Metrix MTX 3281 & Time MicroCal 1030

Hi Chris,

thats a nice looking piece of kit! Might have to have a look for one myself...

Regards,

Lloyd

In another post I was asking about building a homebrew voltage reference source, to check equipment calibration. You can buy kits from Banggood and e-bay for very small sums but how reliable are they? Then after being directed to Mark Hennessy's website and reading a review, I decided to purchase the Time Electronics Micro Cal 1030.

• Specs:
  Multiple voltage ranges - 10mV, 100mV, 1V
  Multiple current ranges - 10mA, 100mA
  0.1% accuracy
  0-8V output available
  Battery powered
  Battery level indicator

A long standing UK company specialising in precision electronics. No point me waffling on about the unit when Mark has provided such a superb review here.

When it arrives I will see how the Metrix MTX 3281 performs up against the Fluke 75, my TRMS Bench Meter and a cheapy,  perhaps calibrate where necessary. I'm expecting the Metrix to be way out in front with its high accuracy 100,000 count, 4 decimal place display. It will be interesting to see how the TakedaRiken  TR643 and the Fluke 75 stack up against each other. The yellow jobby, well less said the better but we'll see how that fairs.

Well this weekend I had planned to build the 'Crystal Tester' I've been discussing in a thread here however, the Microcal 1030 arrived 10 mins ago. I think instead I'm going to have a read of the manual and then as stated above see how the various meters check out with regards to calibration and accuracy. I'll come back to the crystal tester.

p.s.

I will also scan the manual for the Data Library

It will be interesting to see how meters compare - with digital ones they are usually very close anyway. Even my elderly Beckman compares well with my Fluke 179; I'm yet to see how the Fluke 25 I now own compares.

However, at this stage compare is all you can do, because you don't know how accurate your standard is unless it comes with a recent calibration certificate. Might be worth - in the future - sending it back to Time to get it calibrated? (The model 1030 is still in production, by the way - it's just had a facelift 🙂 )

One thing I would like to do is get my HP 34401A calibrated...

Posted by: Cathovisor

The model 1030 is still in production, by the way - it's just had a facelift 🙂 )

Yep that's the same link I posted a couple of posts back along with Mark H's review.

That'll teach me to read the thread...

The results given the unknown calibration status of the Micro Cal reference voltage, ( sort makes it all pointless really) shows the meters reading pretty much as I expected. My assumption being that the Metrix would be reading with the highest degree of accuracy followed by the Fluke, TakedaRiken and finally the yellow jobby.

I've e-mailed Time to see if they offer calibration checks for their old products. From the results of the meters it can't be far out if at all.

I think there would be very few situations where any of those meters would not be suitable for measuring.

Agreed

Many years ago, the company I worked for had yearly calibration checks on test equipment. I had a chat with the tester about multimeters, we used Fluke, he said it was very rare to find a faulty one, very rarely  he found the ADC had dropped or a stuck bit and the error was so noticeable that the person using the meter took it out of service.

I would imagine you have every chance of getting your unit calibrated, Chris. It might look different to the modern ones but when all's said and done, it's still a current product.

Back in the 80s we actually had a Calibrations Unit at Television Centre, and everything used to be passed through them for calibration. Sadly, they were the first casualty of 1990s 'rationalisation'.

Further checking of the Metrix, this time ohms.

I don't have a calibrated resistance standard to check the Metrix against but I do have a 1K 0.1% precision resistor that was supplied with the Micro Cal. Again I don't know its exact measurement, though I would expect it to be within the region of 999.9xK. 

Testing it on the Fluke gives 1K, that's the best it can resolve

The Metrix can resolve this further than the Fluke. First delta the leads and then you use the middle reading, it reads

Chances are its reading the precision resistor spot on, or if not, possibly with 1 or two counts.

Don't think you need worry too much about the calibration there, Chris  ?