How do you calibrate your scientific instruments?

[tea&jam]

I listened to the Wind podcast yesterday, and am inspired to start caring around a weather meter on hikes with my dog, in addition to the range finder I've been packing.

I'm familiar with "tall target" and box tests for verifying scopes. Distance should be easy enough, but does anyone use a relatively simple test for verifying the angle readings from a range finder, and wind/atmospheric readings from weather meters?

After thinking about it for a couple minutes, the surface of a lake on calm day could be used to confirm the 0 degree reading on a range finder, assuming the height of the range finder and the target on the other side of the lake are equal... Tucker is the one always showing off pictures of his pond, right? Now he just needs a Humbler.

 

[Nodakplowboy]

Know anybody with a rotary construction laser? Set it up, go xxx feet downrange with the receiver, and make a mark when it beeps. Go back to the main unit, check your angle.

I am ignorant about weather meters.

 

[PDXGS]

The sig 2400 has a Magnetometer/Compass.....there's a simple calibration procedure.
I checked my Borka wrenches against some other precision torque wrenches and a torque wrench calibration device.
Wind speed can be checked, albeit coarsely, with an airport windsock.
windsock wind speed indicator
Most airports have a pilot's weather line that squawks the current conditions at that airport- I've used this to calibrate my Kestrels for pressure, altitude and humidity.

 

[6gunner]

Has anyone used the Kestral calibration kit to calibrate the humidity?

 

[MilDot1960]

You can't rely on Airports to set your Baro's, I took all of mine which are within 0.1 m/bar and the Airport at sea level was wrong, I think that some Airports don't use Station Pressure.

John.

 

[vh20]

You can't rely on Airports to set your Baro's, I took all of mine which are within 0.1 m/bar and the Airport at sea level was wrong, I think that some Airports don't use Station Pressure.

John.

None of them do.

 

[MilDot1960]

None of them do.

I also set mine to their Altitude and their Baro was still off.

 

[vh20]

Airports are giving you altimeter settings, which are simplified sea-level pressures. While not infallible, they are using many multi-thousand dollar equipment which lives depend on to be accurate. Even though they can be off a little, they are much more likely to be trusted over a several-hundred dollar consumer-level handheld weather meter. Our problem as shooters is, there are no ELR ranges set up on airports, so their data is of limited use unless we are very close by.

 

[MilDot1960]

well I did wonder what was going on, I even went to the beach to set my Altimeter and drove back about 2 miles to the Airport and still could not match their reading.