It’s a simple point, but one that folks misunderstand. When talking about radar calibrations, we’re not talking about the police sending the radar unit somewhere. The radar devices stay in the police cars.
But what IS calibrated then?
Law enforcement officers have tuning forks that they use before and after their shift to verify the accuracy of their radar units. These tuning forks are the same type of metal instrument used by musicians and piano tuners. These tuning forks are simply used to make sure the radar devices are working properly each day.
The police have to get their tuning forks calibrated every six months to make sure they are resonating at the proper frequency (46.2-882). If they don’t have a calibration certificate for those tuning forks, we have a strong argument to win the case!
As you can see, it’s not technically correct to refer to the radar as being calibrated; although, I use that shorthand sometimes. The radar is checked for accuracy each day. The tuning forks are calibrated every six months.
Photo by Graela