Talk:Indicator (distance amplifying instrument)

message: After reading a couple paragraphs I still didn't understand the geometry of the thing being measured and the geometry of the probe that measures it. Are we measuring a gap with a conical probe?  Is it like a feeler gague or is it like a caliper?   Rtdrury 21:46, 8 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It is like a depth gauge; so it is like the depth gauge of a caliper, but spring-loaded to respond to changes the distance being measured. Hopefully it's clear from the pictures? jhawkinson (talk) 05:28, 15 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Geometry

message: In the section titled "Digital Indiocator" th eauthor refers to the transmission of measurement data to a remote computer as "This process is known as Statistical process control (SPC)". This statement is incorrect. SPC involves much, much more than remote datalogging.
212.18.233.29 09:12, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not SPC! 

message: Is this section correct?  If you tare the machine, which you should be doing after each measurement when the parameter being measured requires the precision of a dial indicator, tip effects should immediately vanish.  Am I missing something?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.105.245.7 (talk) 21:59, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Your thinking is on track. I fixed the section. It was not wrong in the intent of what it was trying to say, but it was failing to say it clearly. The writing had evolved with the conflating into one discussion of both drop indicator tips and DTI tips, which are really two separate discussions. So I broke it into those two subsections. The sentence about the offset factor was implicitly talking about DTI tips, but there was nothing to keep the reader from assuming that the implicit context was drop indicator tips. Speaking specifically about drop indicator tips, it is trivial to change from one tip length to another, as long as your setup includes re-zeroing the indicator. Which is your basic point. On top of that, I'd add that it is not even necessary to re-check the zeroing after each measurement, as long as you re-check it with some reasonable frequency. For example, if working to a tolerance of many thou, re-checking the zero might only be done after every 20 or 50 or 100 measurements. If working to a tolerance of a few tenths (.0001"), re-checking the zero might be done after every one or two or three measurements. Anyway, thanks for helping to improve the section. — ¾-10 20:58, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contact Tip 

message: Hi Pol098. Your edit summary was, "rv recent change - article is about pointers, includes pointer as common type, & other indicators are commonly used, dials, clocks, probe indicator (meat thermometer, soil humidity), &c &c." But please note that the title of the article is "indicator (distance amplifying instrument)". This article is not about every measuring instrument with a pointer, or with a dial, or with a digital readout. The article with the scope that you're thinking of is dial (measurement)—not indicator (distance amplifying instrument). This article is about indicators specifically, in the sense of distance amplifying instruments, such as drop indicators, dial test indicators, and so on. A meat thermometer is not a distance amplifying instrument. A soil humidity meter is not a distance amplifying instrument. This article is about indicators that take a distance of a few thou or a few dozen microns and amplify them so that the user can measure things like manufactured parts or shifts in building walls. This article isn't about speedometers, thermometers, hygrometers, or other instruments. I don't object to the mention of everyday life in itself (after all, a machinist uses dial test indicators as an everyday experience), but speedometers and thermometers are not part of this article's scope, because this isn't an article about "every kind of gauge that has a pointer" (for that, see dial (measurement)). Just explaining here at talk before I edit again. Thanks. — ¾-10 23:47, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Re not drifting off topic