Fluke Cal in Sydney, Oz

[mark5009]

Hi, all.

This is a local query for Sydny-siders.  I am after getting my Fluke 8852A calibrated.  I don't have the equipment in my lab to do the higher ranges so I figure I should pay someone to do the job. I called the official Fluke guys (Celemetrix) and they told me $340!!! Doh! That is more than the unit is worth for heaven's sake. I've called Emona but their dude has left for the day (go figure).

Anyone had any experience with folk who will do this kind of thing for a fair price?  Or is that a fair price and I am living back in the 70s?

Many thanks .. mark.

[EEVblog]

Try Trio Smart Cal.
Basically, no cal is going to cost less than say $100. It takes time to run through all the tests (if they don't have it automated) and produce the report.
BTW, what is an 8852A ?

[mark5009]

Thanks, Dave.

The 8842A is a 5.5 digit benchtop digital multimeter from the mid-90s [1].  All the usual stuff you'd expect, though mine is short the True RMS option. I scored it for not very much, but it is in need of a tune-up.  I'll give Trio a call.

 .. mark.

[1] http://www.teknetelectronics.com/Search.asp?p_ID=13955&pDo=DETAIL

[mark5009]

A quick follow-up on this. 

The cheapest calibration seems to come from TR-VMS in Preston (south of Liverpool).  They are quoting me $190 (with GST) for a NATA cal.  Far and away the best option.

Emona doesn't cal these unit.  Smart Cal are quoting $305 for a Trace Cal (I didn't bother to find out the price for a NATA cal).  And Celemetrix wins at $340 for a Trace Cal.

Still more than I'd like to pay (TekNet in the States quotes $90 for a Trace, which would be fine for my "lab") but what you going to do?  $200 is still plenty cheap for an instrument of this quality.

The reference for TR-VMS is

  http://www.trvms.com.au/calibration/

 .. mark.

[EEVblog]

Still more than I'd like to pay (TekNet in the States quotes $90 for a Trace, which would be fine for my "lab") but what you going to do?

It depends entirely on how much you value the cal certificate, and what confidence you already have in the instrument.
The meter is most likely to still be within spec (you are paying for calibration check, not an adjustment), so if you have other means to gather confidence in the instrument (another meter to cross check, your own standards etc), then you can argue the cal is a waste of money unless you no longer have confidencein the instrument.

[EEVblog]

BTW, it seems the 8842A regularly goes for under US$200 on ebay.