Hi
I just found this forum, I can see its full of interesting stuff! I'm going to be working on a final project for a Beng degree in electronics. I like aquascaping and I design/build led lamps for planted aquariums. I thought I can combine it with my degree and make something I've been meaning to get - a spectrometer. I like PG100N and PG200N, although I dont understand that price difference 1200 vs 2700 euro. I know, better specs, but it's more than double. Could anybody explain please?
How much do you pay for a calibration (UK?)? I've seen $400, is it a typical price? Do you really need to do it every year?
I wanted to avoid it and get a spectrometer head from Hamamatsu That is the easiest way. They are hermetically closed and dont require any calibration. But I also want to be able to measure PPFD, PPF. That would mean another sensor and they are really expensive. I've found some designs in academic writings and they look difficult to calibrate. Anybody tried making it? I wonder if I could buy it somewhere? The problem is the cheap commercial PAR meters dont really work with LED lamps, especially red is out by a lot.
Please let me know what you think.
There is one more project I'm considering. Its a smart light controller, Basically, lamps are connected together(zigbee) and there is a controller connected to the wifi. It collects the data and controls the lamps. The lamps could work as supplemental sources. For a given DLI the controller would adjust the light. I'd need to measure the Sun light only. I guess I can build or buy something cheap as its a white light and also probably doesn't need to be that precise. Any suggestions here?
But then I need to know the output from the lamps plus the Sun light. Question to the lamp builders, is PPF linear? Can you predict (after some measurements) what will PPF be at for example 50% output? If not then I need another sensor, but this time something that can measure LED light. I hate to think that if I want to implement this feature I have to get pretty expensive sensor.
I'll appreciate any help. Please, tell me what you think, does it make any sense?
Cheers,
Dani
