"mick" wrote in message
newsan.2006.03.20.19.56.44.574826@SPAMBLOCKmixte l.co.uk...
On Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:09:23 +0000, Arfa Daily wrote:

snip
were working correctly. If there is sufficient level to have a
siginificant
enough effect to hear, being introduced by this computer, then it would
almost certainly be operating outside of it's CE approval ( assuming that
it's got one ). Strictly speaking, if it hasn't, and is introducing hash
to
the mains supply, you render yourself liable to prosecution ...

snip

Please don't start thinking that the CE mark is some sort of quality
symbol. It isn't. If a piece of equipment carries that mark then the
manufacturer is supposed to be able to produce documentation to show that
it was *designed to be* within the stated specification and that it
complies with the Low Voltage Directive (or its equivalent). If the spec
doesn't mention that the device may radiate at RF then it *may* still be
able to carry the CE mark! The purpose of the CE mark is to allow
equipment to pass European borders without having to produce all sorts of
test results etc for each piece of equipment. It is supposed to give
confidence that the spec means something and the device won't give
electric shocks or blow up when plugged in. Pretty basic really!

--
Mick (Working in a M$-free zone!)
Remove blockage to use my email address
Web: http://www.nascom.info & http://mixpix.batcave.net


It is not the Low Voltage Directive that deals with the interference issue
specifically. It is ( originally ) 89/336/EEC, the Electro Magnetic
Compatibility Directive. Both computer equipment, and audio equipment must
comply with this directive, which refers not only to interference caused by
directly radiated fields, but also interference caused to the mains supply
by any piece of covered equipment, and the response of any covered
equipment, to such interference. As I understand it, compliance with this
directive is a requirement before a CE mark can be placed on an item, and it
is required that covered goods carry such a mark, before they can be offered
for sale, or even use within the EU.

There are bound to be loopholes and get arounds, and self-certifiers who get
it wrong, but the general 'spirit' of CE marking assures a *degree* of
quality in respect of EMC and interference immunity, as well as the other
things such as safety, referred to in the Low Voltage Directive,
theoretically under threat of law.

I stand by what I said originally, that if a computer power supply is
putting enough garbage out onto a mains ring, to affect a piece of audio
equipment, on the same ring, but in another room, to a degree where the
reproductive quality is affected, then either the power supply is operating
outside of the requirements of the EMC directive, as designed, or it is
faulty. Likewise, if a CE marked piece of audio equipment is responding to
the minimal level of hash put onto the mains by a correctly operating and CE
compliant power supply, then it is either faulty in some way, or it has not
been designed and tested correctly in the first place, and its marked CE
compliance, is a lie.

Arfa