Teledyne Hastings Instruments Blog

Teledyne Hastings is proud to announce our newest 4-channel power supply, controller and display, the THCD-401. The THCD-401 provides both ±15 VDC or 24 VDC to power our mass flow controllers, flow meters, vacuum gauges and pressure transducers. Feedback from connected devices is displayed on the bright, front panel LED display in 6-digit resolution, making open and closed channels easily identified at a glance. The THCD-401 can set a relay point for control of other processes and has a high accuracy of ± (0.02% of Reading + 0.01% of Full Scale). Custom configuring our products to customer needs is our specialty. Your THCD-401 can be factory configured to match the gas, range, units and the output of your instruments for out-of-box functionality.

What’s Improved?

In short, the THCD-401 was designed for exceptional user access and control.  The addition of a circular touch pad simplifies navigation through the unit’s various menu options, while left and right arrow keys allow easy selection of digits to be changed. Calibration is no longer needed for various levels of input voltage and built-in fuses provide additional surge protection.  Back panel communication ports have been streamlined and a USB-C and Ethernet port for serial communication have been added. 

The addition of Ethernet communication provides access to the newest feature that the THCD-401 has to offer; the internal web server! The web server can be accessed by entering the IP address of the THCD-401 into a browser’s address bar (requires static IP address configuration on the network prior to use). While the web server feature works best in Mozilla™ Firefox^®, it can be accessed via any browser you choose.  Figure 2 shows the web server interface with applications along the top navigation bar and a live data stream for remote read.

The web server allows you to name channels and adjust the range or units based on your device and the full scale (V) voltage output that it sends. This enables users to see the flow rate of a flow controller or meter, as well as the ability to OPEN/CLOSE all channels at the click of a button. Other applications include linearization, setting of a relay point and finding the total amount of gas that has passed through the device using the totalizer function.

It should be noted that while all these advanced features are available via the web server (Ethernet) connection, the THCD-401 also offers direct access to each via the front panel display menus using the circular touch pad.  This allows for quick and convenient setup of the channel’s full scale and range(V) for new devices.

If a relay point has been tripped, it will be indicated to the left of the channel’s name on the THCD-401 display. The display will also show the current mode of the set point, if it is not configured in AUTO mode. In OPEN mode, the set point outputs a voltage greater than the full scale of the device. In CLOSED mode the set point outputs a voltage less than the minimum output voltage of most devices. AUTO mode is dependent on the user defined set point configured through the THCD-401 physical buttons, digital communication or external input. 

More Information:

The THCD-401 was designed to be a highly flexible and multi-featured process display controller that can be panel mounted and capable of interfacing to an assortment of meters, controllers and gauges.  A powerful upgrade from the previous THCD-400 model, the THCD-401 adds digital communications, a bright LED display and a variety of customizable options to an already time-tested platform. To learn more about the
THCD-401 or any of our other vacuum and flow products, contact us at hastings_instruments@teledyne.com, call 1-800-950-2468, or click the button below.

The early part of the 1950’s was prosperous for Hastings due in part to the demand for the Raydist and large military contracts as a result of the Korean War. Sales nearly tripled between 1950 and 1953 and there were almost 200 employees.  Hastings had outgrown its space yet again and expanded to a 14,000 square foot building on Newcomb Avenue (current day location for Teledyne Hastings).  The building was originally used as a car barn for street cars, then as a World War I armory and eventually as a manufacturing plant for ladies clothing.

With the new location, other changes were happening as well.  Hastings entered into a joint venture to supply Raydist services for the petroleum industry in the Gulf of Mexico thus creating Offshore Raydist, Incorporated. Another company was formed out of Hastings at this time, Raydist Navigation Corporation (RNC).  RNC was set up to handle the leasing of Raydist equipment outside of the Petroleum industry.

