As I understand it, you need CE (and lead-free?) to place something on the market in Europe. Personal imports would bypass this system, but in the event of a fire your insurance company might ask some questions.
In the UK CE marking is not seriously enforced so all sorts of (mainly Chinese) junk comes in, with or without CE stickers but no real effort to satisfy the EMC and Low Voltage Directives. In the case of EMC the authorities deliberately turn a blind eye (unless air traffic control is affected) by insisting that if no complaint has been made within 6 months of the item being marketed then it must be deemed to be EMC compliant.
In the UK CE marking is not seriously enforced so all sorts of (mainly Chinese) junk comes in, with or without CE stickers but no real effort to satisfy the EMC and Low Voltage Directives. In the case of EMC the authorities deliberately turn a blind eye (unless air traffic control is affected) by insisting that if no complaint has been made within 6 months of the item being marketed then it must be deemed to be EMC compliant.
Well I guess that is answered.
Yes, I have the greatest respect for UL and even CE regulations make some sense, even though they are arbitrarily condemning about lead and perhaps other substances, like mercury, above and beyond reasonable use. Perhaps it has something to do with recycling the product in time.
I have used lead solder in my own personal work. I found that SN62 solder did everything that I wanted in a solder. It was eutectic, low temperature, shiny finish, and I actually believe that the 2% silver provides a matrix for low level signals to pass more freely. To worry about a little lead in a soldered preamp is almost a joke.
I feel this way because I lived in a world that was saturated in lead, when I was young.
There was lead in paint, gasoline, extra lead in batteries (the reason they were so good, 40 years ago) etc. I think that removing lead in paint and gasoline was ultimately a VERY good thing, but to go 'whole hog' and BAN it in solder, is over the top.
Yes, I have the greatest respect for UL and even CE regulations make some sense, even though they are arbitrarily condemning about lead and perhaps other substances, like mercury, above and beyond reasonable use. Perhaps it has something to do with recycling the product in time.
I have used lead solder in my own personal work. I found that SN62 solder did everything that I wanted in a solder. It was eutectic, low temperature, shiny finish, and I actually believe that the 2% silver provides a matrix for low level signals to pass more freely. To worry about a little lead in a soldered preamp is almost a joke.
I feel this way because I lived in a world that was saturated in lead, when I was young.
There was lead in paint, gasoline, extra lead in batteries (the reason they were so good, 40 years ago) etc. I think that removing lead in paint and gasoline was ultimately a VERY good thing, but to go 'whole hog' and BAN it in solder, is over the top.
It hasn't because really high end electronic products that are life or mission critical still have to use good old tin\lead solder.
Look at the trouble fly by wire automobiles have had (are having) with lead free solder...
I use tin/lead/silver for soldering at home, and will not use anything else, they will have to prise the reels of solder out of my hands.
I wont comment on silver based solders being more conductive, but when soldering PCB's, wires etc that are gold plated it can improve the intermetallic formation, which can improve things, as a bad intermetallic formation is on cause of dry joints.
Empfasis - Intermetallics in Electronic Soldering
Look at the trouble fly by wire automobiles have had (are having) with lead free solder...
I use tin/lead/silver for soldering at home, and will not use anything else, they will have to prise the reels of solder out of my hands.
I wont comment on silver based solders being more conductive, but when soldering PCB's, wires etc that are gold plated it can improve the intermetallic formation, which can improve things, as a bad intermetallic formation is on cause of dry joints.
Empfasis - Intermetallics in Electronic Soldering
No (I'm sticking to my 63/37), but germanium's only used in trace amounts, isn't it? For solders like Sn100.
se
There are some rather large industries that are exempt from RoHS, so I'm sure you'll still be able to get it for quite some time to come.
se
Has anyone evaluated the pollution potential from the replacement substances
such as Germanium?
Germanium is pretty low on the bio-hazard scale. Bismuth is too, i.e. Pepto-Bismol
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WXYC Stream
Given the wide range of musical output on WXYC, Scott, I'd say you are a very open-minded person!
If you were referring to the sound, I must admit to being a minimalist in my approach to processing. The output of the PR&E analog board runs directly into an Orban 8500 processor set up for ONLY AGC. The AES output runs directly to a Telos ProStream with processing bypassed. That Telos box has saved my marriage; using a Linux PC running Dark Ice caused me so many maintenance headaches over the last 20 years...switching to a dedicated stream generator with no HDD, Fan or any moving parts is a dream, and the codec is the most recent Fraunhofer rev. The FM signal sounds marginally better in full quieting, but I am happy with the sound of this codec at 128kB/S. I run a second proofing stream at 320kB/S if anyone is interested...
Party On...
Howie - WA4PSC
Howard Hoyt
CE - WXYC-FM 89.3
UNC Chapel Hill, NC
www.wxyc.org
1st on the internet
Sorry for the late post, I've been job hunting in far away places...
Given the wide range of musical output on WXYC, Scott, I'd say you are a very open-minded person!
If you were referring to the sound, I must admit to being a minimalist in my approach to processing. The output of the PR&E analog board runs directly into an Orban 8500 processor set up for ONLY AGC. The AES output runs directly to a Telos ProStream with processing bypassed. That Telos box has saved my marriage; using a Linux PC running Dark Ice caused me so many maintenance headaches over the last 20 years...switching to a dedicated stream generator with no HDD, Fan or any moving parts is a dream, and the codec is the most recent Fraunhofer rev. The FM signal sounds marginally better in full quieting, but I am happy with the sound of this codec at 128kB/S. I run a second proofing stream at 320kB/S if anyone is interested...
Party On...
Howie - WA4PSC
Howard Hoyt
CE - WXYC-FM 89.3
UNC Chapel Hill, NC
www.wxyc.org
1st on the internet
Yes to both! In fact my tolerance for extreme alternative music probably would alienate me from most folks here.
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1/runofthemill
Nice to meet a kindred spirit. Free Form radio has been my passion...I have been digging the 60's Thai psychedelia XYC has been playing...
Howie - WA4PSC
Howard Hoyt
CE - WXYC-FM 89.3
UNC Chapel Hill, NC
www.wxyc.org
1st on the internet
Nice to meet a kindred spirit. Free Form radio has been my passion...I have been digging the 60's Thai psychedelia XYC has been playing...
Howie - WA4PSC
Howard Hoyt
CE - WXYC-FM 89.3
UNC Chapel Hill, NC
www.wxyc.org
1st on the internet
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