Anyone have an Apogee AGP-MQ-500 quantum meter?

[fanleaf]

Damn Fan. You are the man.
Where's the popcorn?!
Question for us mere mortals...do you have a budget? .

Yeah I sure do have a budget Stage. Sometimes tight too. Over the last week I sold off 1.5k worth of my old LEDs once I started with the Cree's. IMO the cobs just cant be beat from reading/researching and the short time I've been using them. The 1.5k is going straight towards the "superpanel". That will be a bit short of paying for just the chips but it's a good start. So far I have the 8x8 tent, a 12" inline blower, 25 of the 42 heatsinks, 5 of 7 drivers, and plenty of the cob reflectors and mounts. I'm just waiting on my supplier to get a big chunk of the chips in so I can get started on the panel as soon as I go aluminum shopping for the frame material. I think I'm gonna make this big SOB a 2 piece.

Honestly tho it's tight on the budget but I view it as a long term investment cha-know?

 

[svltrack]

Fanleaf, have you by chance used the apogee to do any tests of individual assemblies, or tested at various plots, allowing a sort of PAR map? I was posting in another thread, and was referred to this one. Your builds are nice!

I just ordered a slew of smaller Cree COB's, and have an apogee SQ-520. I'd love to be able to have some sort of lumen to PAR ratio as far as these are concerned. Then, lights could be calculated beforehand.

 

[Graytail]

Borrowed from another site ...


lm/w ÷ LER = Efficiency

Efficiency(%) x disspated watts = PARwatt output

PARwatts x conversion factor = µmol output

LER for the CXB Crees is in the 320 range.

3K 80cri: 325
3K 90cri: 275
4K 70cri: 323
5K 70cri: 321

 

[fanleaf]

Borrowed from another site ...


lm/w ÷ LER = Efficiency

Efficiency(%) x disspated watts = PARwatt output

PARwatts x conversion factor = µmol output

LER for the CXB Crees is in the 320 range.

3K 80cri: 325
3K 90cri: 275
4K 70cri: 323
5K 70cri: 321

I have been really wanting to do that Icemud. The thing is that I have a smaller tent on the way so that may be a perfect time to do some grid testing dont ya think? I was thinking that way I can run 1 single 3k and then 1 single 5k at different current levels and see exactly what 1 single cob will do at different heights and power levels. I can rig up a variable power supply for 1 chip so thats no biggie. V*A=W and A=W/V so we can easilly nail exactly what 1 chip will do.
Probably making a youtube video of it would be best.
Would that give you all the info you would need while Im doing it or is there something you would add to it?

I can tell you that so far I absolutely love these things. They really seem to keep high par levels quite a distance from the canopy even when ran soft. The par drop vs height seems to be a slower par drop than the expensive 3w units I use to run which are all Chinese anyways lol.

Heres the monster Im about ready to fire up in my 8x8 tent. Well, 92"x92" anyways.

Sent from my android from outer space!

 

[svltrack]

Borrowed from another site ...


lm/w ÷ LER = Efficiency

Efficiency(%) x disspated watts = PARwatt output

PARwatts x conversion factor = µmol output

LER for the CXB Crees is in the 320 range.

3K 80cri: 325
3K 90cri: 275
4K 70cri: 323
5K 70cri: 321

Neat, but I have seen similar equations, and they seem generic to me. I've also seen where the conversion factor has been debated. At least since a few of us have the means to measure, I'm going to hold off for real world tests.

I have been really wanting to do that Icemud. The thing is that I have a smaller tent on the way so that may be a perfect time to do some grid testing dont ya think? I was thinking that way I can run 1 single 3k and then 1 single 5k at different current levels and see exactly what 1 single cob will do at different heights and power levels. I can rig up a variable power supply for 1 chip so thats no biggie. V*A=W and A=W/V so we can easilly nail exactly what 1 chip will do.
Probably making a youtube video of it would be best.
Would that give you all the info you would need while Im doing it or is there something you would add to it?

I can tell you that so far I absolutely love these things. They really seem to keep high par levels quite a distance from the canopy even when ran soft. The par drop vs height seems to be a slower par drop than the expensive 3w units I use to run which are all Chinese anyways lol.

Heres the monster Im about ready to fire up in my 8x8 tent. Well, 92"x92" anyways.

Sent from my android from outer space!

Dude, that setup is sick!

Provided the sensor is placed properly, I don't think it matters really at all as far as the size of the test tent goes. I was planning on building a matte black 4'x4' surface, and the running tests at various heights and distances. I'll also need a lumen/lux meter to do this. On your room, you could keep it as-is, and just power a single array.