During this period, most of the focus was on Raydist and trying to establish itself in new fields.  One area was to have the Raydist on the S.S. United States.  This superliner promised to be the fastest passenger liner in the world and would serve as a troop transport in the event of war.  Because of personal relationships, Hastings could test and prove that Raydist was the superior system of conducting the tests at a measured-mile course.  The test would use a specially-designed buoy which could be cast overboard and allowed to float freely during the trials.  The relay equipment would be installed in the buoy, while the S.S. United states would carry the master station.  Raydist would then record the liner’s speed as it steamed directly toward or way from the buoy.  The tests proved to be successful and resulted in the Raydist being approved for use on the S.S. United States.  This success lead to many other shipyard opportunities for Hastings.  Within a few years, Raydist dominated the sea trial business in the United States.

Raydist was also gaining momentum in the Hydrography and oil prospecting industry due to positive publicity from the Norfolk Corps of Engineers.  This publicity resulted in the first foreign Raydist sale in early 1951 to be used in charting the waters off Mozambique in southeast Africa.

During this time, Hastings completed a Raydist system for the All-Weather Flying Division of the Air Force.  It was to be used at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton Ohio to test the accuracy of radar and other blind landing systems. Later that year, an automatic plotting board was developed to supplement the Raydist system.  The demonstration of this new product was a big event.  The board plotted a plane’s path as it performed skywriting maneuvers spelling HICO across the sky.

A small percentage of Hastings business during the early 1950’s was for instrument sales.  The most important of these products were the air-meters, vacuum gauges, flow meters, accelerometers and an electronic standard cell. In order to grow this part of the business, Hastings decided to set up a manufacturer’s representative program.  By the end of 1953, Hasting’s was looking forward to seeing this manufacturer’s representative program vastly increasing instrument sales.

(Image on right is the first Manufacturer Representative's car outfitted with Hastings products.)

For more information on Teledyne Hastings be sure to visit our website www.teledyne-hi.com or contact us

Information for this blog was derived from “The Story of Hastings-Raydist” book by Carol Hastings Sanders 1979

By 1947, the Hastings Instrument Company could count many successful projects.  Their list of products included the following:

• Raydist Navigation System
• Magnetic Switch and Coil
• Maximum Recording Accelerometer
• Visibility Meter

While the list of projects was impressive, the company wanted to grow their profits further. Charles Hastings decided to look at his business model and make some changes.  The company needed to raise capital for further development in order to become a sizeable company. Growth would give the company the ability to attract and close larger contracts.  To do this, Hastings decided to incorporate the business and offer 3500 shares of stock.  The company charter was received from the Commonwealth of Virginia on Valentine’s Day 1947. 

After several sales pitches and demonstrations, Hastings received two large contracts for Raydist. Along with these two contracts, the company was busy building Air-Meters for commercial sales.  Before selling the Air-Meters, the instruments needed to be calibrated.  In those early days, calibration was done by driving down the road holding a probe out the window while someone in the passenger seat held the Air-Meter.  When the car reached 5, 10, 15 etc… mph the passenger would make a note on the blank dial face and then return to the house where they would neatly letter the dial face.

During this period of growth, Hastings realized that it was time to find a new location for the business.  By now, there were 17 people working elbow-to-elbow at the Hastings’ home and that could not continue.  The company settled on temporary location in an old brick distributorship building that had a leaky roof and flooded at spring tides, but it was at the price they could afford.

By the spring of 1948, several Raydist contracts were in the works. Air-Meters continued to sell very well, and several instruments were about to be introduced.  That same year, the Hastings Company also moved into a more permanent building for its now 75 employees, which would grow to 118 by 1950.  To secure the company and continue to make profits, Hastings realized he needed to produce a Raydist for commercial use.  The company achieved this goal in 1950 with a sale to the Norfolk Corps of Engineers for hydrographic surveys and channel dredging.

By 1950, the line of Hastings Instruments increased to the following:

• Air-Meter
• Precision Air-Meter (for higher ranges and more accurate readings)
• Maximum Indicating Accelerometer
• Voltage-regulated Power Supply
• Electronic Standard Cell
• Vacuum Gauge

In addition to the list of commercial instruments above, Hastings developed specialized instruments for specific customers. For example: the “Ventimeter” was used by the army to measure ventilation in clothing to keep wearers comfortable under extreme weather conditions.  The Hastings Company was now growing fast and generating handsome profits for its stakeholders.

