Is em interference a problem?

Is elctromagnetic interference a problem in all these plastic cases? I would think that there was some issue somewhere just cause otherwise there wouldn't be the lovely sticker on all electronics that says it complies with the fcc rules about the stuff.

and I know there are thousands of people out there with acrylic cases that don't think they have a problem but it could be an insidious enough problem that someone wouldn't think that the case was a problem.

and thinking about it you prob wouldn't want to run a vacuum by an acrylic case.

Most of your components are grounded thru the power cable also. The compliance stickers your seeing basicaly state that the device won't cause interference with radio/radar signals which actualy would take a pretty strong signal do. However when they make laws they try to cover all the bases so "everything" that could "possibly" generate spurious radio/radar signals is included.

skab said:

Most of your components are grounded thru the power cable also. The compliance stickers your seeing basicaly state that the device won't cause interference with radio/radar signals which actualy would take a pretty strong signal do. However when they make laws they try to cover all the bases so "everything" that could "possibly" generate spurious radio/radar signals is included.

Click to expand...

Another hobby of mine is HAM and Scanner radio and I can assure you that computers WILL interfere with weak radio signals just as easy as they do with strong ones. Many peopel have problems with there computers and monitors locking up there radios. When I firts got into computers I had a Compaq that would lockup any radio that got near it.

Try tuning a TV to a weak low-VHF channel, preferrably while connected to rabbit ears (the TV, not you), and compare the picture with your metal case completely covered and while one of the sides has been removed. I noticed more interference that way, and a clear case is going to be even worse. In Tom's article about his visit to Chembro case co., they told him that a case with a window couldn't meet interference standards.

The noise problem from computers is real and has several sources. You are switching transistors (your processor, mosfets on your mobo / in your power supply, vid card, etc) on and off very quickly, and that will definitely generate EM interference. Without a metal box around your computer, those signals will cause problems with other equipment. When I was in college, my dorn was in the glide path of the local airport. There were a lot of pentium 133's around at that time. 133 MHz, from what I understand, is near the frequency used for glide beacons for aircraft. I was told that the IT staff at the college monitored closely the emissions of the building to make sure that planes overhead weren't confused. This story might be full of poo, but it makes sense. If you have a 2.4 GHz wireless network or phone and a 2.4 GHz processor, you might see interference on some channels as well.

That being said, I have a large window in my case and experience no interference problems. ymmv.

Ken