Multifunction Calibrators include two or more of the following: temperature, pressure, frequency, signal, HART capability. Save money as well as space in the toolbox by purchasing one instrument with multiple functions. Functions of temperature, pressure, and voltage/mA signals are discussed at length here Products > Process / Calibration.
Following is a discussion on HART Communications
What is a HART Communicator vs. HART Multifunction Calibrator? And what is HART anyway? HART is a digital communications signal riding on top of a 4-20 mA signal, short for Highway Addressable Remote Transmitter. It was developed by Emerson Process/Rosemount and later made public, so now all major instrument manufacturers support the standard. You may see other protocols such as Fieldbus (more popular in Europe), CANBUS (popular in automotive and production line manufacturing), BRAIN (proprietary to Yokogawa), but HART is the king in process instrumentation. Smart pressure transmitters, temperature transmitters, flowmeters, and other instruments with HART capability give access to anyone with a HART communicator to basic to advanced configuration parameters. Setting up ranges, units of measure, tag labels, input filter/dampening, square root extraction of differential flow measurement devices like orifice plates are all possible remotely from anywhere on the 4-20 mA loop. Hazardous area transmitters become much less expensive because keypads or alternate interfaces suitable for use in explosive atmospheres are not needed.
A HART Communicator is used to communicate with the transmitter. Emerson still makes them, model 475, which we carry at INDOMULTIMETER. We also carry Meriam’s MFC HART Communicator. A HART Communicator is not a calibrator. Re-ranging the URV and LRV (upper and lower range values) of a transmitter is not calibrating. A HART Multifunction Calibrator has the capabilities of a HART Communicator and a multifunction calibrator may also store the measuring instrument configuration files.