For more information on Teledyne Hastings be sure to visit our website www.teledyne-hi.com or contact us

Information for this blog was derived from “The Story of Hastings-Raydist” book by Carol Hastings Sanders 1979

Recently, I learned that certain smartphones contain an actual pressure transducer. I shared this info with a friend who insisted that the phone was not really measuring pressure, but was instead using the internet to download the pressure based on the phone’s location. Now, I had to prove them wrong.

So, I did what I thought was the obvious proof… I placed my phone in a small test chamber (i.e. a bell jar as shown in the photo below), and then pumped the system down to show that the readings were, in fact, generated locally. I captured this all on video - see below.  Note: It was hard to get a good image of the phone inside because of the protective cage surrounding the glass bell jar.

I used a free barometer app to get the pressure readings. In addition to a dial type readout, the app gives a nice trend line (pressure vs. time). Also, the app allows the user to adjust the time scale. During a recent flight, I used the app to record changes in cabin pressure. (My ears are also painfully good at detecting swings in cabin pressure!)

Now, you may be wondering why a smartphone would include a vacuum/pressure transducer. In addition to using the changing barometric pressure as an indication of weather, the pressure transducer readings can be used to provide the user’s altitude when hiking, cycling, or climbing. The formula to convert pressure to altitude at low altitudes is fairly linear. 

So, it is true that you may be able to use your smartphone to measure vacuum in your system. However, we would like to suggest an easier way… check out our new HVG-2020A (“2020 Vision”) vacuum gauge. This gauge measures from just above atmospheric pressure (1000 Torr) to below 1 Torr with an accuracy of ±(0.1% of Reading + 0.5 Torr).

The gauge features an optional color touchscreen display which has several different modes including pressure vs. time. It provides analog output (0-5 VDC, 0-10 VDC, 4-20 mA,…) as well as digital output (RS232, RS485, USB) and with our FREE Windows™ software, it is super easy to collect and store data.

For more information about any of our vacuum gauges or our complete line of mass flow meters and controllers, we are here to help. You can contact us at hastings_instruments@teledyne.com  or call 757-723-6531 (800-950-2468) or click the button below.

In September 1944, the Hastings Instrument Company started to take shape.  For quite some time, Charles & Mary conducted the business out of their home.  They received their first order in December from the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia for $800.  The order was for a rotary magnetic switch for commutating electrical circuits. 

The following month, Charles built his first heated thermopile anemometer, which he called the Air-Meter.  This Air-Meter was based on ideas he had had in 1940 for making a thermopile instrument to measure aircraft speed.  It also incorporated his invention of a way to make a thermopile compensated for both temperature and rate of change of temperature. He decided to name his radio ground speed system by combining the first syllables of the words “radio” and “distance” to form “Raydist”.

Business continued to grow.  Seventeen employees would arrive at the Hastings home around 7pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to work on their electronic projects (see image on right).  During the day, Mary would take care of miscellaneous projects.  On one occasion, Mary agreed to have some Raydist cabinets painted by the time Charles came home.  Unfortunately, the air compressor was out of air so Mary came up with another plan.  She would take the car to the nearby service station and put as much air in the tires as she could without them bursting.  She would then drive back home, attach her paint sprayer to the tires, and paint the Raydist cabinets until her tires were almost flat.  She did this several times to complete the project before Charles came home.  The business activities took a toll on the Hastings home. The roof leaked and needed to be replaced from all the antennas mounted to it (see image on left), the driveway needed to be replaced from the damage of delivery trucks, Mary’s oven smelled like paint which caused some challenges when meal time came.

In January 1946, Hastings received their first order for a Raydist.  The Air Material Command at Wright Field in Cleveland Ohio wanted a single-dimensional Raydist system to use during aerial photography and mapping.  The final product was hand-delivered by Charles himself in October. (see image on right and below)

This Raydist order was the largest order Hastings had ever received and he felt that once they were paid for it all, their troubles would be over. 

For more information on Teledyne Hastings be sure to visit our website www.teledyne-hi.com or contact us

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Information for this blog was derived from “The Story of Hastings-Raydist” book by Carol Hastings Sanders 1979

This year, 2019, marks the 75^th anniversary of Hastings Instruments and we will be celebrating all year long by discussing some of our past while focusing on our future. This month, I’d like to tell you a little about our glass shop.

