United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Marketing Service

Federal Grain Inspection Service

Check Test Instruction August 2023

August 2023

Page 1

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Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal 

employment opportunity employer.

FGIS OnLine UGMA ECT Instructions

FORWARD

This document contains instructions for entering data into the ECT UGMA Moisture system. 

Log in to ECT with the username and password you currently use to log in

FORWARD .........................................................................................................................1

1. CREATING EQUIPMENT ....................................................................................................2

2. DATA ENTRY .......................................................................................................................3

3. RETEST ..............................................................................................................................6
August 2023

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1. CREATING EQUIPMENT

On the ECT HOME Page

Equipment

Create New Equipment

Equipment type: UGMA Moisture Meter

Click Search 

(do not use Dj GAC 2500 UGMA Plus unless that is the model you have)

On the CREATE EQUIPMENT Page

If you have previously created your UGMA equipment, it should migrate to the new 

system (you might want to verify it is there)

Service Point: enter the SP of the location of the meter 

Enter the zip code

Enter the Serial Number (required)

Enter any other needed fields	

Make sure the Active Status shows (required)

Click yes or no on the Cross-Utilized box (required)

Click SAVE (screen will read “Equipment has been updated successfully” or 

give you a red message if something is missing)

Once your meters are created, then you can enter data
August 2023

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2. DATA ENTRY

On the ECT HOME Page

Search by Test Reference No: enter the TRN

Click OPEN

On the GENERAL Page

Service Point: Highlight SP in box to change OR use the Lookup SP function

change SP to the actual location of the meter

Test Equipment: Click Add Equipment

Enter equipment serial number

Click Search

Once the serial number comes up 

Click Select

Once the Test Equipment is in place

Lab Scale Test Equipment: Click Add Equipment

Enter equipment serial number

Click Search

Once the serial number of scale comes up

Click Select

Once the Test Equipment is in place

Click Save which will allow the TEST Page to become available.

Click Next or TEST Page

On the TEST Page

Test type: should show Initial

Equipment Status: if necessary, change using the drop-down 

arrow (New, Repair, 2nd Repair)

Part A. CALIBRATION VERSION & MODEL/SN

After verifying that the moisture calibration version is correct (see blank 

worksheet sent with sample)

Click Yes

Verify that the serial number is correct
August 2023

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Part B. WEIGHING ACCURACY TEST (0.1g)

Enter the instrument weights and scale weights (format should be nnn.n or 

TRN Go to the RETEST section below 
August 2023

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Part C. GRAIN MOISTURE SAMPLE TEST

Enter weight of sample and bag (format: nnn.n) , operator license number and 
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SUMMARY Page

Click Next or click on Summary tab

Summary page will show: 

TRN, service point, location information, test type, equipment status, date mailed

Part A: calibration verified, meter model, meter S/N	

Part B: weighing accuracy average of differences, range of differences, 

tolerances

Part C: scale wt minus recorded wt, test moisture, standard average moisture, 

deviation, range of moistures, range of test weights, range of temperatures, 

temperature average, tolerances, PASS/FAIL boxes	

Summary boxes will be marked PASS or FAIL for the following tests: Scale 

Average, Scale Range, Moisture Average, Moisture Range, Temperature 

If the scale fails, click on the blue RETEST button in the lower right corner of the 

Summary page. Proceed to Retest section. 

If the moisture test fails (including failed temperature), click on the blue RETEST 

button in the lower right corner of the Summary page. Proceed to Retest section 

If all tests pass, the Recommended Action Approved box will be marked and 

record will close 

The system will notify TSD of a failed test (scale, bag wt, moisture or temperature) 

TSD will review the failed record and enter Reviewer license, Date Reviewed, mark 

a Recommended Action box (Retest, Repair) and enter any comments 

This is the point where TSD can override a failure and APPROVE the meter 

3. RETEST

For a failed meter, go ahead and Click the RETEST button at the bottom right of the

Summary Page

The message “Are you sure you want to start the retest process for this record?” will

appear

Click OK

The message “Successfully created a retest (TRN: xxxxxx). Would you like to be

redirected to TRN xxxxxx?” will appear

Record the Retest TRN on your data sheet and the sample bag weight label

You can click OK to proceed to the Retest TRN or Cancel (the Retest TRN is still Saved)
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After the retest data is collected

Go to ECT Home

Search by Test Reference No: enter the Retest TRN

Click OPEN

Go to the TEST page

If the initial Weighing Accuracy failed, you will enter the RETEST scale data and 

the moisture data

If the initial Moisture Test failed, the RETEST TEST page will auto populate with 

the initial scale data, you will enter the RETEST moisture data

Enter the retest data for the failed section(s). 

Enter operator and date tested

Verify data entry and enter any necessary comments

Click SAVE (this will allow the system to check for data format errors)

Click Submit

If Retest is needed, please send the moisture sample back to TSD for testing 

The system will notify TSD that a Retest has been entered and is waiting for review

The RETEST Summary Page will not update until TSD has retested the sample, enters 

the retest Standard Average Moisture and performs any necessary averaging 

At this time, the averaging of Initial and Retest values and Recommended Action will be 

entered manually by TSD. 

When TSD submits the Retest Standard page, the agency will be notified by email that

the record is ready to view

If the RETEST fails any test, you will be notified by TSD on how to proceed

If you have questions regarding this checktest or need assistance with ECT, call

Ramaswamy Mani at (816) 702-3873 or Ramaswamy.Mani@usda.gov. You may also

contact the Moisture Lab at (816) 702-3883. Business hours are 7:00 AM to 3:30 PM

CST.

4. Questions