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Question on setting up a bench
- Thread starter guitar_199
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- bench test equipment
And I have a roll of them if anyone needs a few.
Okay, on calibration...
On average what does a calibration cost for something like an oscilloscope of spectrum analyzer? (Tens? Hundreds? Thousands?)
On average what does a calibration cost for something like an oscilloscope of spectrum analyzer? (Tens? Hundreds? Thousands?)
If the person, people, place or whatever doing the calibration isn’t accredited then that calibration is pretty much useless. It’s especially useless if you’re spouting off about “muh calibration” or “muh traceable sticker”.
The most famous sticker bandit that always boast about his traceable stickers gets that service from a guy doing it in a garage. It’s a few hundred bucks for a 2 year “calibration”, I know cause I have one and it’s useless.
Reputable sources won’t touch a lot of the older and outdated equipment such as CDMA service monitors, again, I have one and I know.
I’m not spending any more money in useless calibration stickers for the CB hobby where close is good enough. I’m gonna spend the next batch on one of them wood planes so I can tune my bench. And also so I can buy an extra top, one to plane with the grain and one to go against. Gotta be tuned for both sideband and AM. But...nobody has mentioned tuning for FM.
The most famous sticker bandit that always boast about his traceable stickers gets that service from a guy doing it in a garage. It’s a few hundred bucks for a 2 year “calibration”, I know cause I have one and it’s useless.
Reputable sources won’t touch a lot of the older and outdated equipment such as CDMA service monitors, again, I have one and I know.
I’m not spending any more money in useless calibration stickers for the CB hobby where close is good enough. I’m gonna spend the next batch on one of them wood planes so I can tune my bench. And also so I can buy an extra top, one to plane with the grain and one to go against. Gotta be tuned for both sideband and AM. But...nobody has mentioned tuning for FM.
Actually, I had given some thought to this and your thoughts seem to be about the same. Focusing on "close is good enough"... as long as it is demonstrably closed enough that is probably good enough indeed. Considering some shops that I have seen are equipped with MAYBE a scope, a DMM, a low end RF generator, a dummy load and a consumer Cb type power meter.... and NOT a spectrum analyzer in sight... I think that is probably fine. If the signals look good and the spectral purity is good and the power is set to a point where it won't cause the radio to catch fire... that is probably going to be better than most.
I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to have your equipment dead on but this is CB we’re talking about, not launching rockets or space shuttles.
In my opinion close is usually good enough. Think about all the sideband traffic where you have to use the clarifier to get someone straightened out.
My monitor has a recent calibration but calibrated against what? Beats me too. In my opinion I feel it’s more important for sideband than AM and close enough definitely works for AM.
If you got the cash to plunk down on a true calibration then by all means get it, especially if you’re running a shop and doing work on other guys stuff. If you’re just fooling with your own stuff, I don’t know that I’d waste the effort and money in it.
In my opinion close is usually good enough. Think about all the sideband traffic where you have to use the clarifier to get someone straightened out.
My monitor has a recent calibration but calibrated against what? Beats me too. In my opinion I feel it’s more important for sideband than AM and close enough definitely works for AM.
If you got the cash to plunk down on a true calibration then by all means get it, especially if you’re running a shop and doing work on other guys stuff. If you’re just fooling with your own stuff, I don’t know that I’d waste the effort and money in it.