The Controller 2020 is not FCC certified and you must check the box acknowledging this before
you can purchase it. I do, however, very much want to be a good electronic citizen and in this
regard I have a few advantages when compared to most hobbyists. As a working engineer with decades
of experience I know smart people with expensive equipment and I was able to persuade a couple of
them to run tests on my little toy. These tests were a step below actual FCC certification but were
good enough to expose a small amount of electronic noise. This noise was addressed by the addition
of the two capacitors (arrowed in the figure below). With these added capacitors The Controller 2020
is pretty darn quiet.
The Controller 2020 EMI Caps
However...
I really don't want to be annoyed by any government agencies so I am using an abundance of legal
caution. While the device is electronically clean, it is not certified so I am NOT selling a complete
product or system. I am selling subassemblies.
Let me be clear that you are not buying a final product and you are not buying a dedicated device.
You are buying subassemblies which may then be assembled as you choose. One subassembly is the Arduino
Uno (or Uno clone) generic CPU board. This general purpose CPU board can be used for anything you want.
As a convenience I have loaded the Controller 2020 software on it in case you want to use it to control
trains. The other subassembly is available either as a kit or factory assembled. In either case it is
simply another subassembly. You, the hobbyist purchaser, may choose to put the two subassemblies together - or not.
As a hobbyist you may assemble for personal use up to 5 devices of a single design and in doing so your
sole responsibility is to stop using the device in the unlikely chance you are contacted about electronic interference.
To recap:
You are buying subassemblies that you may, or may not, choose to assemble into The Controller 2020 for your personal use.
Please read
my blog
on low volume products and the associated problem of FCC certification costs.
