29 November 2018

Whether you’re working on a short-term project or designing a leading edge system and need to easily refresh equipment to maintain competitive advantage, the decision to rent test equipment can be straightforward.

But there are other considerations many engineers don’t think of prior to doing this. To help make sure you’re prepared for your next equipment rental, Microlease’s application engineers have pulled together this unique checklist of top tips:

1. Do you have the complete test solution?

When looking for equipment, such as a network analyser, you may not think to ask for cables, connectors, calibration kits or other ancillary items that will be required. If these aren’t included in the original order, it could take another week to get them, making those deadlines even more stressful.

Matt Hodgetts is a sales engineer at Microlease UK. www.microlease.com/uk/rent-test-equipment.

2. Will your equipment need calibration?

Rentals can mean no more calibration and maintenance worries or costs. Also, if something changes you can get upgrades and support. If your equipment will need calibration before and/or during your rental, make sure your rental company can calibrate to the standards you require (for example, Ansi Z540 and ISO 17025).

3. How long will you need the equipment?

Rentals and short-term projects go hand-in-hand, but sometimes you may not know just how long you will need the equipment. With rapidly advancing technology, odds are that the advanced test equipment you need now will be obsolete within one or two years. A flexible rental offers the ideal solution with rental periods from just one week to as long as you need.

4. Do you need the equipment locally or globally?

You may only have one local site for testing or you may have multiple labs working on designs in various parts of the world. It’s important to make sure the company that you’re renting from offers the geographical coverage you need to ensure you get the equipment on time and with good backup service.