I've been through the certifying process for broadcast transmitters from scratch, albeit in Australia. I can tell you it's damn easy to overwhelm the petty cert

I've been through the certifying process for broadcast transmitters from scratch, albeit in Australia. I can tell you it's damn easy to overwhelm the petty certifying bureaucrats, especially so when you can prove your engineering mods give better performance specs (less harmonic interference, etc.) than beforehand. In fact, our bespoke broadcast TXs gave better performance than any commonly-available commercial equipment. Bureaucrats want a quite life, and when threatened with their actual names and positions being published in the press for being obstructive over nothing then they'll cave in. Remember, troublemakers in the public sector aren't usually rewarded with promotions. :-)