The presentation will open with some reflections on the early part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, where questions asked about engineering realities constraining science aspirations were raised. Early encounters between Scientists and Engineers considered Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) as one of the constraints. Some formative developments of this specific Radio Astronomy (RA) project, with a focus on the XDM, KAT7 and then MeerKAT in South Africa, will be introduced and related to unexpected RFI. The picture will then be widened to unpack an understanding of RFI and ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) for RA and science projects more generally. Two European examples will be considered. A short diversion into the language that EMC engineers use in RFI and what RA presents as uv-plane data will be taken.