[volt-nuts] Agilent calibration

[Dr. David Kirkby]

My HP 8720D VNA went off to Agilent yesterday. I know it is not
volt-nut related, but if anyone wants to look  at the certificate when
I get it back, you are welcome to. I intended scanning it anyway. But
I noticed something interesting looking at the prices of various
calibrations in the UK and USA from Agilent for this VNA, as there
seems to be a premium if you want uncertainties in the USA, but in the
UK there is no extra charge.

In the UK.
Agilent Calibration Per Incident £471.38 (GBP)
Agilent Calibration with Measurement Uncertainties Per Incident £471.38 (GBP)

(The first does say it includes the carriage costs, whereas the second
does not, but I know it does include the carriage cost since I have
paid Agilent to collect it and it was done yesterday.) So in the UK,
there seems no disadvantage in having the uncertainties other than it
takes 7 working days not 5. OK, the two extra days might be
significant to some, but given none of these times are guaranteed, I
don't think one should read too much into that.

Now comparing prices in the USA for the same 8720D
Agilent Calibration Per Incident $ 760.24 (USD)
Agilent Calibration with Measurement Uncertainties Agreement $1208.77 (GBP)
All times are 5 working days.

At the current exchange rate (1 GBP = 1.55866 USD), the cheapest
calibration in the USA and UK are very similar. But if you want
uncertainties, the USA is considerably more expensive than the UK.

If one wants an accredited calibration, the costs are higher in both regions.

Strangely, I just checked the prices on the 3457A multi-meter, as I
own one of them too, and on that there is a premium in the UK for
uncertainties. So I then checked another vector network analyzer, the
8753A, and there is no premium on that either. I'm not quite sure I
follow the logic of this!

It all seems a bit illogical to me.

Dave