Power calibrators were common tools used to evaulate the performance of equipment such as droids and power generators. The tool collected data on a device's energy output and efficiency. The technician using the power calibrator could detect if a device was losing energy or malfunctioning; the problem could then be located by using the tool's circuit tester, power flow detector, connector rods, and internal control computer. Repairs could then effected using the tool, making it a useful tool for users maintaining droids, vehicles, and starship computers. It was a common technician's tool, found in most tool kits.
Power calibrators could also be used as emergency power sources, plugging into smaller devices such as datapads, comlinks, and holoprojectors and providing them with power to run for several standard days. Some power calibrators, such as Udrane Galactic Electronics' ReliaCharger, were capable of power larger devices such as droids or even landspeeders for a much shorter duration.
Power calibrators were used during the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Some WED Treadwell repair droids were equipped with power calibrators which they had built into the ends of some of their many arms. A WED unit that the Imperial Security Bureau used on the Wheel space station was equipped with a power calibrator when it attempted to place a tracking beacon on the starship of a group of spacers working for the tech salvaging company IsoTech.
Power calibrators were first mentioned in The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology, published in 1997.
They later appeared in the 2013 core rulebook for the Fantasy Flight Games roleplaying game, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. They appeared later that year in Beyond the Rim, an adventure module written by Sterling Hershey for the game.
- The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- The Official Star Wars Fact File95
- The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook
- Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook