document is among the finest of its kind in the
 world, IMHO, outlining the test equipment used and the documenting the procedures step by step. If 
 memory serves, it is over 150 pages long at this point, outlining a rather impressive test battery!

 Tonight, I will put together a description of the overall Product Review process, with emphasis on the
 way the ARRL Lab does testing within that process. Maybe when we are all done, we can have an
 appendix to the test procedures manual and an FAQ file I can use when the subject inevitably comes 
 up again. :-)

 73,
 Ed Hare, W1RFI
 ARRL Lab Manager
 225 Main St 
 Newington, CT 06111
 Tel: 860-594-0318
 Email: w1rfi at arrl.org