Cost-Effective Traceability for Oscilloscope Calibration

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Cost-Effective Traceability for Oscilloscope Calibration (104.08 KB)

The widespread adoption of ISO 9000 has brought an increased awareness of the need for traceable oscilloscope calibration. However, in-depth knowledge of the traceability requirements tended to lie mainly with the oscilloscope manufacturers, rather than calibration companies or instrument users.

The design of a new Fluke oscilloscope calibrator brought with it some interesting questions about the methods traditionally used for establishing traceability. In particular there appeared to be weak links in the traceability when compared to the more rigorous methods applied to DC and Low Frequency metrology. This paper examines these methods and explains the approach used by the Company to establish reliable traceability and make it easily available to the users of the product and those having to support it. European customer expectations dictated that we gain formal UK NAMAS Accreditation1 of the automated system used for the calibration of the product.