CFR > Title 47 - Telecommunication > CHAPTER I—FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION > SUBCHAPTER A—GENERAL (Parts 0–19) > PART 2—FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS AND RADIO TREATY MATTERS; GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS > SUBPART N—FCC Procedure for Testing Class A, B and S Emergency Position Indicating Radiobeacons (EPIRBs) (§2.1501 to §2.1517) > 2.1503—Test environment.

2.1503—Test environment.

(a) Measurement sites. Radiated emission tests for peak effective radiated power (PERP), spurious emissions and power in the test mode are to be performed on an open field test site as shown in Figure 1. The site is to be located on level ground with an obstruction-free, 60 m by 52 m, elliptical area. The site is to be equipped with an antenna mast capable of adjustment from 1 to 4 m. The center of a metal ground plane at least one wavelength in diameter at 121.5 MHz (2.47 m) is to be located 30 m from the receiving antenna. The ground plane is to have provisions for mounting removable quarter-wave verticle elements to produce a monopole antenna at both 121.5 and 243 MHz with the VSWR of less than 1.5.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note: It is desirable that the level of radiated ambient EME at the test site be at least 6 dB below the FCC limits applicable to the EPIRB. It is, of course, not always possible to meet this condition. If the ambient field strength at some frequencies within the specified measurement ranges is too high, it is recommended that one or more of the following corrective steps be employed: (1) Perform measurements in critical frequency bands during hours when broadcast and other radio stations are off-the-air and ambients from industrial equipment are lower. (2) Insofar as is possible, orient the axis of an open area test site to discriminate against strong ambient signals. (3) Vary the bandwidth of the measuring instrument to separate ambient EME from emissions from the EPIRB.
(b) Temperature. Except as otherwise noted, the ambient temperature during testing is to be within the range of 4 to 35 °C (40 to 95 °F).