Figure 1-1.—Calibration laboratory structure

1-2 Figure 1-1.—Calibration laboratory structure. METCAL provides assurance that your test equipment is in top-notch shape. Remember, your measurements are only as accurate as your test equipment; be fully aware of the limitations of your test equipment and never use equipment that isn’t properly calibrated when performing measurements or adjustments. Q-1. What assures the accuracy of your electronic test equipment? Now that we have discussed the advantages of calibrated test equipment, let’s review the reason for all this concern. The fundamental electrical quantities of a circuit are voltage and current and are dependent on the circuit characteristics of resistance, capacitance, and inductance. In addition to these three individual characteristics, don’t forget that many electronic components exhibit more than one circuit characteristic at the same time. An example would be a piece of coaxial cable that is engineered by its manufacturer to meet characteristic specifications for impedance, capacitance, and inductance. But let’s keep it simple and begin by covering voltage measurements.