Instrumentation Equipment

Hey everyone,

Not sure if this website is the ideal place to post this question, but you guys have been very helpful, though I'd give it a try.

Our company is looking at gaining work doing some instrumentation jobs, such as installs and calibrations.
Can someone recommend what we would for equipment and software?

We deal a lot with endress hauser, Promag...ect

Is the software "fieldcare" the best choice?
What is the difference between using the software vs a hand held device?

Thanks everyone !!

Handheld device is more rugged for durability compared to a laptop with software.

As far as general calibration gear I use Fluke meters. Crystal deadweight gauges. And Ralston pumps. Expensive but you.get what you. Pay for.

From a HART perspective, there are a lot of options to choose from: handhelds, laptops, tablets, and even phones.

The handhelds are nice because they are usually more rugged than a laptop. The downside is mostly cost related, and maintaining current device descriptions. An example handheld is an Emerson 375/475.

Laptops, tablets, and phones can interface to HART devices using either a USB/HART device (MacTek Viator, E+H FXA195, ProComSol -- some common brands...), or with a Bluetooth/HART device. The trade-offs here are laptop isolation, built-in 250 Ohm resistor, intrinsically safe (but the laptop is likely not) etc... The software options are numerous: PACTWare ("free"), FieldCare, DeviceCare ("free"), Siemens PDM, Emerson AMS, ProComSol etc. Generally, the USB devices work with all the different software (contact vendor to confirm).

Is your desire to do calibrations of:

a) Voltage?
b) Current?
c) Pressure?
d) Flow?
d) Temperature?
e) Temperature uniformity surveys?
f) All of the above?

Fluke will cover most of these pretty well.
Temperature uniformity surveys can be handled with a digital chart recorder (Eurotherm Honwywell, etc) and pc software.

You have to pay for a true fieldcare license, Pactware is free and you can then download DTMs from all manufactures.

Thanks everyone for the awesome awnsers !!
We could get involved in any type of instrumentation jobs...
What is preferred ? Hand held or PC software ? Which is easier to use for newbies lol

I'll defenitlty get a fluke meter !!

Handheld is definitely easier for newbies. But they are really a small part of the puzzle when it comes. so to calibrations. I need one so seldom that I use my laptop with a modem for a lot of jobs. And the. When I need some fancy stuff I rent a Hart 475

Software vs handheld
No given software package or handheld does everything.

Rosemount Multivariable transmitters use a separate software package, Engineering Assistant, for configuration and troubleshooting.

There are lots of lower end temperature transmitters that need proprietary software and a modem for configuration and presumably for AO trim.

Siemens does not have DTM files for all its HART field instruments.

Some Coriolis flow meters talk Modbus or Ethernet/IP.

Honeywell's Guided Wave Radar is HART but there is no DD for it, only a DTM for Pactware.

I have used Siemens PDM configuration software for 8 or 9 years now, and its variations from version to version are noteworthy - the most useful feature, "Lifelist", which identified the field device on a point-to-point connection (like a HART handheld does), was disabled in V8. I have not yet bothered with V9 to see if it was restored, but I doubt it, because clarity and simplicity bothers the Germans.

Saving and printing configs with PDM has always been an issue.

I've seen ads for Procomsol's software, but I haven't used it so I don't know how it handles calibration work.

I don't do 'cals', I do configs. My recommendation is that you look very closely at what steps any device/software does for calibration and what is saved, how easily it is retrieved and whether it can customized at all. If your customer gets a paper report, that's what they're judging the service on - how the paper reads.

Flow calibration
Without a certified flow stand, what are you doing for flow calibration? Force the output to zero and span and tweak the 4-20mA?

I don't know what E&H does for magmeter verification required by municipalities. Siemens has a gold plated box called a verificator that is used to test the converter/transmitter and excite the coils and electrodes and compare the response to a stored original factory response. It's half the price of new car.

Accreditation
Some companies will require a cal service to be accredited to ISO-17025 standards. That can be a challenge.