Services (low cost) for measuring "off the shelf" calibration standard resistors, capacitors and inductors to 0.1% ?

You can buy .01% Vishay bulk metal foil resistors from any of several vendors like Allied, Digi-Key, etc, or browse through the resistors here:

Mostly you'll find various older 'y-foil' types; the newest 'Z-foil' technology is even more stable. Check also under their wire-wounds and look at the Tc numbers.

Also some Vishays on Ebay; check to be certain of the tolerance.

--Damon

The 'without paying' is the main problem. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and say ... it's insoluble.

The reasons you can't get very high accuracy in reference devices are the reasons you don't need that much accuracy anyhow. Inductors aren't 'pure' devices, they have resistance (and frequency-dependent resistance, and frequency-dependent inductance). Capacitors are likewise not pure, there's a bit of inductance in the connect wires, and dissipation that models like resistance. Your wire connections aren't purely conductive. The resistance of a "reference" resistor doesn't stay accurate when soldered. It doesn't stay accurate when the leads are bent/strained (and if you want to be REALLY precise, there's harmonics generated due to self-heating when you put that low-frequency AC through a resistor).

Where accuracy is really required, like frequency selectivity for radio, there's good standards available; the very-accurate resistors, for instance, are useful for bridge-type sensors. Why, oh, why, would one need to have a one percent 500 uF capacitor, let alone a 0.01% one?

Sencore used to have a small box with terminals for about 4 inductors and capacitors they referred to as a Field Calibrator.

The internal components weren't anything special, just a couple of regular components. The "calibrators" were for checking the earlier models of Z-Meters, the inductance and capacitance measuring instruments.

The user would send the calibrator in to Sencore, and they would measure the components with their own NIST-traceable equipment, and put a label on it noting the date and the components' capacitance and inductance values. That gave the user something to check the Z-Meter with.

If you constructed a box with components in it, they would probably give you a price quote to measure, date and label it. I think the last price I saw for the calibrator service was about $60US, but that part has been obsolete for years.

For a precision resistance, you might just take a number of precision resistors and put them in parallel to attain the resistance step you desire. The individual resistors could be pre-checked with your existing equipment.

Paralleling 10 pieces of 100 ohm, 0.1% (or 0.01%) resistors would essentially cancel out (substantially minimize) the value tolerances. You would have to just trust the manufacturer's specifications for the parts you use.

-- Cheers, WB .............

As has been noted you can just buy the standard resistors, 0.01% off the = shelf. =46or your reference capacitors you are going to learn quality capacitors= above=20

2 uF are expensive, bulky and hard to find. I doubt you can find any at = all=20 above 20 uF. Quality (high Q and high SRF) inductors larger than 200 uH = are=20 going to be troublesome as well. =20 =46inally getting them measured will depend on how accurate you want them= measured=20 how many frequencies you want them measured at and how many you want = measured. =20 Provide them for measurement mounted with 4-terminal connections. =46inally, keep the reference parts inside with well controlled = conditions. I measured ordinary and high quality parts for a few years running. = Using HP LCR=20 meters and even more accurate GR bridges. Making the measurements was = not my=20 normal lab duties, creating test specific test methods and test equipment= was.