[volt-nuts] volt-nuts Digest, Vol 77, Issue 15

[Randy Evans]

Willy,

Where are you located?

Randy Evans
AE6YG

On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 11:49 AM, new <pitts7 at williams-net.com> wrote:

> I'm thinking of doing non-commercial 'calibrations' for
> folks like us volt-nuts.
>
>  Since I have three 3458s, three 732As, a 732b, a 4214,
> an sr104, a 4210, all NIST cal'ed and I could do front-panel
> adjustments for the 3457.
>
>  Would anyone here like to do that? I would start by
> replacing the cal battery, too.
>
>   I could give the 'as found' and 'as left' numbers too,
> for the meters that arrived with 'alive' batteries.
>
>  Probably best to do it on fleabay to protect everyone
> involved.
>
>  If this post is a violation of volt-nuts policy, please take it down!
>
> Willy
>
>
>
> On 1/31/2016 12:00 PM, volt-nuts-request at febo.com wrote:
>
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>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>     1. Re: 3457A - should I preserve SRAM contents, or purposely
>>        corrupt them by removing power?
>>        (Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd))
>>
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 10:54:10 +0000
>> From: "Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)"
>>         <drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk>
>> To: Discussion of precise voltage measurement <volt-nuts at febo.com>
>> Subject: Re: [volt-nuts] 3457A - should I preserve SRAM contents, or
>>         purposely corrupt them by removing power?
>> Message-ID:
>>         <
>> CANX10hCqOeK9n+A0PinrZdzvc3b4d7TWYzTkUZvx_n9NmWcnUw at mail.gmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>>
>> On 25 January 2016 at 11:12, Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd) <
>> drkirkby at kirkbymicrowave.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> As noted in another thread, I want to replace a battery in a 3457A that
>>> has not been replaced in at least 11 years. The instrument has not been
>>> calibrated in that time either. At the time it was purchased from a
>>> dealer,
>>> I was told it was within specification, but if I wanted it calibrated I
>>> would need to pay. I never did have it calibrated, so have no historical
>>> data about this. I've no idea when it was calibrated, and have no cal
>>> certificate, so have no idea of the errors at the time of calibration.
>>>
>>> I now want to change the battery, *and* send it to Keysight for
>>> calibration - I have a healthy skepticism of 3rd party labs, so would
>>> rather pay more and get the job done by Keysight.
>>>
>>> I'm wondering if I would be better purposely removing the battery, and
>>> putting a short across the SRAM so I ensure the contents are definitely
>>> lost. My logic is that
>>>
>>> 1) If I send it to Keysight and the cal data is corrupt, they will set
>>> the
>>> meter correct.
>>>
>>> 2) If sent to Keysight, with the cal data in tact, then if its within
>>> specification they will not adjust it. So if the limit on some parameter
>>> is
>>> 1%, and the error is 0.5%, then it will not be adjusted. But if the SRAM
>>> is
>>> corrupted, the error will be huge (if it will read at all), so it would
>>> force Keysight to adjust it to the correct value.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> At that point the error should be effectively zero
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>
>> Thoughts?
>>>
>>> Someone sent me a private email, saying that if by purposely removed the
>> power from the SRAM  caused the 3457A to fail its self-tests, which is may
>> well do, then Keysight may consider the 3457A needs repair, and so offer a
>> fixed-price repair. Hence my "trick" to get this calibrated as accurately
>> as possible would have backfired, and I'd be out of pocket. In fact, on a
>> 3457A, the fixed-price-repair would probably cost more than the instrument
>> is worth, as these are not worth a lot now.
>>
>> Hence I would not do this before getting clarification from Keysight. It
>> might be possible to get them to set it right, even if within spec, but I
>> think their calibration routines are very automated, so its probably not
>> so
>> easy to get a special calibration, whilst paying for their cheapest
>> calibration service.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> Subject: Digest Footer
>>
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>> ------------------------------
>>
>> End of volt-nuts Digest, Vol 77, Issue 15
>> *****************************************
>>
>>
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