def check_resistor_board_measurements(data_file, reference_data_file=None,
                                      create_plot=True, **kwargs):
    """ To check basic system function a test board was built with multiple
    resistors attached to for connectors each. Measurements can thus be
    validated against known electrical (ohmic) resistances.

    Note that the normal-reciprocal difference is not yet analyzed!

    The referenc_data_file should have the following structure:
    The file contains the four-point spreads to be imported from
    the measurement. This file is a text file with four columns (A, B, M, N),
    separated by spaces or tabs. Each line denotes one measurement and its
    expected resistance, the allowed variation, and its allow difference
    towards its reciprocal counterpart: ::

        1   2   4   3   1000    1    20
        4   3   2   1   1000    1    20

    Parameters
    ----------
    data_file : string
        path to mnu0 data file
    reference_data_file: string, optional
        path to reference data file with structure as describe above. Default
        data is used if set to None
    create_plot : bool, optional
        if True, create a plot with measured and expected resistances
    **kwargs : dict, optional
        **kwargs will be redirected to the sEIT.import_eit_fzj call

    Returns
    -------
    fig : figure object, optional
        if create_plot is True, return a matplotlib figure
    """
    # reference_data = np.loadtxt(reference_data_file)
    # configs = reference_data[:, 0:4]
    column_names = [
        'a', 'b', 'm', 'n', 'expected_r', 'variation_r', 'variation_diffr'
    ]
    if reference_data_file is None:
        ref_data = pd.DataFrame(_resistor_data, columns=column_names)
    else:
        ref_data = pd.read_csv(
            reference_data_file,
            names=column_names,
            delim_whitespace=True,
        )
    print(ref_data)
    configs = ref_data[['a', 'b', 'm', 'n']].values.astype(int)

    seit = reda.sEIT()
    seit.import_eit_fzj(data_file, configs, **kwargs)
    seit.data = seit.data.merge(ref_data, on=('a', 'b', 'm', 'n'))

    # iterate through the test configurations
    test_frequency = 1
    failing = []
    for nr, row in enumerate(ref_data.values):
        print(nr, row)
        key = tuple(row[0:4].astype(int))
        item = seit.abmn.get_group(key)
        expected_r = row[4]
        allowed_variation = row[5]
        # expected_r_diff = row[6]

        measured_r, measured_rdiff = item.query(
            'frequency == {}'.format(test_frequency)
        )[['r', 'rdiff']].values.squeeze()
        minr = expected_r - allowed_variation
        maxr = expected_r + allowed_variation
        if not (minr <= measured_r and maxr >= measured_r):
            print('    ', 'not passing', row)
            print('    ', minr, maxr)
            print('    ', measured_r)
            failing.append((nr, measured_r))
    if len(failing) == 0:
        failing = None
    else:
        failing = np.atleast_2d(np.array(failing))

    if create_plot:
        fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 1, figsize=(16 / 2.54, 8 / 2.54))
        data = seit.data.query('frequency == 1')
        x = np.arange(0, data.shape[0])

        ax.plot(
            x,
            data['r'],
            '.-',
            label='data',
        )
        ax.fill_between(
            x,
            data['expected_r'] - data['variation_r'],
            data['expected_r'] + data['variation_r'],
            color='green',
            alpha=0.8,
            label='allowed limits',
        )
        if failing is not None:
            ax.scatter(
                failing[:, 0],
                failing[:, 1],
                color='r',
                label='not passing',
                s=40,
            )

        ax.legend()
        ax.set_xticks(x)
        xticklabels = [
            '{}-{} {}-{}'.format(*row) for row
            in data[['a', 'b', 'm', 'n']].values.astype(int)
        ]
        ax.set_xticklabels(xticklabels, rotation=45)

        ax.set_ylabel('resistance $[\Omega]$')
        ax.set_xlabel('configuration a-b m-n')
        if failing is None:
            suffix = ' PASSED'
        else:
            suffix = ''
        ax.set_title('Resistor-check for FZJ-EIT systems' + suffix)

        fig.tight_layout()
        # fig.savefig('out.pdf')
        return fig
To check basic system function a test board was built with multiple
    resistors attached to for connectors each. Measurements can thus be
    validated against known electrical (ohmic) resistances.

    Note that the normal-reciprocal difference is not yet analyzed!

    The referenc_data_file should have the following structure:
    The file contains the four-point spreads to be imported from
    the measurement. This file is a text file with four columns (A, B, M, N),
    separated by spaces or tabs. Each line denotes one measurement and its
    expected resistance, the allowed variation, and its allow difference
    towards its reciprocal counterpart: ::

        1   2   4   3   1000    1    20
        4   3   2   1   1000    1    20

    Parameters
    ----------
    data_file : string
        path to mnu0 data file
    reference_data_file: string, optional
        path to reference data file with structure as describe above. Default
        data is used if set to None
    create_plot : bool, optional
        if True, create a plot with measured and expected resistances
    **kwargs : dict, optional
        **kwargs will be redirected to the sEIT.import_eit_fzj call

    Returns
    -------
    fig : figure object, optional
        if create_plot is True, return a matplotlib figure