Case Study:
Test Measurement & Calibration Instrument Enclosures Case Study
Industry
Instrument Manufacturing
Product
Test Measurement & Calibration Instrument Enclosures
Customer Profile
For more than 30 years, TEGAM, Inc. has specialized in the design, manufacturing and support of a wide variety of test measurement and calibration instruments. The company is internationally recognized for its high quality RF power sensor calibration systems, RF attenuation measurement systems, resistance standards, ratio standards and ohmmeters.
In addition, they manufacture product lines acquired from Syntel Incorporated, Keithley Instruments, Eaton Corporation, Electro-Scientific Industries, Tektronix, Weinschel Corporation, System IIA, Analite Inc., Pragmatic Instruments and PPM Instruments. Most recently, TEGAM, Inc. expanded its product line by introducing a PXI amplifier and an RF power meter.
The Challenges
In the test measurement and calibration industry, scientists depend on electronic devices to capture extensive data for various research applications. The inner components of these electronics are extremely sensitive and need to be protected by high quality enclosures to ensure accuracy in functionality as well as to extend the lifetime of the equipment.
A compromised enclosure can mean false results, which can devastate the careful preparation and execution of an experiment. TEGAM, Inc. realized it needed a vendor that could:
- Provide professional quality, custom enclosures
- Supply the enclosures on demand with dependable on time delivery
The Solutions
It was 15 years ago when TEGAM, Inc. sought out a vendor to create low-cost, high quality enclosures to protect the electronics of their test measurement and calibration instruments. They found Buckeye Shapeform, and since then we have fabricated and finished custom enclosures for TEGAM, Inc.’s test measurement and calibration products.
Over the years, our engineers have customized each enclosure to fit TEGAM, Inc.’s unique product specifications. We have fabricated each enclosure design with
special sizing, modified front and rear panels, hole punching, PEM fasteners and other hardware additions, support brackets and finishing including custom colors. To complete each enclosure, we manufactured and applied custom-made standard and imperial knobs.
Modified XPAND-A® Enclosures
TEGAM, Inc. first asked us to modify its XPAND-A® enclosures to create the DT72B AC Ratio Standard, an inductive voltage divider that can be integrated into systems for calibration of voltage dividers, transformer standards, synchro/resolver standards, transformers, calibrators, ammeters and voltmeters.
Custom DSC Series Enclosures
Then in 1997, we customized our DSC Series enclosures to help TEGAM, Inc. create the 1750 High Speed Microohmmeter. This instrument has been used to control the silver plating thickness of copper wire in real-time as well as to continuously measure wire gauge. It also can be used to measure inductive test samples by connecting a capacitor.
1830A RF Thermistor Power Meter Enclosure
Most recently, TEGAM, Inc. worked with us to create a modified BMX enclosure for the 1830A RF Thermistor Power Meter. This model, in combination with a thermistor power sensor (also called a thermistor mount), can accurately measure the SWR of a 50 MHz reference. By using this method, the 1830A RF Thermistor Power Meter allows its user to change the value of the thermistor mount’s terminating resistance.
Our team began each project by providing TEGAM, Inc. with AutoCAD drawings and 3D modeling. Once the design was approved, a prototype was constructed. We sometimes built this prototype of alternate materials without finishing to lower the project’s cost in this initial stage while allowing TEGAM, Inc. to verify the qualities of the custom enclosure. When the prototype was approved, the drawings were updated on both ends for cross-referencing. Then production went into effect to provide TEGAM, Inc. customers with test measurement and calibration instruments protected by professional-quality Buckeye Shapeform enclosures.
The Results
TEGAM, Inc. has chosen to work with us for more than 15 years because of our team’s dedication to high quality products, on-time delivery and superior customer service.
TEGAM, Inc. will continue to work with our company to create custom enclosures for its test measurement and calibration instruments because we have consistently shown our commitment to finding ways to lower costs while increasing the quality and functionality of each instrument’s enclosure.