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Meta Why are posts that users clearly approve of being closed?

The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be: Off-topic ... High-level use of electrical devices. If your question treats a device like a black box and isn...

posted 3y ago by Lundin‭ · edited 3y ago by Lundin‭

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#3: Post edited by

Lundin‭ · 2020-10-28T13:00:17Z (over 3 years ago)

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The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be:
> **Off-topic**
> ...
> High-level use of electrical devices.
>
> If your question treats a device like a black box and isn't about its theory of operation or its design tradeoffs, then it's likely off topic.
First of all, this rule is really just a placeholder since there's no community consensus about these rules yet. I think it is a pretty sound rule personally though. But it actually says "design tradeoffs", which would apply in case a microwave oven leaks spurious/out of band emissions.
Or maybe it is not an EMI issue - the microwave might have a right to send out a certain amount of energy as intentional radiator on its designated carrier frequency. Then it's simply the "first device sending gets the band" rule that applies universally on public, license-free bands.
The OP need to provide more details, which in turn might mean that they have to know a bit of electronics - specifically radio spectrum allocation. What frequency is the microwave and WiFi running on respectively? Both of these could be using a lot of completely different frequency bands, depending on 1) brand and 2) which geographic market the device is intended for. If we don't know this, then answers will just be speculation.
What if the WiFi is running on 900MHz but the microwave on 2.4GHz? Then it doesn't make sense, you don't even have a harmonic from 900MHz in the 2.4GHz band, so the only cause would then be random EMI noise or maybe some strange mains voltage problem.
What if both are running on 2.4GHz? Well EMI and radio allocation in 2.4GHz bands is a tricky subject, maybe there's an answerable question. But how do we know? We can't demand that those answering need to do research about which frequency a certain WiFi router or microwave are using. It is the job of the person asking the question to dig up datasheets for the devices.
If the poster is an EE, there's a chance they have access to a spectrum analyser and could simply measure it. If they are a random "interested bystander", they have likely never even seen a spec.
So after consideration I think closing this question was the right call, not so much because it "treats a device like a black box" but because it lacks sufficient detail to answer the question without speculation.
---
**EDIT**
Just for the sake of it, I now asked the very same question, though with a bit more insight on radio spectrum allocation: [Microwave oven interfering with WiFi on the 2.4GHz band](https://electrical.codidact.com/questions/278855). Just as an experiment, to see if it get clobbered with close votes too or if we can lure out some more detailed answers.

The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be:
> **Off-topic**
> ...
> High-level use of electrical devices.
>
> If your question treats a device like a black box and isn't about its theory of operation or its design tradeoffs, then it's likely off topic.
First of all, this rule is really just a placeholder since there's no community consensus about these rules yet. I think it is a pretty sound rule personally though. But it actually says "design tradeoffs", which would apply in case a microwave oven leaks spurious/out of band emissions.
Or maybe it is not an EMI issue - the microwave might have a right to send out a certain amount of energy as intentional radiator on its designated carrier frequency. Then it's simply the "first device sending gets the band" rule that applies universally on public, license-free bands.
The OP need to provide more details, which in turn might mean that they have to know a bit of electronics - specifically radio spectrum allocation. What frequency is the microwave and WiFi running on respectively? Both of these could be using a lot of completely different frequency bands, depending on 1) brand and 2) which geographic market the device is intended for. If we don't know this, then answers will just be speculation.
What if the WiFi is running on 900MHz but the microwave on 2.4GHz? Then it doesn't make sense, you don't even have a harmonic from 900MHz in the 2.4GHz band, so the only cause would then be random EMI noise or maybe some strange mains voltage problem.
What if both are running on 2.4GHz? Well EMI and radio allocation in 2.4GHz bands is a tricky subject, maybe there's an answerable question. But how do we know? We can't demand that those answering need to do research about which frequency a certain WiFi router or microwave are using. It is the job of the person asking the question to dig up datasheets for the devices.
If the poster is an EE, there's a chance they have access to a spectrum analyser and could simply measure it. If they are a random "interested bystander", they have likely never even seen a spec.
So after consideration I think closing this question was the right call, not so much because it "treats a device like a black box" but because it lacks sufficient detail to answer the question without speculation.
---
**EDIT**
Just for the sake of it, I now asked the very same question, though with a bit more insight on radio spectrum allocation: [Microwave oven interfering with WiFi on the 2.4GHz band](https://electrical.codidact.com/questions/278855). Just as an experiment, to see if it get clobbered with close votes too or if we can lure out some more detailed answers. In either case, we can compare my new question with the previous one. Is the new one on-topic and if so, what made it on-topic?

