Paul writes:
PA>I was wondering if anyone on this list has ever tried to get a product that
PA>uses a PIC FCC registered, certified, or whatever.  What troubles did you
PA>have?  How much did it end up costing you?  Any other helpful hints!

I took a product of mine thru the FCC hoops last year:
small PCB, 2 sided, FR4.  I put ground copper under PIC whever there
was free space.
PIC was C55 using a 4MHz AVX ceramic resonator with built in caps.
Battery powered.
None of the port pins were driven at any high frequency.

The guy at the testing lab has to find all peak radiation levels from
30MHz to 1GHz and make sure that
they are less than the FCC allows for your type of device.  Then he has
to go back and look at the
highest 6 points, maximizing each one by moving the product around,
moving antenna around,
changing orientation of the antenna, whatever else he can come up with.

My device was consumer, non-intentional radiator, not connected to a PC,
 so I needed class B verification ( not certification )
Anyway he had a hard time finding 6 peaks that were worth maximizing.
The highest point was 17dB below the limit.

I used Intellistor OATS in Rollinsville CO  303-682-6600 (Patrick
Richardson)
and would not hesitate to recommend them.  Patrick sent me a nice
overview of the company
with some helpful recommedations on getting the part to pass.
They charge $160/hour with a 4 hour minimum - test report INCLUDED in
that fee.
Average test takes at least 3.5 hours, mine tool 4.2 hours.
I emphasize the report being included as most places that quoted me
said report was an extra $2-300.
The report shows all equipment used, results of all tests, and includes
pictures of the device under test
both apart and assembled.

What I learned from the process:
- If you can keep the oscillator below 1.706MHz, then you don't have to
test for radiated emmissions.
- If the product plugs into AC power, then you have to test for
conducted emmissions if the clock is above 9 KHz
(yes I said K Hz)  I don't know if you are exempt if you use a
certified wall wart (?)
- Look at the FCC rule book and see if your product is exempt, lots are!
- get several bids, there will be a wide spread in cost
- try to find a local site.  It is good if you can be there to answer
questions.
- The final complete product sold to the consumer is what must be
tested,
  if you are making a piece of a larger product, testing it by itself
means very little
  unless you are especially concerned about your piece.
  It is the responsibilty of the final seller to meet FCC.

There is a good article on this topic in the latest Circuit Cellar Ink
mag.
I pulled the following list off the CCI bbs last year when I started
this quest.
I got bids from the first 3:
        Retlif Testing Laboratories NY (516) 737-1500
        International Science & Technology Inc. NH (603) 736-8414
            (these guys have a nice free booklet on the topic)
        MET Laboratories MD (410) 354-3300
        Compliance Design MA (506) 264-4668
        Celect Testing Labs OH (513) 573-6800
        Certelecom NY (315) 393-6546
        Philips Consumer Electronics Company TN (615) 521-4720
        Radiation Sciences Inc. PA (215) 256-4133
        Radiometrics IL (708) 932-7262
        Wyle Laboratories AL (205) 837-4411

Hope this is of use,
drop me a line if you have more questions.
Gary Skinner,  Electronic Solutions Inc,  303-469-9322