Gizmodo
It was merely a couple months ago when we first heard word of XM stopping sales of some select XM receivers because of FCC concerns. The problems came because the emission levels of the FM transmissions were not compliant with the federal pound-me-in-the-ass regulations. Today Sirius told manufacturers of select receivers to stop manufacturing receivers that do not comply with the federal emissions and frequency rules. Pressure from the FCC? Likely.
Sure, every once in a while you will pass by a vehicle with some FM transmission and pick up a bit, but you keep driving and it goes away. No big deal, right? No need to stop production of the receiver completely. Come on FCC, throw 'em a freaking bone. Image via Howstuffworks
Sirius Halts Production Of Some Satellite Radios [Reuters via Extremetech]
Comments
I'm no FCC lover but, my crap ass Belkin Tunebase-FM for the IPOD can't compete with XM/Sirius transmiters. I get interference from these guys for at least half of my commute to work. I guess what I'm saying is, I want the transmit power they have!
Well, the problem is that the FCC is quite harsh to intentional transmitters that don't behave. I believe there's a 40mW limit for low-power (license-free) FM usage, and if people exceed that, well, the FCC gets annoyed and clamps down. (I think it's 40mW transmitter power, 100mW effective radiated power - the power you get after antenna gain).
Now, when the FCC puts out a directive, you can either modify the firmware to disable the modulator completely, or halt production. You have to halt production anyways to make the firmware changes otherwise FCC's fines get pretty steep pretty fast (you cannot sell noncompliant devices). So production might as well halt to prevent inventory from building up while the firmware is revised to either disable the transmitter or to reduce its power.
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