#2: Post edited by

Lundin‭ · 2020-10-28T12:57:51Z (over 3 years ago)

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The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be:
> **Off-topic**
> ...
> High-level use of electrical devices.
>
> If your question treats a device like a black box and isn't about its theory of operation or its design tradeoffs, then it's likely off topic.
First of all, this rule is really just a placeholder since there's no community consensus about these rules yet. I think it is a pretty sound rule personally though. But it actually says "design tradeoffs", which would apply in case a microwave oven leaks spurious/out of band emissions.
Or maybe it is not an EMI issue - the microwave might have a right to send out a certain amount of energy as intentional radiator on its designated carrier frequency. Then it's simply the "first device sending gets the band" rule that applies universally on public, license-free bands.
The OP need to provide more details, which in turn might mean that they have to know a bit of electronics - specifically radio spectrum allocation. What frequency is the microwave and WiFi running on respectively? Both of these could be using a lot of completely different frequency bands, depending on 1) brand and 2) which geographic market the device is intended for. If we don't know this, then answers will just be speculation.
What if the WiFi is running on 900MHz but the microwave on 2.4GHz? Then it doesn't make sense, you don't even have a harmonic from 900MHz in the 2.4GHz band, so the only cause would then be random EMI noise or maybe some strange mains voltage problem.
What if both are running on 2.4GHz? Well EMI and radio allocation in 2.4GHz bands is a tricky subject, maybe there's an answerable question. But how do we know? We can't demand that those answering need to do research about which frequency a certain WiFi router or microwave are using. It is the job of the person asking the question to dig up datasheets for the devices.
If the poster is an EE, there's a chance they have access to a spectrum analyser and could simply measure it. If they are a random "interested bystander", they have likely never even seen a spec.
So after consideration I think closing this question was the right call, not so much because it "treats a device like a black box" but because it lacks sufficient detail to answer the question without speculation.

The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be:
> **Off-topic**
> ...
> High-level use of electrical devices.
>
> If your question treats a device like a black box and isn't about its theory of operation or its design tradeoffs, then it's likely off topic.
First of all, this rule is really just a placeholder since there's no community consensus about these rules yet. I think it is a pretty sound rule personally though. But it actually says "design tradeoffs", which would apply in case a microwave oven leaks spurious/out of band emissions.
Or maybe it is not an EMI issue - the microwave might have a right to send out a certain amount of energy as intentional radiator on its designated carrier frequency. Then it's simply the "first device sending gets the band" rule that applies universally on public, license-free bands.
The OP need to provide more details, which in turn might mean that they have to know a bit of electronics - specifically radio spectrum allocation. What frequency is the microwave and WiFi running on respectively? Both of these could be using a lot of completely different frequency bands, depending on 1) brand and 2) which geographic market the device is intended for. If we don't know this, then answers will just be speculation.
What if the WiFi is running on 900MHz but the microwave on 2.4GHz? Then it doesn't make sense, you don't even have a harmonic from 900MHz in the 2.4GHz band, so the only cause would then be random EMI noise or maybe some strange mains voltage problem.
What if both are running on 2.4GHz? Well EMI and radio allocation in 2.4GHz bands is a tricky subject, maybe there's an answerable question. But how do we know? We can't demand that those answering need to do research about which frequency a certain WiFi router or microwave are using. It is the job of the person asking the question to dig up datasheets for the devices.
If the poster is an EE, there's a chance they have access to a spectrum analyser and could simply measure it. If they are a random "interested bystander", they have likely never even seen a spec.
So after consideration I think closing this question was the right call, not so much because it "treats a device like a black box" but because it lacks sufficient detail to answer the question without speculation.
---
**EDIT**
Just for the sake of it, I now asked the very same question, though with a bit more insight on radio spectrum allocation: [Microwave oven interfering with WiFi on the 2.4GHz band](https://electrical.codidact.com/questions/278855). Just as an experiment, to see if it get clobbered with close votes too or if we can lure out some more detailed answers.

#1: Initial revision by

Lundin‭ · 2020-10-28T07:46:00Z (over 3 years ago)

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The current applicable rule from https://electrical.codidact.com/help/topics would be:

> **Off-topic**  
> ...  
> High-level use of electrical devices.
> 
> If your question treats a device like a black box and isn't about its theory of operation or its design tradeoffs, then it's likely off topic.

First of all, this rule is really just a placeholder since there's no community consensus about these rules yet. I think it is a pretty sound rule personally though. But it actually says "design tradeoffs", which would apply in case a microwave oven leaks spurious/out of band emissions. 

Or maybe it is not an EMI issue - the microwave might have a right to send out a certain amount of energy as intentional radiator on its designated carrier frequency. Then it's simply the "first device sending gets the band" rule that applies universally on public, license-free bands.

The OP need to provide more details, which in turn might mean that they have to know a bit of electronics - specifically radio spectrum allocation. What frequency is the microwave and WiFi running on respectively? Both of these could be using a lot of completely different frequency bands, depending on 1) brand and 2) which geographic market the device is intended for. If we don't know this, then answers will just be speculation. 

What if the WiFi is running on 900MHz but the microwave on 2.4GHz? Then it doesn't make sense, you don't even have a harmonic from 900MHz in the 2.4GHz band, so the only cause would then be random EMI noise or maybe some strange mains voltage problem.

What if both are running on 2.4GHz? Well EMI and radio allocation in 2.4GHz bands is a tricky subject, maybe there's an answerable question. But how do we know? We can't demand that those answering need to do research about which frequency a certain WiFi router or microwave are using. It is the job of the person asking the question to dig up datasheets for the devices.

If the poster is an EE, there's a chance they have access to a spectrum analyser and could simply measure it. If they are a random "interested bystander", they have likely never even seen a spec. 

So after consideration I think closing this question was the right call, not so much because it "treats a device like a black box" but because it lacks sufficient detail to answer the question without speculation.

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