Weigh in and scale accuracy

drew · Post by **drew** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:43 pm

Is there a calibration procedure for the weigh in scales? Does it matter how the fish and basket are centered on the scale? The winner of the ABA Pyramid tournament had a 5 fish limit of 16# with a big fish of 3.11#. This is in pounds not pounds and onces. How is this possible? 5X3.11=15.55#

Ray L. · Post by **Ray L.** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:51 pm

The scale weighs the same for all. If the scale is light it is light for all. I zero out the scale after every big fish I weigh. I also zero out the scale often through weigh in to make it as fair as possible. I will also do 1 re weigh for anglers who question there weight. I will only do 1 re weigh though when asked.

palmdale-shane · Post by **palmdale-shane** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:03 pm

That's what I do for a living........calibration.

Most new scales are linear but I have seen older models that were unstable and not linear.
The only way to know for sure is to check the scale to full scale using certified weights in a controlled environment...ie: no wind or vibration. The scale should also be turned on and allowed to warm up prior to zeroing the unit out the first time at each use to eliminate possible drift. Once again the specifics would be listed in the user’s manual.

Maybe the guys weighed what they thought was their big fish but it actually wasn't.

drew · Post by **drew** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:28 am

What about how the weight is centered on the scale. I have a few digital scales at work and they're sensitive to the placement of the weight.

palmdale-shane · Post by **palmdale-shane** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:35 am

It doesn’t matter with the newer scales especially the Avery Weigh-Tronix that use vibrating beam technology. Of course you always want to center the weight but I know for a fact with the new Avery’s (PC's) it doesn’t matter where you place the weight on the scale.

We have some older (10 to 15 year old) scales that will give erroneous readings if the weight isn’t placed center on the pan. But they would not be off by a half of pound

Then again as with anything in life there is the possibility of operator error.

As long as the zero was used and not the tare option on the scale the only thing I can come up with is that they had a fish that was heavier than the big one they weighed.

JJCJR · Post by **JJCJR** » Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:17 pm

Here are some good "rules of thumb":

Never be the first to weigh-in.

Make sure if you ask for a reweigh, you understand what weight is going to go down as your official weight. If your catch was weighed correctly the first time, chances are your reweigh will be less.

Always make sure your weigh slip is correct. Sometimes weights can be transposed when being read or relayed from the weigh master to the recorder.

The Official scales are the Official scales. Weight on hand held devices can vary from the official weight. If though there is a large disparity make sure you ask for a reweigh. When at the scales it's time to pay attention, not BS with you buddies. You'll have plenty of time to do that at the awards ceremony