Finding the Calibration Interval for an NI Device

This article provides guidance on how often NI devices need to be calibrated and how to find the specific calibration interval for individual Multifunction I/O DAQ, Digital Instruments, High-Speed Digital I/O, Digital Multimeters (DMM), Oscilloscopes, Digitizers, SMUs, Function Generators, Vector Signal Transceivers, Network Analyzers models and most other NI devices and modules.

It is necessary to calibrate your hardware at regular intervals to maintain the intended level of accuracy. Depending on your hardware and the nature of your application, NI recommends calibration intervals of one or two years. If the device is not calibrated at the frequency of the recommended calibration interval it is no longer guaranteed to meet the warranted specifications.

The calibration interval begins when you receive the product from NI.

This guide walks through:

1. How to Know if Your Device Needs to be Calibrated or Not
2. How to Find the Calibration Interval for Your Device or Specific Model

 

How to Know if Your Device Needs to be Calibrated or Not

Some NI devices or modules do not need to be calibrated and therefore do not have a Calibration Interval. Any NI device or module that has Warranted Specifications will need to be calibrated and should have a Calibration Interval listed in the Specifications or Datasheet. 

Many devices that require calibration will also have a Calibration Procedure. For assistance finding a Calibration Procedure for your device please search the device model in the Product Documentation Center. 

If your device does not have Warranted Specifications and does not require calibration then neither the Specifications nor the Datasheet will define a Calibration Interval. Similarly, if your device does not require calibration and you use the Instrument Certificate Generator, no Calibration Date or Calibration Interval will be listed in the Board Information. See the figure above for an example of what will be displayed in the Instrument Certificate Generator when the module does not require calibration. 

How to Find the Calibration Interval for Your Device or Specific Model

NI provides users with various ways to identify the Calibration Interval for their device or model. For guidance on how to find the Calibration Interval for a device or module please identify which scenario below applies to your situation. 

• With Access to the Device and Serial Number
• Without Access to the Device or Serial Number

 

1. With Access to the Device and Serial Number  

If you already own and have access to the specific device or module for which you need to know the Calibration Interval, you can easily find the Calibration Interval and the recommended Calibration Date using the Instrument Certificate Generator. To use the Instrument Certificate Generator follow the steps below.

1. Identify the Serial number for your device. See Finding the Serial Number or System Tag of My NI Product for guidance on how to find the Serial number for your device. 
2. Once you have identified the Serial number for your device navigate to the Instrument Certificate Generator.
3. Enter your Serial number into the Serial Number field, and click Display Certificate. 
4. Click on Display Calibration Certificate
   
5. This will display the Calibration Interval and other detailed information on the calibration history of the device

 

2. Without Access to the Device or Serial Number

If you are looking for the Calibration Interval for a device and don't have a Serial number associated with that device because you are still evaluating the device or do not currently have access to your device, you can follow the guidance below to find the Calibration Interval.

Depending on your device, the Calibration Interval can be found in either the device Specifications or the device Datasheet. If your device does not need to be Calibrated, there will not be a Calibration Interval listed in the Specifications or Datasheet.

Note: Using the page search functionality in your browser to find the Calibration Interval once you have located and opened the Specifications or Datasheet may speed up the process, typically <Ctrl-F> on Windows, or <⌘-F> on MacOS.

For assistance finding the Specifications for your device please search the device model in the Product Documentation Center. Examples of how the Calibration Interval will be shown in the device Specifications can be seen below.