Implementing A2LA’s new Budget Requirements for Electrical and RF Uncertainties in Fluke MET/CAL® Procedures
Abstract: In April of 2009, the A2LA Measurement Advisory Committee adopted the minimum required contributors that must be included in your Electrical and RF & Microwave uncertainty budgets that support the Calibration and Measurement Capabilities (CMC) on the scope of accreditation. Their June 2009 newsletter explains the new requirements that went into effect for organizations with a renewal date of May 31st, 2010 or greater. For many labs, software is an integral part of their calibration process as well as the primary tool used to calculate uncertainties. So, it is crucial that existing calibration procedures be updated to meet this new requirement, as the basic procedure steps do not include specific lab and traceability contributors. In this paper, we explain our interpretation of the requirements and suggest a standardized method to retrofit them to existing MET/CAL® procedures. Additionally, we describe enabling guard bands and checks for <2% false accept risk through MET/CAL’s® Crystal Reports®. Our presentation will demonstrate using a high voltage source calibration