Komiyan
New Member
Well first off i'll introduce myself as a new member of this forum, i'm definitely new here, but i'm definitely not new to weed 
I do electronics and smoke weed, and that about sums me up
Now to the project!
I'm thinking of setting up my own grow. BUT, there comes the issue of lighting, and how powerful they need to be, without being too powerful!
So i decided to make a meter which shows me how powerful my lights are, and the distance where the light fades to 'useless' values.
And here it is:
The main thing is simplicity. I used a solar panel from one of those old calculators, a quite-easy-to-find capacitor and a trimpot.
The output is connected directly to a multimeter, or if present, a analogue gauge like a VU-meter.
It's best to use an analogue multimeter, as the needle moves in real-time, digital multimeters have a rather long 'refresh rate' which gives average results, no real time there.
100nF capacitor, and 10K trimmer are easily acquired at RadioShack, and the gauge/multimeter can be had for about $20 from Fry's Electronics.
Calibrating is easy, just turn the trimmer's dial all the way counter-clockwise, wait for a warm sunny day, and take your little doodad outside and point the solar panel at the sun.
The meter should respond with the needle swinging right off the scale, or not. If not, try turning the trimmer fully clockwise, and it should respond (if it's still not working, then have a good look at your connections).
Now carefully adjust that trimmer until the needle rests at the edge of the calibrated scale (IE. full range). You are finished!
The device will respond to light INTENSITY, meaning that you are comparing how many "suns" of light are being produced. Full-scale readings are equivalent to exposure to direct sunlight...
Checking your lights means probing them with the solar panel, on a one-watt red LED i got and equivalent "sun" of light about 1" from the led! However, the reading falls back to 1/4 of that when the panel is 2" away, this is a good way of measuring the maximum and minimum distances of your light's effective radiating area as the output of the device is linear to the amount of light present per square centimeter.
No more burnt leaves or long-ass stems! With this you can be sure of your light placement first-time, every-time.
I do electronics and smoke weed, and that about sums me up
Now to the project!
I'm thinking of setting up my own grow. BUT, there comes the issue of lighting, and how powerful they need to be, without being too powerful!
So i decided to make a meter which shows me how powerful my lights are, and the distance where the light fades to 'useless' values.
And here it is:
The main thing is simplicity. I used a solar panel from one of those old calculators, a quite-easy-to-find capacitor and a trimpot.
The output is connected directly to a multimeter, or if present, a analogue gauge like a VU-meter.
It's best to use an analogue multimeter, as the needle moves in real-time, digital multimeters have a rather long 'refresh rate' which gives average results, no real time there.
100nF capacitor, and 10K trimmer are easily acquired at RadioShack, and the gauge/multimeter can be had for about $20 from Fry's Electronics.
Calibrating is easy, just turn the trimmer's dial all the way counter-clockwise, wait for a warm sunny day, and take your little doodad outside and point the solar panel at the sun.
The meter should respond with the needle swinging right off the scale, or not. If not, try turning the trimmer fully clockwise, and it should respond (if it's still not working, then have a good look at your connections).
Now carefully adjust that trimmer until the needle rests at the edge of the calibrated scale (IE. full range). You are finished!
The device will respond to light INTENSITY, meaning that you are comparing how many "suns" of light are being produced. Full-scale readings are equivalent to exposure to direct sunlight...
Checking your lights means probing them with the solar panel, on a one-watt red LED i got and equivalent "sun" of light about 1" from the led! However, the reading falls back to 1/4 of that when the panel is 2" away, this is a good way of measuring the maximum and minimum distances of your light's effective radiating area as the output of the device is linear to the amount of light present per square centimeter.
No more burnt leaves or long-ass stems! With this you can be sure of your light placement first-time, every-time.