In 1966, Hastings-Raydist purchased the Robert H. Work Company. Work had been a supplier of glass parts for Hastings. The company was then moved into the Hastings plant. At the new location, glass workers began to produce scientific glassware under the Hastings label. Product catalogs in the late 60s and early 70s included McLeod vacuum gauges, calibrated gas leaks, and Pyrex vacuum gauge tubes.

Today, we still use our glass shop to build the Hastings Reference Tube. A reference tube is an evacuated, sealed vacuum gauge tube accurately marked at a specific pressure. It is electrically equivalent to our most popular vacuum gauge tube families.

A reference tube can be used with several of our thermal vacuum gauge instruments including the HPM-4/5/6, the VT and CVT, the DVT and DCVT, and even the DAVC controller. 

How is it used? Simple, you just plug in your reference tube and compare the reading from your instrument with the number that is shown on the reference tube label. 

So the reference tube tells you that your electronics and cabling are working correctly. Note that a reference tube will not directly tell you anything about the state of your gauge tube. But through process of elimination, you can often determine that the gauge tube needs to be replaced. You can learn more about troubleshooting thermocouple vacuum gauges here:

 https://info.teledyne-hi.com/thermocouple-vacuum-gauges-best-practices-webinar-recording?

As noted in the table above, the reference tubes, like the gauge tubes, are color-coded. And reference tubes can be sent back to us to be recertified which many folks do on an annual basis.

Next, let’s discuss a little about what is going on inside of a reference tube. Sometimes people will ask if we adjust the pressure inside the tube to allow it to read a certain value – we do not. In other words, if you could measure the pressure in the sealed-off tube, it would not be the pressure reading that is stated on the side of the reference tube. While a reference tube does have the same thermopile sensor arrangement, it is simply trimmed to give a particular reading when powered by the correct heater voltage.

We are proud of our long history of quality craftwork, not only in the glass shop, but throughout all of our vacuum and thermal mass flow product lines here at Teledyne Hastings. The same tradition of quality goes into our newest products including the 300 Vue line of mass flow controllers and the HVG-2020 Vision line of vacuum gauges. You can learn more about our products by visiting www.teledyne-hastings.com

Ever wonder where the idea or dream of Hastings originated?  Well as part 1 of our anniversary year blog posts, we thought this would be a good place to start.  Charles Hastings at the age of 10 was bitten by the radio bug and began to build and experiment with radio gear.  In 1930, at the age of 16, Charles Hastings found an opportunity to fund his experiments by fixing other people’s radios.  Many families had radios at this point, but they were very unreliable and frequently needed minor repairs.  Charles would fix radios to earn money to buy parts for his own experiments.

Soon, Charles moved on to building transmitters and enlisted the help of his high school friend, Raymond Doyle.  Their first success was when Charles spoke into a microphone and Ray heard the broadcast from his aunt’s house which was down the street. Unfortunately, the broadcast covered the entire spectrum of commercial radio broadcasting, so the entire neighborhood received the broadcast as well instead of their favorite radio programs.

After this first broadcast mishap, Hastings decided to go back to radio repair.

Charles Hastings went on to attend John Hopkins University and majored in Electrical Engineering.  Upon graduation, he was offered a position as Junior Scientific Aide with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in Hampton, Virginia. In 1939, Mary Comstock joined NACA as a mathematician and Charles was quick to ask her out for a date.  They were married within a year.

Working at NACA proved to be quite rewarding to Charles.  He came up with an idea for a magnetically operated reed switch for the spin tunnel section in order to flip the controls in its free-spinning airplane models.  This moved on to finding accurate methods to measure the speed of aircraft.  In 1940, Charles did just that, he came up with an idea for an airspeed indicator using a heated thermopile.  The idea was tested later that year at Langley Field in measuring the speed of planes.  This was the first continuous-wave heterodyne system ever used for speed measurement and was names the NACA Radio Ground Speed System.

