DIY Spectrometer - Check what wavelengths your lights give out

[Nyhm Reaper]

Just made one myself, will get some pics uploaded later tonight or tomorrow. Tested the CFLs with it, it took a few minutes t figure out exactly how to hold it and look but i managed to get a reading. The purple and blue lines are both thick, the green line medium and then fading away as small lines were a yellowish orange and red. 23W CFL.

 

[Srilania]

Actually, that's only half of what you need. In looking at some information, I found this blog that has a Computerized spectrometer, that lets him get a light intensity curve that can be compared and measured between different bulbs or lights. electronupdate: Spectrometer for LED Bulb Testing He's also been doing teardowns of different LED bulbs, which has made me consider using cheap LED bulbs to mod into something more useable, if the LED bulbs are not useable.

 

[somebody else]

Here is another DIY Spectrometer that you can attach to a smartphone. Available here Public Lab: Foldable Mini-Spectrometer You don't need to buy their kit. Just scroll down to build your own and download the pdf.

 

[Icemud]

I decided to pull out my DIY spectrometer and take some readings of the Advanced LED lights I am running. I also loaded in some spectrum charts to help show that it can be a decent device for getting an idea of what a certain light puts out.... plus its just fun to toy around with while medicated

So here is the XTE light as I currently am running it... VEG 100%, Bloom about 50% on the dials

Here is the XTE Light with both channels on full...

Here is the XTE light with only the Blue/White Channel on full: (red is off)

Here is the XTE light with only the RED channel on (blue is off):

Here is the EX-VEG light

Here is a 26W warm white CFL bulb in my room:

 

[BlaccSmoke]

Good work IceMud, I know this is to show you which spectrum the light is putting out but could you also use it as a rough guide of how much the of which spectrum the light is putting out? For example if its putting out more blue then red, would the blue band be thicker inside the box then the red?

 

[Icemud]

Good work IceMud, I know this is to show you which spectrum the light is putting out but could you also use it as a rough guide of how much the of which spectrum the light is putting out? For example if its putting out more blue then red, would the blue band be thicker inside the box then the red?

Sorry I just saw your question now. If you look at the very last 2 photos, you will see how the actual chart is very close to the DIY spectrometers photo, where the peaks on the chart (strongest intensity) are much more vivid and bright such as the green, purple, blue and orange/yellow are the strongest in the CFL example, where as you look at the very 1st page, the HPS example, you see that red/orange and green are pretty much very very strong, and the other colors are almost non existant or very low intensity. Even though accurate measurements couldn't be made with this, visually it is a great representation of what spectrum a light is putting out. So in short, yes the brighter and more vivid the band, the higher intensity.

 

[Icemud]

Here is another DIY Spectrometer that you can attach to a smartphone. Available here Public Lab: Foldable Mini-Spectrometer You don't need to buy their kit. Just scroll down to build your own and download the pdf.

thanks for sharing that, looks like an awesome DIY that takes it to the next level, love the software they developed I actually think I may add a diffraction grading to mine as it looks fairly easy wonder if it will clear up the division between wavelengths better

 

[Icemud]

I just did another test and figured I would put it here just to build our DIY spectrum database

This is the Budmaster COB X 4 which has a 3500K white spectrum from CitiLED and their Gen 4 COB/LES chips.

Notice that even the DIY shows a gap at the 460-470nm range, just like the actual chart. Pretty cool how accurate this DIY spectrometer is

 

[Mello136]

This is nuts! Thanks Icemud. +Reps and a hat tip. More gizmos for the grow room.