Determination of the Feasibility of Replacing Special Purpose Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment with Off-the-Shelf Electronic Test Equipment. Volume I.

Abstract : The work reported on herein was performed under a contract that is one of a group related to the CERCOM TMDE standardization effort. It was specifically directed toward determining the feasibility of substituting off-the-shelf electronic test equipment (general purpose TMDE) for special purpose TMDE. The study consisted of five interrelated tasks: Identify Special Purpose (SP) TMDE Assets, Update General Purpose (GP) TMDE Data Base, Determine Test Capabilities of Selected SP TMDE, Identify Common and Unique Test Requirements, and Determine Best Mix of Off-The-Shelf Electronic Test Equipment (OTS ETE) for Each Selected SP TMDE. The results are based on detailed examination of the technical performance characteristics of 20 SP TMDE selected from more than 1,000 items previously categorized as SP TMDE. The conclusions reached are as follows: a significant portion of the present inventory of SP TMDE could be replaced by a prudent selection of GP TMDE based on the 20 SP TMDE, and the use of groups of multipurpose GP TMDE in place of SP TMDE could result in significant cost savings (or avoidance).