His work continued at the NACA for a few years, but Hastings became restless and wanted to be on his own.  He felt that the work he had done with Radio Ground Speed System had more potential in the measurement of distances.  Initially Charles Hastings only wanted to create ideas for commercial products and sell the rights to others in exchange for royalties.  Hastings longtime friend James Benson was interested in being a part of this new.

Hastings Instruments Company was born in September 1944.

For more information on Teledyne Hastings be sure to visit our website www.teledyne-hi.com or contact us

Information for this blog was derived from “The Story of Hastings-Raydist” book by Carol Hastings Sanders 1979

Teledyne Hastings is proud to announce the release of the THCD-101 single channel power supply, controller and display.  The THCD-101 can be used to operate a wide variety of mass flow meters and controllers as well as vacuum gauges and pressure transducers. The THCD-101 uses bright OLED digits which makes the display easy to view, even from a distance. The THCD-101 is extremely versatile in its configurable range and can be set up to display any unit of measurement through customizable alphanumeric characters.  The power supply provides stable ±15 VDC and +24 VDC levels which can be used to operate a variety of measurement and control instruments. The display and readout features a high accuracy of ±(0.02% of Reading + 0.01% of Full Scale).  The user can also set relay alarms for the control of other processes.  The THCD-101 is configured at the factory to match the user’s requirements for range & units so it is ready to use right out-of-the-box.

The main screen of the THCD-101 display (pictured above) shows the current reading from the connected instrument and measurement units.  If relay alarms have been tripped, they will be indicated on the far right of the display screen.  Lastly, the main screen will show the current mode of the setpoint, if not in AUTO mode. There is an OPEN mode and CLOSED mode.  In OPEN mode the setpoint outputs a voltage greater than the full scale of the device. In CLOSED mode the setpoint outputs a voltage less than the minimum output voltage of most devices.  AUTO mode is dependent on the set point the user commands via either the THCD-101 physical buttons, digital communication, or external input.

The menus pack several features into the THCD-101 while still ensuring ease of operation for the user.  Through the intuitive menus, the user can enter a setpoint, change the full-scale range & full-scale output voltage (5 VDC or 10 VDC), program alarm relays for process control, restore factory defaults, and many other helpful options. 

The THCD-101 now includes digital communication via a USB ‘C’ connection or Ethernet (TCP/IP).  When the power supply is connected via Ethernet, the THCD-101 provides a web server for operation and instrument configuration. The web server can be accessed by entering the IP address of the device into a browser address bar (requires static IP address configuration on the network prior to use). This allows the user control of various settings within the device and to read the devices current reading. Note that the IP Address can be changed through the menus of THCD-101.  In addition to the THCD-101 web server, standalone DisplayX software can be downloaded free of charge from the Teledyne Hastings website.  Should the user need to change the THCD-101’s setup, the DisplayX software or Ethernet web server is extremely helpful in streamlining this process.

As outlined above, the THCD-101 contains all the great features of the legacy THCD-100 while adding new and improved features such as USB & Ethernet digital communications and a bright OLED display.  Even with these powerful additions, the instrument keeps the same 1/8 DIN size while offering a shorter depth than the previous display & readout!

The THCD-101 is a very flexible and multi-featured process display controller that is capable of interfacing to an assortment of meters, controllers, and gauges. To learn more about the THCD-101 or any of our other vacuum and flow products, contact us at hastings_instruments@teledyne.com, call 757-723-6531 (800-950-2468), or click the button below.

We at Teledyne Hastings Instruments are pleased to introduce the newest member of our vacuum measurement portfolio, the HVG-2020A.  The HVG-2020A is a piezoresistive vacuum sensor with an optional touchscreen display that reads from 0.1-1000 Torr.  The sensor uses 316 Stainless Steel as the wetted material and provides a gas independent pressure measurement, meaning your measurement will be accurate no matter what gas species is being used.  The HVG-2020A features an excellent accuracy rating of ±(0.1% of Reading + 0.5 Torr).  This rugged sensor comes in a number of system connections for ease of installation: 1/8” NPT, 1/4” VCR®, 1.33” Mini-CF, 2.75” CF, KF-16, KF-25, 1/2” Weld Stub, and 1/2” VCR. Let’s talk about some of the powerful features that allows the HVG-2020A to stand out.

