I have a 28 year old Beckman Circuitmate DM45 DMM that I am thinking of getting calibrated. In a google search, I only came across calibration labs that work with industrial clients. Are there calibration labs out there that will work with private parties and accept payment by credit card? How much should I expect to pay?
Where Can I Get My Digital Multimeter Calibrated?
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I used Pylon before, and they are good.
Ditto with Mattestusa.com.
Unless you have a high end test equipment that is out of warranty and in need of re-cal, otherwise, given how inexpensive it is to buy new ones these days, I wouldn't bother sending them out to have them recal. It's not cheep I tell ya.
(*I have sent tekronix, HP/Agilent Tech stuff out for recal before, and they are good*)
You have to call them for a price quote though.
Q.
Ditto with Mattestusa.com.
Unless you have a high end test equipment that is out of warranty and in need of re-cal, otherwise, given how inexpensive it is to buy new ones these days, I wouldn't bother sending them out to have them recal. It's not cheep I tell ya.
(*I have sent tekronix, HP/Agilent Tech stuff out for recal before, and they are good*)
You have to call them for a price quote though.
Q.
oh and BTW: oscilloscopes typically starts around 180USD (basic recal, for something typically less than 100MHz analog type with 2 inputs) and upwards; spectrum analyzers can go up to 3~500USD for recal.
This is the pricing I got some 3 yrs+ ago, price may have changed quite a bit also.
I've been told (not confirmed) digital multimeter recal is at least 60+USD and some may run up to over 150USD+ to recal.
If you really want to do it on the cheep but yet fairly accurate, get some AN42 or TI's TI5010(to TI5050) and build a precision voltage reference to run against your meter (DCV), and for resistance, buy some 1% metal film resistors from Vishay, ex-mil stuff, etc. and you are all set.
Or if you want to cut to the chase and still do it on the cheep, get an REF5050 from this site:
http://www.voltagestandard.com/Home_Page_JO2U.html
Q.
This is the pricing I got some 3 yrs+ ago, price may have changed quite a bit also.
I've been told (not confirmed) digital multimeter recal is at least 60+USD and some may run up to over 150USD+ to recal.
If you really want to do it on the cheep but yet fairly accurate, get some AN42 or TI's TI5010(to TI5050) and build a precision voltage reference to run against your meter (DCV), and for resistance, buy some 1% metal film resistors from Vishay, ex-mil stuff, etc. and you are all set.
Or if you want to cut to the chase and still do it on the cheep, get an REF5050 from this site:
http://www.voltagestandard.com/Home_Page_JO2U.html
Q.
JHZR2
Staff member
Originally Posted By: Quest
Unless you have a high end test equipment that is out of warranty and in need of re-cal, otherwise, given how inexpensive it is to buy new ones these days, I wouldn't bother sending them out to have them recal. It's not cheep I tell ya.
Problem is that there is a lot of inconsistency in the suff you get. We were playing with two freebie HF multimeters (mentioned in in a thread someplace), and they were off by like 0.3V one vs the other!
Unless you have a high end test equipment that is out of warranty and in need of re-cal, otherwise, given how inexpensive it is to buy new ones these days, I wouldn't bother sending them out to have them recal. It's not cheep I tell ya.
Problem is that there is a lot of inconsistency in the suff you get. We were playing with two freebie HF multimeters (mentioned in in a thread someplace), and they were off by like 0.3V one vs the other!
Know someone with a unit with a recent cal sticker? Measure a zener (or a 78 series regulator) and a resistor or two on it and use them for a standard. That ought to do it for general use. Some years ago a friend was trying to align and calibrate a fine old Collins receiver which had a non functioning calibrator, and wanted to borrow my big and heavy rack mount HP signal generator.. I suggested that for his purposes the 25 khz increment calibrator in his Drake receiver would do just fine if he simply connected the two antenna inputs together so the Collins could hear the Drake calibrator. Bingo.
I did come across a price list at Techmaster. Calibration is $35 for ISO 9001 cal, and up to $222 for ISO 17025.
What does a ISO 9001 calibration get you?
Anybody here ever used Techmaster?
http://www.techmastertest.com/techmaster...ng/circuitmate/
What does a ISO 9001 calibration get you?
Anybody here ever used Techmaster?
http://www.techmastertest.com/techmaster...ng/circuitmate/
@OP: how "accurate" you want for your 28 yrs old DVM? Are you using it to perform laboratory-grade work?
I'd rather spend the money online to buy a new Fluke meter than fondling with an old 2 decades old DVM, citing that anything over 15 yrs or older (electronic equipment-wise) they are pretty much done/due for a major upgrade in order to keep up to the spec.
Afterall:some old film resistors do have a lot of noise, and old lytic capacitors will drift over time (as they age), so no matter how much you want to bring it up to laboratory-level accuracy, you won't get much out of it.
As a collector for vintage AVO meters, Triplitte, analogue meters, I typically accept no more than 3~5% accuracy. Fluke meters that are within 10yrs of production, I accept less than 1% accuracy.
For general repair use: 1~5% accuracy is more than sufficient. For medical equipment/high end audio repair, I do 1% or less.
For laboratory-grade work with consistent repeatibilty, I take less than 1% accuracy on my test equipments.
Q.
I'd rather spend the money online to buy a new Fluke meter than fondling with an old 2 decades old DVM, citing that anything over 15 yrs or older (electronic equipment-wise) they are pretty much done/due for a major upgrade in order to keep up to the spec.
Afterall:some old film resistors do have a lot of noise, and old lytic capacitors will drift over time (as they age), so no matter how much you want to bring it up to laboratory-level accuracy, you won't get much out of it.
As a collector for vintage AVO meters, Triplitte, analogue meters, I typically accept no more than 3~5% accuracy. Fluke meters that are within 10yrs of production, I accept less than 1% accuracy.
For general repair use: 1~5% accuracy is more than sufficient. For medical equipment/high end audio repair, I do 1% or less.
For laboratory-grade work with consistent repeatibilty, I take less than 1% accuracy on my test equipments.
Q.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Problem is that there is a lot of inconsistency in the suff you get. We were playing with two freebie HF multimeters (mentioned in in a thread someplace), and they were off by like 0.3V one vs the other!
You get what you pay for, period.
If you want better accuracy and consistency across the board, you shall at least get a fluke (China made ones) or better.
General purpose DVM made in Taiwan, India or even China, would be mighty accurate even for general, daily use. Also: it costs more to zero-out that 0.3V bias on those cheep meters you know.
Q.
Problem is that there is a lot of inconsistency in the suff you get. We were playing with two freebie HF multimeters (mentioned in in a thread someplace), and they were off by like 0.3V one vs the other!
You get what you pay for, period.
If you want better accuracy and consistency across the board, you shall at least get a fluke (China made ones) or better.
General purpose DVM made in Taiwan, India or even China, would be mighty accurate even for general, daily use. Also: it costs more to zero-out that 0.3V bias on those cheep meters you know.
Q.
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