I would not mind recommending this product to civilians but it does concern me that when I I sent by units in for calibration they had to replace five of them for a unknown reason which I speculate being they could not be calibrated and they were only two years old. I would not recommend them to Kansas Law Enforcement Agencies as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment does not have Bactrack on their approved list of PBT for Law Enforcement Officer use. I have had to by Intoxilyzer and have now donated the Bactrack to the local high schools to help fight teenage drinking in the schools. I have gave them your info for when they need to have them calibrated as I only did it prior to the donation.
Once you own a good, well maintained breathalyzer, your problems are over. As appropriate to the 21st century, recalibration can be ordered with a click of a button. would be nice if the breathalyzer itself will notify me when it requires a calibration.
I've had the S80 model for 2 years now. Bought a second unit as a back up. In my opinion you need to at least blow into the device every week or two in order to keep its sensor from drying out. I've also found I need to send both mine in for calibration about every 6-8 months with weekend use only. This device is extremely accurate, and has kept me from driving many times when I thought I was bellow the limit. If your serious about wanting to know your BAC reading, invest in one of the nicer models, the accuracy is reassuring.
I've had mine about 18 months and love it. Just had it recalibrated, so glad I did as it appears I was getting lower than accurate numbers, so I definitely recommend doing that yearly. Took it to a party on the weekend, we didn't have to worry about driving as we were all crashing the night there buthad a blast checking our numbers, even photos were taken with it!!