Analog I/O: The HVG-2020A has a 9 pin D-sub connector on top of the assembly that allows an analog output signal to be measured amongst other features.  The selected linear analog output signal is proportional to the full scale range of the sensor (1000 Torr). Available outputs are 0-1 VDC, 0-5 VDC, 0-10 VDC, 0-20 mA, and 4-20 mA.  The sensor will come configured from the factory with one of these outputs active, but can be easily changed by the user should output requirements change.  Through the touchscreen display, there is a menu that allows the user to cycle through the available output options.  If the HVG-2020A was configured without a touchscreen, the analog output can be changed via digital communications, which we’ll talk about in the next section.  In addition to the analog output, the 9 pin D-sub will have Hi & Lo set points.  The Hi set point is active when the pressure is above the set value and the Lo set point is active when the pressure is below the set value.  Finally, the 9 pin D-sub has a pin for input power.  The HVG-2020A can accept 12-36 VDC for power.  In the event, the user doesn’t have 12-36 VDC to send via the 9 pin D-sub, there’s a 24 VDC input connection port that’s compatible with a bayonet-style power supply.

Digital I/O:  As mentioned earlier, the HVG-2020A has a few different methods digital communication can be established.  First and easiest is the micro-USB port on top of the gauge.  This will allow the instrument to be directly connected to a computer without the need for adapters or extra wiring.  There is also a 4-conductor TRRS jack on top of the instrument.  This port can be used for daisy-chaining gauges together with RS485 or a standard RS232 communication connection.  Finally, the 9 pin D-sub will have two pins designated for TTL serial communication. These digital communications (with the exception of TTL) can be connected to a PC and used with our Free Windows software for the HVG-2020A.  The software has a number of features including data logging and customization/configuration of the gauge.  Digital communication also allows for command syntax to be sent manually to the instrument. These commands are especially important if the HVG-2020A was ordered without a touchscreen display.  Through digital communication, the user can issue commands that change the analog output, adjust set point values, stream pressure readings, or change pressure units, just to name a few.

Touchscreen Display:  The most powerful feature of the HVG-2020A is the touchscreen display.  The intuitive display allows for quick visualization of the current pressure without needing to have a separate power supply or remote display. There are five available views to choose from (shown left to right below): Pressure View, Pressure & Temperature View, Set Point View, Bar Graph View, and Pressure over Time View.  The pressure is always displayed on each of these five screens.

There is also a menu button which will allow the user to cycle through a number of sub menus.  Through these menus the user can change the screen orientation should they mount the gauge in a position other than vertical, set the zero (this should only be performed if the system pressure is known to be well below 0.1 Torr), view device information such as serial number and firmware levels, change the analog output, cycle between RS232 or RS485 and a number of baud rates, and finally restore the configuration of the gauge back to the original factory setup.  The touchscreen display makes reading vacuum pressure as clear as 20/20 Vision!

LED Status Lights:  Lastly, the HVG-2020A features two LED lights on top of the instrument.  These are extremely helpful in getting a general idea of the current pressure and status of the vacuum gauge. The chart below explains each combination of Status & Vacuum LED.

The HVG-2020A vacuum gauge is ideal for many applications requiring rough vacuum measurement.  The picture on the right shows a simple lab set-up using a diaphragm vacuum pump & an analog needle gauge.  The HVG-2020A would be a perfect fit for this set up.  With the local touchscreen display, extensive wiring and configuration is not needed.  Simply supply the gauge power and you are reading pressure. It’s easy to See why the “2020” is the vacuum gauge for the job! 

To learn more about the HVG-2020A or any of our other vacuum and flow products, contact us at hastings_instruments@teledyne.com, call 757-723-6531 (800-950-2468), or click the button below.

VCR® is a registered trademark of Swagelok Company.

In this short blog, we are going to look at one of our mass flow controller calibration reports and discuss some of the terms that you will see. There is good information at the bottom of these reports, so let’s jump in and take a closer look…

At the bottom of every one of our calibration data sheets, you will see the following statement:

This calibration complies with ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 and ISO 17025-2005 [non-accredited] and is traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This validation was accomplished by qualified personnel directed by controlled procedures. The accuracy of this calibration for any gas other than the actual gas used may be subject to theoretical corrections. Customer Service can be contacted weekdays 8AM-5PM EDT at 1-800-950-2468.

Let’s start with part of the first sentence, “This calibration complies with ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 and ISO 17025-2005 [non-accredited]…”  According to the NCSLI webpage , there are two national standards for calibration laboratories. These are Z540-1 and ISO 17025. There are some differences between the two standards. And the aforementioned NCSLI gives a detailed description of both. In short, 17025 is appropriate for both calibration and testing labs whereas Z540-1 addresses calibration labs only. 17025 requires that the laboratory be a legal entity that can demonstrate competency, which includes thorough analysis of the uncertainty associated with the calibration services. Another difference between the two standards is that 17025 places the responsibility of the calibration due date on the end-user. In other words, the calibration lab should not determine the customers calibration cycle. That is why you no longer see calibration due dates on Teledyne Hastings’ labeling.

OK…. if 17025 is the latest, greatest, and accepted around the world, why do we still even list Z540-1 on our calibration reports? Because, we still have customers who adhere to Z540-1 and need the statement on their paperwork.

What about the word “non-accredited” that appears in parentheses? While we strive to conform to ISO 17025, which includes rigorous internal audit review, it has been our position that as a manufacturer, it is not necessary / appropriate for us to invest in the accreditation activities and third party audits. However, we do recognize the depth and critical nature of the standard.  Because of those criteria, we have chosen to compose our procedures and train our personnel to be in compliance with the standard. So to be clear, Teledyne Hastings is not accredited to ISO 17025.

Let’s move on… what do we mean by, “…traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology”? Simply this, we can provide an unbroken chain of calibration documents that connect your calibration back to NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Now here is a trick question… does a NIST traceable calibration tell us anything about the uncertainty of the calibration? The answer is, “no”. For example, we could calibrate one of our most advanced mass flow controllers, the HFC-D-302B 300 Vue which has a stated uncertainty of ± (0.5% of Reading + 0.2% of Full Scale).

– or we could calibrate our HFC-202 flow controller (±1% of full scale using the same metrology and the stated uncertainty for each instrument would be the same as before. In other words, the performance of these instruments does not improve just because a NIST traceable standard was used.

One more note, some customers request “Backup Documentation” to their calibration data reports. In other words, they want copies of the calibration reports of our metrology that form the unbroken link from their calibration back to NIST.  There is a nominal administrative fee to collect, scan, compile, and email these calibration reports for each individual piece of metrology that was used.

Does everybody need the Backup Documentation? Usually not, but enough customers request these so it is a service that we offer.  Quite often the reason why our first tier customer will request the additional supporting calibration reports is because they are manufacturing complex assemblies that their higher tier customers are procuring with the aforementioned unbroken chain back to NIST as a purchase order flow down requirement.

Next, we have the sentence, “This validation was accomplished by qualified personnel directed by controlled procedures” This gives us an opportunity to tell a little about our ISO 9001:2015 Quality System. As a key part of our system, all assembly and calibration personnel must complete rigorous training and demonstrate proficiency before working on either the Flow Products or Vacuum Products Teams. Also, every product or subassembly acceptance test, that has a measurable output, is controlled by a top tier Quality System Procedure. The procedures, training program, in fact the entire Quality System is subject to routine internal audit program, third party surveillance audits, and third party ISO 9001:2015 certification audits.

Now what about the statement, “The accuracy of this calibration for any gas other than the actual gas used may be subject to theoretical corrections”?  There are certain gases which are hazardous and/or corrosive. While our flow meters and controllers are quite suitable for use in many of these gases, there are several of the gases that we have never (and will never) allow into our facility. So, we use theoretical corrections to map the output of our flow products using the calibration gas to the output for the user’s gas.

We are very proud of our metrology and quality programs. And we welcome your questions. If you have a question about mass flow controllers, vacuum gauges, or just want more information about a Calibration Report, we are here to help. You can contact us at hastings_instruments@teledyne.com  or call 757-723-6531 (800-950-2468).