This is the standards lab guy again. I'm back because you appear to be genuinely interested in this topic.
You can buy whatever instrument you want, but if you don't REGULARLY, usually specified by the manufacturer, have the darned thing traceably CALIBRATED, ... you may or may not be in spec.
This is not something you can ACCURATELY do yourself.
You'll have guys here tell you to go get some high precision instrument and you'll be fine. When the instrument comes from the factory, it's within spec, sometime after that, it may not be and you will have
no way of knowing that by yourself. Guys go for years thinking their high precision instrument is giving them continually accurate readings because it's high precision. If it's not verified by a qualified standards lab,
there is no way to prove that. Just because you've got some 3-year old instrument with high accuracy, there is no guarantee that those precision numbers you're getting are the correct ones unless it's been
verified by a traceable electronic standard.
I assume you repair instruments and then want to calibrate them for a potential buyer. Your calibration will just be a shot in the dark without an in-spec standard to verify accuracy.
You can give them something 'in the ballpark', but you can't give them a 'calibrated' repaired instrument.
Even if you're thinking big, and go out and buy high-accuracy 'standard' instruments, THOSE very standards have to be recalibrated according to traceable standards themselves at regular intervals.
You'll get all kinds of advice from others who think they know what 'calibrated' means.
I just gave you the accurate explanation.
Good luck
I'll give you one option. I used to be (when I had time) on the advisory council of the local college. They have a room full of high-precision standards used to keep their lab instruments within factory specs.
If you have a college near you, perhaps as a training aid to students in any electrical engineering program they might have. They might consider having students perform calibration on your repaired
instruments as practical application learning for their students. Their lab standards will probably be kept in-spec by an accredited standards lab, and you can be reasonably sure of their calibration.
I don't know how it is where you are. But often, here, because it's a practical application experience for their students, they may not charge you a fee to do your calibrations.
It also is a shot in the dark, but it's an idea.
You can buy whatever instrument you want, but if you don't REGULARLY, usually specified by the manufacturer, have the darned thing traceably CALIBRATED, ... you may or may not be in spec.
This is not something you can ACCURATELY do yourself.
You'll have guys here tell you to go get some high precision instrument and you'll be fine. When the instrument comes from the factory, it's within spec, sometime after that, it may not be and you will have
no way of knowing that by yourself. Guys go for years thinking their high precision instrument is giving them continually accurate readings because it's high precision. If it's not verified by a qualified standards lab,
there is no way to prove that. Just because you've got some 3-year old instrument with high accuracy, there is no guarantee that those precision numbers you're getting are the correct ones unless it's been
verified by a traceable electronic standard.
I assume you repair instruments and then want to calibrate them for a potential buyer. Your calibration will just be a shot in the dark without an in-spec standard to verify accuracy.
You can give them something 'in the ballpark', but you can't give them a 'calibrated' repaired instrument.
Even if you're thinking big, and go out and buy high-accuracy 'standard' instruments, THOSE very standards have to be recalibrated according to traceable standards themselves at regular intervals.
You'll get all kinds of advice from others who think they know what 'calibrated' means.
I just gave you the accurate explanation.
Good luck
I'll give you one option. I used to be (when I had time) on the advisory council of the local college. They have a room full of high-precision standards used to keep their lab instruments within factory specs.
If you have a college near you, perhaps as a training aid to students in any electrical engineering program they might have. They might consider having students perform calibration on your repaired
instruments as practical application learning for their students. Their lab standards will probably be kept in-spec by an accredited standards lab, and you can be reasonably sure of their calibration.
I don't know how it is where you are. But often, here, because it's a practical application experience for their students, they may not charge you a fee to do your calibrations.
It also is a shot in the dark, but it's an idea.
