Comparison test using PAr meters, LiCOR vs Apogee

[Tom Barr]

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Product Review: A Comparison of Two Quantum Meters - Li-Cor v. Apogee

Good article, basically says what you want to hear, buy the 298$ Apogee unit, not the 1200$ LiCOR.

I use the Apogee myself and for the $, certainly a good unit.

Why play with monkey units and junk like Lumens?
Get a real light meter for plants.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[MarkM]

Apoge Sensor

I've just ordered a senor from Apoge and will connect it to my Fluke VOM. The meter will read mV from the sensor and Apogee says to multiply by correction factor to get par. I will want to compare this against a real meter but they say it achieves the same result and it is a third of the price.

 

[aquabillpers]

"Why play with monkey units and junk like Lumens?
Get a real light meter for plants."

Well, sure, but until I can justify a PAR meter, my LUX meter works just fine for 5000 - 6500 Kelvin tubes.

Bill

 

[gsjmia]

Mark, I did the same thing with an Apogee sensor. I think I paid 100 for just the sensor.

I also talked with apogee tech guy before buying and he said to multiply the milli volts result by 5 to get the same results as the full meter--he said there would be no difference between that and the full meter.

FYI, on the calibration issue, the literature says it needs to be calibrated every couple of years, but the tech support guy said that was for outdoor use where the sensor is in the sun all day. For indoor use he said calibration would not ever be needed.

This is a well needed tool to know what is what, but its something that gets used about once a year.

 

[Tom Barr]

"Why play with monkey units and junk like Lumens?
Get a real light meter for plants."

Well, sure, but until I can justify a PAR meter, my LUX meter works just fine for 5000 - 6500 Kelvin tubes.

Bill

Lux is still better than nothing or W/gal.

But for 100-200$, then you can resell it or rent it out to the local club for usage.
I think the club's PAR meter has paid for itself a few times.

And folks much more willing than myself have tested things I'm too lazy to bother with truth be told.
So the power of the "group" vs just "me" is far greater.

Fro a new meter, the lux meters sold in the hobby tend to be 80-100$, PAR meters, maybe 300-400$.
Used? Maybe less.

DIY versions? 100$ or so.

Folks spend more on bulbs than this.

 

[BraveBuc]

I've seen people converting cheap lux meters to pseudo par meters. Are they in the ball park?

 

[VaughnH]

I've seen people converting cheap lux meters to pseudo par meters. Are they in the ball park?

I have been converting cheap lux meters to PAR meters, and they are definitely in the ballpark. The ones I have recently made have been within about 5% of the Quantum meter readings, for 10000K PC, 50-50 PC, 6500K CFL, mixed cool and warm white LEDs. They don't work at all well with incandescent bulbs, or in sunlight, but for the typical planted tank lights they do work well.

I will post an article showing how I am making them soon. So far I have made about 36 of the latest version of this. And, I am now trying to design one using two photodiodes for a better spectrum match to typical plant spectral sensitiivty.

 

[Yo-han]

Have read some comparisons with the Seneye vs Apogee and that is quite impressive as well. Quite cheap for a PAR-meter I must say if it is even close.