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Fluke Calibration Blog
Calibration Equipment & Standards and Calibration Software
Oct 22, 2012
Alignment of terminology: calibration and verification
"The more critical the decision, the more critical the data. The more critical the data, the more critical the measurement."
–NASA Reference Publication 1342
ISO 17025 was initially released in 1999. In 2005, it underwent minor revision to align better to ISO 9000:2000. In 2010, the standard was up for review again and rather than voting for revision, the vote was to confirm the standard as-is for another five years. In attending the 2012...
Oct 17, 2012
I initially thought interpreting electrical specifications was a little daunting. But once you get the basics, it’s really pretty straightforward. Specifications in dc/low frequency electrical calibration are based around a simple “y = mx + b” linear equation for both sourcing and measuring instruments. Manufacturers’ use terms like “% of reading + % of full scale” or “% of reading + units”, all based on two terms, a scale factor error (“m”) and an offset or floor “b”. Really, pretty...
Oct 08, 2012
Jim is an ambitious new metrologist at ABC Tech. He wants to become more visible in his department and in the metrology community at large, so he decides to submit a paper to a prestigious conference. He schedules some time for himself over the weekend to sit down and think about it.
Sitting in front of a blinking cursor on his computer monitor, Jim freezes. He thought he knew what he wanted to write about, but now he’s drawing a blank.
Writer’s block isn’t limited to metrologists...
Oct 03, 2012
1. Introduction of Three Methods
Knowledge of size of source is important for your infrared thermometer calibration. You should use this knowledge in determining a proper size for the thermal radiation source used for the calibration. The three methods to study the amount of source are listed below.
Field-of-view Test
Field-of-view Specification
Sweep
2. Description of Methods
2a. Field-of-view (Target Size) Test Method
The field-of-view or target size method is described in ASTM E1256...
Aug 28, 2012
Pascal’s principal says that in a closed container a change in pressure at one location will be experienced equally in any other part of the pressure circuit. This principal allows pressure metrologists to simply connect a device under test (DUT) to a reference, change the pressure to a value they want to test, then compare the reference and device under test. But I probably should not have used to the adjective “simply”. There is a lot to consider when deciding how to...
Aug 24, 2012
Dave buys a new calibration bath because of a requirement to calibrate to –80°C. His boss notices the temperature range on the bath is from –80 °C to 110 °C. Sensing a new source of revenue, the boss says, “Great, now we can finally calibrate thermometers to 110 °C too.”
“No”, Dave says, “we can’t set the temperature higher than 70°C”
“Why, what’s wrong with the bath?”
“Nothing, it’s working perfectly.”
Confused and agitated, the boss leaves while mumbling something about temperature...
Aug 14, 2012
Another NCSLI conference is in the books. This year, the metrology faithful (and budget funded!) once again gathered to gain knowledge through tutorials and technical presentations, contribute to the industry through attendance of committee meetings, talk to vendors at the exhibition, network with some of the world’s experts in metrology and spend time with old friends. There were so many great things happening that I didn’t even have time to compose a single tweet!
As one of the...
Aug 09, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory - measurement and calibration on Mars
You can bet there is a lot of test and measurement equipment onboard Curiosity. As a test and measurement professional, I’d like to tell you about some of the things I find especially interesting.
Mars Science Laboratory - measurement and calibration on Mars
You can bet there is a lot of test and measurement equipment onboard Curiosity. As a test and measurement professional, I’d like to tell you about some of the...
Jul 20, 2012
It takes basic research and a lot of hard work to make primary standards that meet today’s demanding requirements. But how do scientists research the behavior of a sealed system like a triple point of argon cell? You can’t see what’s going on inside, and you can’t know what you can’t see. Or can you?
Realizing the ITS-90
The triple point of argon (83.8058 K ) is one of the most commonly used fixed points for the calibration of standard platinum resistance thermometers (SPRTs) at...
Jul 10, 2012
There is a silent measurement quality crisis and few people are aware. Infrared thermometers are being used more and more for critical temperature measurements without much assurance that their values are accurate. Infrared thermometers can be calibrated to improve and assure measurement accuracy, but even the flat-plate radiation sources used to assure those measurements at temperatures below 1000 °C often lack the traceability necessary to be a reliable as a calibration standard.
So what’s...