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I'm hoping to see if my Bluetooth speaker could pass FCC Part 15. No certification is needed at this point - just to purely see if it'd pass when it becomes ready for certification. I believe this is called a 'walk-in' test - correct?

As I'm not familiar with the testing procedure, are there labs that would be happy to test it without certification? What do these labs need from me in order to test all operating modes, e.g., pairing, transmitting audio, etc.? Do I need to write them a custom program that activates each and every mode?

Thanks

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Speak with your nearest lab \$\endgroup\$
    – Andy aka
    Aug 18, 2015 at 10:41

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You will be miles ahead if you contact a local certification lab and ask them what they need to proceed. Almost every lab that I have dealt with will support testing without a certification report. Also it is best for you if you accompany your product through the test day exercises so you learn what goes on, how the tests work and what the actual requirements are.

It is my experience that you usually have to schedule an appointment for a test day. Be prepared to bring a company purchase order with you to cover the cost of using the lab for the test exercises.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Some labs seem to promote on the spot troubleshooting. But in practice, how much could a customer do on the spot? Perhaps, with just a soldering iron. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kar
    Aug 18, 2015 at 11:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Kar - It is my experience that test labs have a ready supply of certain kinds of components that can be used to see if there is a "quick fix" possible. Copper tape with conductive glue can be used to seal RF leaks or shield some types of circuits. Clamp on ferrites can be applied to cables. Various types, sizes and values of ferrite beads, filters and capacitors can be tried in problem circuits if you have provisioned your circuit boards already. It is to the interest of the lab to keep you there for the whole scheduled shift so if you can see a solution path you (continued) \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael Karas
    Aug 31, 2015 at 11:17
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    \$\begingroup\$ (continued from above) go away a happy customer and feeling you got your money's worth. If you have gone there for a test report it is also to the benefit of all that you leave with a passing report so "quick fix" testing is definitely worthwhile. So when you go with your product, as I encouraged above, you may want to come somewhat prepared as well and bring along a tool kit. Another thing that labs can also support is "snooper testing" where specialty probes can be used to find problematic areas of your case or printed circuit boards. \$\endgroup\$
    – Michael Karas
    Aug 31, 2015 at 11:23

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