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So wht exactly does tht mean. Lol. Im new to the whole "par" an "nm" lingo
DIY LED Spectrum Analyzer
- Thread starter giulianom
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"nm" is short for nanometers, a unit of measurement.
Light is made up of a wide range of colors, also known as a spectrum.
"Blue" light is in the 450nm range, and the reds are in the 600 range, which is most of the visible spectrum.
Corals need light in different ranges, so being able to measure what ranges of color our lights give off can be a useful tool.
That is what this does, at a cost that is about $30, instead of $3000.
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Nice job.I think I see were your going with this.50 watt leds means less leds,smaller and cheaper fixtures?
Photosynthesis uses light mostly in the 400-500 nm range and the 600-700 nm range, so this light covers that pretty well. The light in the 500-600 nm range is wasted on the corals, but not on us. It helps makes the light look "white" to our eyes.
Now that I've gotten the meter to work reasonably well, the next tests will be of the 10,000K and 455nm Royal Blue 50W LED's - which will be next weekend, since I have yet to break open their packaging and wire them up.
However, I am planning on bringing the spectrum meter (spectrometer) to the ARC meeting on Tuesday along with my laptop for a brief working demo.
The plan is to test a certain member-modified LED unit, to see how the UV LEDs pan out...
Also, a real interesting test would be to sample some spectrum from your conventional metal-halide / radium / T5 bulbs...
Any volunteers in the Gwinnett area?
However, I am planning on bringing the spectrum meter (spectrometer) to the ARC meeting on Tuesday along with my laptop for a brief working demo.
The plan is to test a certain member-modified LED unit, to see how the UV LEDs pan out...
Also, a real interesting test would be to sample some spectrum from your conventional metal-halide / radium / T5 bulbs...
Any volunteers in the Gwinnett area?
rdnelson99;748400 wrote: First of all, the meeting is on Thursday this month not tomorrow.
Ok, that's what I get for not reading the announcement fully... LOL
I will be there on THURSDAY...
Yeah, Cumming is a far aways away from Lawrenceville, but I'll keep it in mind...
Edit: Also, here is one shot of the interior of the box I forgot to upload last night.
I cut out some pieces of black posterboard stock, and glued them to the interior of the box with rubber cement.
The cardboard actually serves a purpose - being that it is black, and relatively matte (non-glossy), it absorbs any stray rays of light rather than reflect them as the shiny black plastic interior would.
The result is a better quality of light that reaches the camera sensor, rather than light with a lot of reflections and refractions from the plastic.
That would be great!
If you're going to wire up a LED to a battery pack, you'll probably have to add a resistor to limit the current.
Use a LED circuit calculator:
http://ledcalculator.net/">http://ledcalculator.net/</a>
As an example, I plugged in a 3.0V source (2 x 1.5V AA battery), a 2.8V LED voltage drop, and 350mA of current:
[IMG]http://ledcalculator.net/default.aspx?values=3.0,2.8,350,1,0">http://ledcalculator.net/default.aspx?values=3.0,2.8,350,1,0</a>
It recommended a 1-Ohm resistor and the wiring diagram, for this hypothetical configuration.
However, your results may vary depending on the specs of your LEDs - check the spec sheet to be sure.
Here's a comparison shot from the same 50W 20,000K LED, from my first attempt, and the most recent one.
http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/6">http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/6</a>
The black line shows the original spectrum that I measured, and the red line is the new one.
The heights are different only because the meter was at a different distance from the meter in the last one...
http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/6">http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/6</a>
The black line shows the original spectrum that I measured, and the red line is the new one.
The heights are different only because the meter was at a different distance from the meter in the last one...
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Interested in a reading from the member modifies leds as that's what I'm getting as soon as they show up in the mail
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That's awesome I have been hearing nothing but good things about these units so I was curious what they were putting out
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+1 got 2 on the way.
I captured this one last night, of a 20W 6500K CFL "Daylight" bulb.
http://spectralworkbench.org/spectra/show/147">http://spectralworkbench.org/spectra/show/147</a>
Also, a comparison between the 2700K and 6500K CFL's:
[IMG]http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/7">http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/7</a>
I brought my laptop and the meter with me to work, but I forgot my PAR meter at home... might see if I can drive home quickly before the meeting to pick it up.
http://spectralworkbench.org/spectra/show/147">http://spectralworkbench.org/spectra/show/147</a>
Also, a comparison between the 2700K and 6500K CFL's:
[IMG]http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/7">http://spectralworkbench.org/sets/show/7</a>
I brought my laptop and the meter with me to work, but I forgot my PAR meter at home... might see if I can drive home quickly before the meeting to pick it up.
