About to buy an Apogee MQ500. Anything to consider first?

[grisbi]

The MQ series detects wavelengths from 389 to 692 nm. (BETTER)
The SQ series detects wavelengths from 410 nm to 655 nm

thank you dude for this info, exactly what i needed!
cheers.

[unkle_psycho]

I'd say thats well out of hobby territory.

I think its a good question though, on the relevance of the accuracy of measurement... Normally scientists use spectrometers to calculate what material stars are made of etc... So I wonder what the relevance points are in horticulture. How many % of error are we talking about?

That's a great question and my guess would be that we don't know yet. Heck even the effects of varying spectral composition on cannabis is massively understudied.

I found a conversation between coral growers who seemed well versed in spectral meters, and the feeling I got from the conversation was that you need a resolution of 1nm if your doing spectrography work on objects that put out spikes at very narrow ranges. There seemed to be a general vibe that even discrete leds put out very clear bell curves over quite large ranges of frequences, so 2-3nm resolution should be more then fine.

[randorson]

I'd say thats well out of hobby territory.

I think its a good question though, on the relevance of the accuracy of measurement... Normally scientists use spectrometers to calculate what material stars are made of etc... So I wonder what the relevance points are in horticulture. How many % of error are we talking about?

That's a great question and my guess would be that we don't know yet. Heck even the effects of varying spectral composition on cannabis is massively understudied.

I found a conversation between coral growers who seemed well versed in spectral meters, and the feeling I got from the conversation was that you need a resolution of 1nm if your doing spectrography work on objects that put out spikes at very narrow ranges. There seemed to be a general vibe that even discrete leds put out very clear bell curves over quite large ranges of frequences, so 2-3nm resolution should be more then fine.

Awesome! Thanks!

[unkle_psycho]

Oh, but if you go for a cheaper solution, then there is a chance that you need to pay attention to slit width, because that will control what light intensity it can handle. Geeks seem to get a kick measuring different gasses and other shit, so cheap devices aimed at such a crowd will have a wide slit to get a better signal from the weak source. Our lights are not weak

[TEKNIK]

Hi Grisby
You can run the 5050BR strips from cutter on 48V. The leds are 24V with 2 in series on that board.
The PC red and CRI95 4000K 5050 leds I had made specifically for horticultural. Although the efficacy isn't the best the spectrums are really nice.
The PC reds can be run upto 2W each maximum and the cri95 can be run upto 4W each maximum.
It's an over the top powerful board but will last a long time when underdriven. Each 24V 5050 has 8 individual leds inside, sort of like a mini COB light.

[unkle_psycho]

Hi Grisby
You can run the 5050BR strips from cutter on 48V. The leds are 24V with 2 in series on that board.
The PC red and CRI95 4000K 5050 leds I had made specifically for horticultural. Although the efficacy isn't the best the spectrums are really nice.
The PC reds can be run upto 2W each maximum and the cri95 can be run upto 4W each maximum.
It's an over the top powerful board but will last a long time when underdriven. Each 24V 5050 has 8 individual leds inside, sort of like a mini COB light.

I saw the cutter QB with the new cree reds, its 80cri with 660nm right? Do they also have something where they combine the 95cri chips your using with the cree reds???

[TEKNIK]

The board with the new Cree 660nm uses 3030 leds, for that option there is optisolis from nichia in 5000k. The spectrum of optisolis 5000k and cri95 4000k are actually pretty similar but with optisolis you get the advantage of a 420nm boost.
I have not tested the new board from Cutter to see the exact configuration but if it is set up how I think it is then using the optisolis 5000K Nichia would be a broad spectrum with heavy red. It's quite different from the strips as it is not tunable and will be a set spectrum.
The strips have 3 channels and because Grisby is after tunable strips I suggested the 5050 option.
With the strips you have an option of 400nm boost or 730nm for end of day. Depends on if you are chasing a board or a tunable system to optimize spectrum.
I will start a spectrum porn thread to show what is possible with a tunable system as opposed to a fixed spectrum when I have a bit of time.

[grisbi]

what about the new apogee sq520 , look like the new one, and connectable to computer?
have to buy one next week, have to choose!
@randorson
from theire website :
https://www.apogeeinstruments.com/sq-52 ... nformation
Spectral Range 389 to 692 nm ± 5 nm (wavelengths where response is greater than 50 % of maximum)

[grisbi]

Just receiv my sq520!! amazing, will do the test tomorow!

[randorson]

Just receiv my sq520!! amazing, will do the test tomorow!

So how do you like it?