Month: July 2016

Hard Drives (HDD) will not have FCC IDs unless they are wireless. Drives installed in laptops or desktops produce no intentional wireless emissions so they do not need to be approved by the FCC and thus will not get an FCC ID.

The FCC ID is a wireless certification approval number for all devices sold within the USA.
FCC ID stands for Federal Communications Commission Identifier.

Changing the antenna on a transmitter can significantly increase, or decrease, the strength of the signal that is ultimately transmitted. Except for cable locating equipment, the standards in Part 15 are not based solely on output power but also take into account the antenna characteristics. Thus, a low power transmitter that complies with the technical standards in Part 15 with a particular antenna attached can exceed the Part 15 standards if a different antenna is attached. Should this happen it could pose a serious interference problem to authorized radio communications such as emergency, broadcast and air-traffic control communications.

In order to prevent such interference problems, each Part 15 transmitter must be designed to ensure that no type of antenna can be used with it other than the one used to demonstrate compliance with the technical standards. This means that Part 15 transmitters must have permanently attached antennas, or detachable antennas with unique connectors. A “unique connector” is one that is not of a standard type found in electronic supply stores.
See Section 15.203

It is recognized that suppliers of Part 15 transmitters often want their customers to be able to replace an antenna if it should break. With this in mind, Part 15 allows transmitters to be designed so that the user can replace a broken antenna. When this is done, the replacement antenna must be electrically identical to the antenna that was used to obtain FCC authorization for the transmitter. The replacement antenna also must include the unique connector described above to ensure it is used with the proper transmitter.

Full Text: https://fccid.io/bulletin-oet63rev.pdf

Throughout this bulletin the terms “low-power transmitter,” “low-power, non-licensed transmitter,” and “Part 15 transmitter” all refer to the same thing: a low-power, non-licensed transmitter that complies with the regulations in Part 15 of the FCC rules. Part 15 transmitters use very little power, most of them less than a milliwatt. They are “non-licensed” because their operators are not required to obtain a license from the FCC to use them.
See Section 15.1

Although an operator does not have to obtain a license to use a Part 15 transmitter, the transmitter itself is required to have an FCC authorization before it can be legally marketed in the United States. This authorization requirement helps ensure that Part 15 transmitters comply with the Commission’s technical standards and, thus, are capable of being operated with little potential for causing interference to authorized radio communications.
See Section 15.201 and Section 2.803

If a Part 15 transmitter does cause interference to authorized radio communications, even if the transmitter complies with all of the technical standards and equipment authorization requirements in the FCC rules, then its operator will be required to cease operation, at least until the interference problem is corrected.
See Section 15.5

Part 15 transmitters receive no regulatory protection from interference.

Full Text: https://fccid.io/bulletin-oet63rev.pdf