Topic: Outside Calibration for TriggerScan

[Raquel Pipkin]

Good morning,

For those labs that utilize the TriggerScan, is there an outside vendor you use for calibration or is Dvorak the only one that is able to perform calibration?

Thank you!

[Axel Manthei]

Raquel,

the TriggerScan can be calibrated by the user following the procedure in the manual with a NIST certified weight.
I assume Dvorak Instruments will perform the calibration as well as we (Manthei Mess Systeme) will do it for our TriggerScan customers.
Other vendors are know known ,

All the best
Axel

[Nat Pearlson]

Hi all,

Aspects of this topic have begun to come up in OSAC and ASB.  Consideration might be warranted on what such a process actually can be categorized as, as a calibration or as a performance check.  If the process is not conducted by a lab accredited for that type of calibration (which most forensic firearms labs are not) you may have trouble representing that as calibration when it comes to accreditation requirements.  It does seem like a valid and appropriate way to check that the instrument is providing the expected results as a periodic performance check.

Again, this is just some conversation that has come up in relation to documents that have still not been finalized or published, so things could change.  There are others who are as familiar, or more so, than I am.  If anyone else wants to chime in and join me in being a wet blanket you can.

Nat 

[Alan Zheng]

I agree with Nat. If you buy a set of certified weights to do a routine QA check, then that's exactly what it is, a check. The only people who can calibrate the scale itself is a certified laboratory. Aside from a routine calibration schedule for the scale, as long as your QA checks are showing the correct weight within the stated uncertainty for the weight and the scale, you are demonstrating traceability.

[Raquel Pipkin]

Thank you all for your responses!!