[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 116 (Thursday, June 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 34526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-14479]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Railroad Administration
Petition for Waiver of Compliance
In accordance with part 211 of Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
(CFR), notice is hereby given that the Federal Railroad Administration
(FRA) received a request for a waiver of compliance with certain
requirements of its safety standards. The individual petition is
described below, including the party seeking relief, the regulatory
provisions involved, the nature of the relief being requested, and the
petitioner's arguments in favor of relief.
Ritron, Incorporated
[Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-2009-0015]
Ritron, Incorporated (Ritron) seeks a waiver of compliance from
certain provisions of 49 CFR part 232, Brake System Safety Standards
for Freight and Other Non-Passenger Trains and Equipment. Specifically,
Section 232.409(d)--Inspection and testing of end-of-train devices,
which requires the telemetry equipment to be tested for accuracy and
calibrated, if necessary at least every 368 days. It also requires that
the date and location of the last calibration or test, as well as the
name of the person performing the calibration or test, be legibly
displayed on a weather-resistant sticker or other marking device
affixed to the outside of both the front and the rear unit.
This petition concerns Ritron models DTX-445 and DTX-454 radio
transceiver modules. While the DTX-445 is a new product, it is similar
in mechanical and electrical design to the model DTX-442, and its field
reliability statistical performance should be representative of the
performance of the DTX-445. The DTX-454 is an established product,
having been in production for 7 years. These modules are used in a
large number of U.S. railroad head-of-train (HOT) and end-of-train
(EOT) devices manufactured and sold by various companies. The Ritron
DTX transceiver module line has been in production from 4 to 8 years,
depending upon the specific module. These transceivers use a master
reference oscillator to determine the frequency stability of the
transmitted signal. The actual transmitted signal is phase-locked to
this master oscillator by the phase-locked loop (PLL). Circuitry within
the PLL determines when the system is in ``lock'' and will prevent or
inhibit transmission if the transmitted signal is not on frequency. The
master oscillator, itself, is specified to a much higher accuracy than
that required by Federal regulations. This oscillator is used in all of
Ritron's extensive radio offerings and, to date, has never had a
failure due to being out of tolerance.
In addition, the modulation circuitry used in the DTX radios is
based upon very stable limiting operational amplifiers followed by
passive filters and potentiometers. This has proven to be extremely
reliable and has not produced any failures related to out-of-band
emissions. The power control circuitry is different in the various
versions of the DTX family, but is based either on a closed loop final
amplifier current sensing design or an open loop lookup table. Both
have shown to work well in the field and are believed to have caused
little, if any, service issues.
Interested parties are invited to participate in these proceedings
by submitting written views, data, or comments. FRA does not anticipate
scheduling a public hearing in connection with these proceedings since
the facts do not appear to warrant a hearing. If any interested party
desires an opportunity for oral comment, they should notify FRA, in
writing, before the end of the comment period and specify the basis for
their request.
All communications concerning these proceedings should identify the
appropriate docket number (e.g., Waiver Petition Docket Number FRA-
2009-0015) and may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Fax: 202-493-2251.
Mail: Docket Operations Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., W12-140, Washington, DC
20590.
Hand Delivery: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Room W12-140,
Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal Holidays.
Communications received within 30 days of the date of this notice
will be considered by FRA before final action is taken. Comments
received after that date will be considered as far as practicable. All
written communications concerning these proceedings are available for
examination during regular business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m.) at the above
facility. All documents in the public docket are also available for
inspection and copying on the Internet at the docket facility's Web
site at http://www.regulations.gov.
Anyone is able to search the electronic form of any written
communications and comments received into any of our dockets by the
name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment,
if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).
You may review DOT's complete Privacy Act Statement in the Federal
Register published on April 11, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 70; Pages
19477-78).
Issued in Washington, DC, on June 10, 2010.
Robert C. Lauby,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Regulatory and Legislative
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2010-14479 Filed 6-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P