Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast · 18 Jul 2025 · 1h 09m
Steven Hoss and Lucy Trey Park of Opulo discuss the complex and expensive process of obtaining FCC and CE certifications for the Lumen PMP V4 3D printer. They detail the four main categories of EMC testing—radiated/conducted emissions and immunity—and explain how using pre-certified power supplies and open-source community feedback helped them pass on the first try. The hosts also share practical advice on budgeting, the importance of consulting certification houses early, and the specific marking requirements for different markets.
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Monk Eastman, an experienced compliance engineer, explains the maze of hardware certifications including FCC, CE, UL, and UN 38. He details the specific costs, testing procedures, and strategic advice for embedded engineers to navigate these requirements efficiently. The discussion covers the history of standards bodies, the importance of pre-scanning for EMC, and the rigorous nature of battery safety testing.
Jeff Kaiser of MightyOhm discusses his transition to selling Geiger counter kits on Amazon, detailing the bureaucratic hurdles of obtaining UPC codes and trademarks, and his experience with Fulfillment by Amazon. He explains the technical differences between near-field debugging probes and far-field EMC chamber testing, and describes his background designing gallium arsenide power amplifiers for RF applications. The conversation also covers the significant UI changes in Altium 20, the controversy surrounding Mark Rober's paid engineering course, and the future of remote work and hardware manufacturing in the Pacific Northwest.
Anton Tishchenko, founder of PCBforEMC.com and Dr. EMC YouTube channel, discusses EMC compliance strategies, common PCB design mistakes, and his PhD research on 6G metasurfaces. He highlights that EMC testing has a 50% first-time failure rate, often due to simple errors like missing ground planes or improper antenna placement, and explains why pre-certified modules like the ESP32 do not guarantee final product compliance. Tishchenko also details his development of an AI-based PCB analysis tool designed to catch these errors early, while noting the challenges of data privacy and the high cost of simulation software for startups.
Bryan Cantrill, Adam Leventhal, and the Oxide Computer Company team (Eric Aasen, Nathanael Huffman, Robert Keith, Arjen Roodselaar, Josh Clulow, CJ Mendez) detail their journey through EMC and safety compliance for their rack-scale computer. They discuss the challenges of pre-compliance testing in Texas, debugging a critical component mismatch in the 'shark fin' drive connectors, and surviving a catastrophic power-on failure that destroyed 14 FPGAs. The team ultimately passes FCC certification with minimal margin after addressing antenna effects in the rear doors and implementing spread spectrum clocking.
Bryan Cantrill and Adam Leventhal of Oxide Computer Company are joined by Robert "RFK" Keith, Dan Chirpich, and Stu Donnan to discuss the company's recent struggle with FCC EMC compliance for their next-generation rack. The team details how testing 32 AMD Turin-based Cosmo sleds in Rack Model 0.5 revealed unexpected radiated emissions at 26.562 GHz from QSFP transceiver cages. After days of failed debugging attempts involving paint masking and cable repacking, a breakthrough came from a conference talk by Dan Chirpich on finite difference time domain analysis, which suggested using absorbing materials. The team successfully mitigated the issue by die-cutting and applying these absorbers to the connectors, allowing them to pass compliance testing.
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