[mrpixel]

So I have an Apogee MQ-200 Par meter. I've build a stand for mounting LEDS to it and testing them at different heights. I can measure from 0" to 30". I was thinking of taking measurements at 6", 12" 18" 24" & possibly 30" depending if people think that height is needed. I was thinking of taking readings in open air and at water level for all of the heights. One of the reasons that I'm doing this is for people who have or are thinking about buying LEDS off of ebay or wherever for their DIY systems.

Here is a link to a dropbox folder that I will eventually put the PAR results in. Right now it has the specs for current LEDs and Lenses that I have and some pictures of the stand. Once we get a good list going, I will start a new more professional looking thread with pictures of testing and readings. I want to do this as scientifically as possible.
Any suggestions, comments, or Ideas are appreciated and welcome.



Please PM me ebay or any other links and post the specs here, so others know which ones are being tested.

Thanks

 

[wastewater]

Great idea! Should be useful to many, and help to eliminate a lot of the unknown 'guess work' variables. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jerzeedevl]

Definitely will be following this thread!

 

[Hoppy]

If you are going to test individual LEDs it will be much more useful if you measure the PAR at the center, directly under the LED, then every inch off center, in one direction only, up to about 6 - 12 inches. That data lets you easily figure out how much PAR you will get with various arrays of those LEDs, spaced at various distances. It is a lot more work though.

 

[mrpixel]

Here is a link to the discussion that we have going on over at reddit about this project. I can measure out to 11" from the center of the stand. I will be doing as you suggested and measure off center out to 9" or so. I'm also going to measure in between two LEDs that are 6" apart and see what kind of loss we get. I will then add lenses to those LEDs and measure again and see if the par in between them increases.

 

[BeastMaster]

Will you be doing fixtures too? If you do, might I suggest the Ehiem PowerLED.
Thanks and good luck w/this thread. :bounce:

 

[mrpixel]

Will you be doing fixtures too?

I'm not sure if I will be or not. Since I'm doing all of this out of pocket, I don't think I will be able to afford pre-assembled fixtures. I can check with the Michigan sub forum here and see if anyone has one that I can go to and test.

If we can find out what LEDs that fixture takes, I can purchase the bulbs and see what they read.

 

[mrpixel]

Hey guys. Just wanted to give you a little update. I'm waiting on the par meter to come back from a plantedtank.net member, and I'm waiting on LEDs and Lenses coming from Hong Kong. I expect testing to start mid June - early July.

Thanks