﻿ Snag puts Raspberry Pi back on hold | ZDNet

Snag puts Raspberry Pi back on hold

Summary: Distributors have put sales of the $35 Linux computer on hold until they see a certification mark.





Electromagnetic emissions










Topics: Enterprise Software, CXO, Hardware, IT Employment

David Meyer

About David Meyer




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  • Forget Europe

    Forget Europe, ship 'em all here without the stupid "mark".
    • And when your neighbors get one...

      And when your neighbors get one (ore more), and the local school gets a few hundred, and all the electromagnetic interference starts affecting your TV reception, what then? The Raspberry Pi is more than just a component, it can also be considered as a consumer (end-user) product.
      • Max 5W per device

        They don't use more than 5W at max. I think that they'd use 0.5-2W at average. Most of that becomes heat. My Dovado Tiny use 5V and 2A at max, which corresponds to 10W (manual says 6W is max, though), of which probably 0.5 to 1W is pure radio signal power. I doubt that the Pi will generate much radio signals without any antennas. The noise will be very limited, and is unlikely to pass through walls.
      • TV Reception?

        Simon, what part of the country do you live in, that you need to be concerned about your TV reception? Anything other than cable TV, which is shielded, went away a few years ago.
  • Here they need to pass FCC part 15 testing.

    should be a piece of cake if they pass CE.
  • Oops!

    This product is not being sold a component or sub-assembly that another manufacturer will incorporate into their own product. It is being sold to the public as a fully functional general purpose computer which will run a desktop operating system. It is a device with an 'intrinsic function', is just as much a computer as the tower case beside me.

    This clearly puts it in the scope of the EU EMC Directive. It cannot be put on the market in the EU without a Certificate of Conformity to the relevant Standards and a CE mark affixed.

    It is a very bad idea to develop a product and start manufacture without doing EMC testing. Retro-fitted suppression can turn out to be very expensive or simply impossible. Apart from the legal requirements, a properly designed product turns out to be a better product.

    RS and Farnell would probably be considered to both be responsible for complying with the Directive as both are separately importing the product and placing it on the market within the EU. The law requires an 'ass' to kick and said item needs to be located in the EU as penalties include a prison sentence as well as a fine.
  • Even longer delays for some

    According to my Element 14 rep with a couple of days they had 55,000 on backorder limited to one per customer. As I recall the initial production was only 10,000 so it's going to be a long time before some people get theirs regardless of the CE.