Device Calibration

Device Calibration

You can use the External Calibration and Self-Calibration sections on the Systems Settings tab to view basic calibration information for your device.

Calibration properties are read-only if your device does not support writable calibration in MAX.

External Calibration

External calibration must be performed using high-precision external standards. The following steps occur when you perform an external calibration on the device.

1. The performance of the device is measured against the high-precision external standards.
2. If the device is performing outside the specified range as determined by the external standards, an adjustment is made. During an adjustment, new calibration constants are stored in a protected area of the device memory and cannot be modified by a user, which protects the traceability of the calibration.
3. After the adjustment, the device is remeasured against the high-precision external standards.

External calibration must be performed by a metrology laboratory or another facility that maintains traceable calibration standards. For more information, visit ni.com/calibration.

Note  If calibration on the device is password protected, you must enter the calibration password to save any modifications to Calibration Date and Calibration Due Date.

• Calibration Date—Specifies the date of the last external calibration of this device.
• Calibration Due Date—Enter the date that this product is due for calibration. For new products, the recommended calibration interval begins when you receive the product. If your device does not support writable calibration, MAX displays the recommended date for the next calibration in Recommended Next Calibration.
• Device Temperature—Displays the temperature of the device during the last adjustment as measured by an onboard temperature sensor. This value is set automatically when an adjustment is made.
• Change Password—Displays a dialog box that allows you to change the calibration password for the device.

Self-Calibration

Self-calibration adjusts the calibration constants with respect to an onboard reference stored on the device. You can perform a self-calibration at any time to adjust the device for use in environments other than those in which the device was externally calibrated.

The new self-calibration constants are defined with respect to the calibration constants created by an adjustment made during an external calibration to ensure that the measurements are traceable to these external standards. Adjusting the self-calibration constants does not affect the constants created during an external calibration because they are stored in a different area of the device memory.

• Calibration Date—Displays the date of the last self-calibration of this device.
• Device Temperature—Displays the temperature of the device during the last self-calibration as measured by an onboard temperature sensor.