KME - Electrician

Okay - long term review time.

I`ve had my calcard for 14 months now. In that time, it`s been in the snow, rain, cup of coffee (testing!), chucked about and generally abused in the name of serious testing.

I`ve just done my December calibration check. My Fluke hasn`t been sent off since I bought it 5 years ago! The test results today are with 0.01 of the readings I had when the calcard was new - insulation readings steady to 2 decimal places. To be honest, I put the 0.01 variations down to the pressure you exert on the pads, and the test leads themselves, rather than the Calcard!

Mr. TestCal: FYI, The area engineer for the NICEIC is perfectly happy that, as long as the readings remain relatively constant; and an annual cross-check is made against a different tester, then there is no requirement to calibrate the tester, or replace the calcard

If I didn`t have one of these, or an equivalent, I`d "buy it now". On the TEF auction. They are "probably" the best thing you could buy with the money....... KME

Special Location - Electrician 

Just to add my starting comments on here..
received my Calcard earlier in the week.. as steptoe & Mr S say..
it certainly looks quite robust..(the sort of thing you cant really tell just be looking at pictures).

First impression I though was, Due to its size, it can be quite handy to stick in a spare pouch in my meter bag!
As I would tend to be using it.. when using a meter!

Probably wouldn't leave it loose in a toolbox.. or even my pocket..
cuz it would probably fall out and thus become an "EX-Calcard" cuz sods law would drop into some inaccessible place!!

I do already have a purchased check box (Socket&See) and a home made set of resistors soldered onto some strip-board.

So I will be posting a comparison of results of each with a selection of meters,

ABC Technical - Senior Member

Right then here we go.

Firstly a huge thankyou to Steve for the "Calcard".
Secondly a huge & humble apology to Steve for all negative remarks that I myself have made regarding his product.

I must say that I am amazed that this piece of kit is so small, yet so accurate, reliable & easy to use. I have used it to check the accuracy of not only my own instruments, but those of the company that I was working for too.

I have to confess that I have really abused my calcard by just throwing it my toolbox/bag whenever I have finished using it, only for it to be ready, willing & more than able to provide me with accurate results time & time again.

I even lent it to the engineer that calibrates my instruments, only for him to discover that a lot of his own personal instruments were way out of range, as were mine.

For it's retail price (though I think it could be a bit higher) this is an invaluable piece of technology for all sparks/sparks in training/electronics engineers & anybody that uses meters in their day to day work.

So to Steve I have to confess that I was extremely negative about your product at first, but after using it I am shovelling down humble pie as I write this.

I for one will be purchasing a new one when the time arises.

Thank you Steve again.

My score is ten out of ten.

steptoe - Electrician

Right, time for my reveiw, and as you may have gathered from my various posts, more my world then actual reality, not to say not truthful, but not actual book readings.

here we go.

first off, my card NEVER gave me the readings it said it would on the front, tested on 3 different meters and the readings were noted down, all pretty close to card readings, but none exact.

2 weeks later and meters all tested again, ALL readings EXACTLY the same as first recorded, REPETITIVE readings are more important than outright accuracy IMHO

2 weeks later and I dropped the card into a barrel of water!!!! SORRY
2 weeks later and after sitting (drying out) in my living room for 2weeks ALL readings back to normal.
if you want a reference to give you a 1 reading time after time then go buy a box at £50 odd quid, £20 I really dont think you will go far wrong with this calcard.

Mr Sword - Electricial Technician 

Initial impressions are that it's sturdy enough to survive being chucked around in a tool box (although I've put mine in a little plastic sheath.) It uses a thick pcb board as the base material with a legend plate on top. The legend plate is marked with the resistance values and is made so the markings look like they will not wear off.

The back of the card has space to write your name, contact number etc and space to write when calibration expires for a test instrument. I'm not sure that would be used as you will be using the card longer than the instruments calibration period. It also has a serial number, an important item as it allow traceability for calibration.

KME - Electrician 

FYI, mine DID fall in some (alcoholic) liquid too.

On purpose, as it happens.............(thought I`d have to buy a new one)

However, same result as Steptoe. (Sorry TestCal, you`ve made `em too good). It shows no ill effects whatsoever. I would also concur with reading not EXACTLY what is provided on the front, but I don`t believe that matters very much. I get the same results, time after time. I`ve tried it on a cold, dark early (4.00a.m) morning; in the house at 24 deg. C, after being left in bright sunshine, etc etc.

I am STILL highly impressed; even more so because it sits happily in the lid of my "fluke" case!

KME

KME - Electrician 

Lets get into it.

1. First impressions.
Well packaged, smaller than anticipated and self-explanatory. I like the semi-adhered strip on the back, and the contrasting colours used for low & high resistances. May have been nice for one of the "common" pads to be extended to the edge of the board; to allow a croc clip onto it?

2. Functionality.
(missed from above: like the fact that there is a s/n on the unit)

ok. Not difficult to use, and readings within tolerance (2 seperate meters used, providing almost identical results)
Handy size; fits nicely in the top section of my Fluke (tm) case. Maybe the chosen resistances could have been better spread across the ranges measured; but hey!

3. Overall.
I am impressed with this unit. Thumbs up from me; and if you CAN manage to address the (minor) concerns above, I believe you`d have one hell of a product.

Overall score: 86% - Nice piece of kit.

Martyn