 

[yourseed]

Could you run 2xcob at the same point? 1 tuned dark blue, the other red? Switch between the 2 at the required stage bit still able to maintain 8" coverage?

Sent from my E2303 using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[svltrack]

Fan, I tried asking via PM, but it won't let me because of my post count. Are there better deals to be had besides Mouser and Digikey for the drivers/arrays? Care to send me a message?

 

[fanleaf]

Fan, I tried asking via PM, but it won't let me because of my post count. Are there better deals to be had besides Mouser and Digikey for the drivers/arrays? Care to send me a message?

Oh yes. Much better options. They are way expensive. Ill type you a proper response when I'm not on my cell phone and I have my laptop handy.
Actually hang on one second and I will copy and paste a link to my huge LED build where I show some of the suppliers.

Sent from my android from outer space!

 

[fanleaf]

Here you go. Anyone wanna follow a cree cxb 3590 42 cob superpanel build?

Sent from my android from outer space!

 

[Musician]

This is my first post to the group, so hi!

I've got three fixtures I built running CXB3590 using 2.7K, 3K, 3.5K COBs. There's 4 COBs per fixture and I alternate values on each fixture:

2.7K 3K 3.5K 2.7K - Fixture 1
3K 3.5K 2.7K 3K --- Fixture 2
3.5K 2.7K 3K 3.5K - Fixture 3

I've used them in a 4 x 4 tent and I've had burning of the leaves every time I've grown. I've varied the height of the fixtures and the last time had them well over 2' from the tips and still yellowing/burning. The shaded leaves below the upper canopy all look great so I have to assume there is too much light that is affecting the tops. I've experimented varying the intensity but I've gotten tired of experimenting without success so I just ordered an Apogee AGP-MQ-500 quantum meter. My expectation is maybe I'll need to remove one of the fixtures, adjust the intensity and the MQ-500 will tell me the numbers that I need to know to get it right.

Different plants handle light intensity differently and I'm not sure what numbers I need to read that is the best for these. Is a reading of 1500 with the MQ-500 too much, too little? It's going to be good to know I can finally get this problem over with & I didn't want to get a cheap Lux meter, I wanted an accurate reading so I can stop guessing.

Suggestions or advice from anyone using a MQ-500?

Thanks!

 

[TorturedSoul]

This is my first post to the group, so hi!

Hello, Musician, and welcome to 420Magazine.com!

I've got three fixtures I built running CXB3590 using 2.7K, 3K, 3.5K COBs. There's 4 COBs per fixture

in a 4 x 4 tent

That's 16 square feet. I've been told that the "sweet spot" is one COB per ft.², running at 50 watts each. I have no personal experience with DiY COB builds/grows, but that does seem to be a fairly popular opinion. What wattages are you running, and at what spacing (in terms of "per square foot")?

I've had burning of the leaves every time I've grown.

I have always understood burning to be caused by heat, and bleaching to be caused by too much / too intense light.

last time had them well over 2' from the tips and still yellowing/burning.

<WHISTLES>

I just ordered an Apogee AGP-MQ-500 quantum meter.

Nice! Please return and illuminate (lol) us as to what you discover/measure.

Different plants handle light intensity differently and I'm not sure what numbers I need to read that is the best for these. Is a reading of 1500 with the MQ-500 too much, too little?

There seems to be some question about this, still. I don't really think there is ONE number. Some seem to think that's a great maximum, others say more like 1,200. IDK. I know that there are many different strains, though. They didn't all come from the same place (not recently, at least). Amount/intensity of light is just one thing that will have varied from place to place.

Recently, I have begun trying to think in terms of DLI - daylight intergral. AfaIK, that basically means how much light a plant requires per day. With that in mind, I'm curious as to whether you are growing photoperiodic strains and flowering them @ 12 hours of light per day, or auto-flowering strains and flowering them @ 18 to 20 or even more hours per day?

Additionally, are these (mostly) indica, (mostly) sativa, or more like a 50:50?

And what are your temperatures? It is my understanding that a cannabis plant is capable of processing more light-energy as the temperature rises - up to 86°F or so. This will vary from strain to strain, I think. And that is at ambient CO₂ levels. If you're adding supplemental CO₂, you'd want to increase the temperature somewhat, because there is a relationship between these three things.

Oh, and please be aware that I do NOT consider myself to be an expert. I'm just someone who has grown a plant or two over the years, and who has read a bit.