ProMetric is here!

The_LED_Museum

*Retired*
Joined
Aug 12, 2000
Messages
19,414
Location
Federal Way WA. USA
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This is the first picture to come out of the new ProMetric system. It is a turquoise Pelican L1, and I saved the profile in false color to highlight the light distribution.

The calibration source that came with the ProMetric is huge and heavy, and looks like the Death Ray on Voyager's black & white "Captain Proton" episodes.
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That still needs to be set up and run, so it's back to the lab I go...

pm001.jpg


Here is the system in the middle of set-up.
 
Great instrument! I see there's a cold spot at the center of L1's beam.

Craig.... how about test shots of fairly nice even beam flashlight (SureFire) and one with lots of rings (Syclone, SL4AA, Eveready Lights).
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That's really a nice toy to play with flashlights... $9000
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. Gotta work more to get one.
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- verge -
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 2d_edge:
Great instrument! I see there's a cold spot at the center of L1's beam.

Craig.... how about test shots of fairly nice even beam flashlight (SureFire) and one with lots of rings (Syclone, SL4AA, Eveready Lights).
grin.gif
-
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


That's actually a very hot spot.
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I'll grab the camera's orginal picture if possible (moving to floppy... putting floppy in other computer... copying... uploading...)

l1turq2.jpg

(This image was deliberately contrast-enhanced before uploading)

Nope, I don't have a Syclone, SL4AA (whatever that is) or any Eveready lights with nasty beams.
No Surefire either for a smooth beam sample. But I do have a Docter Aspherilux that came today, and I'll try that one as soon as I can.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 2d_edge:
That's really a nice toy to play with flashlights... $9000
shocked.gif
. Gotta work more to get one.
frown.gif

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's actually a loaner system. I did some trading for use of the instrument.
 
Two different kinds of plots.
The victim was a Docter Aspherilux 4-AA plastic body flashl - er - torch.

These plots do not actually contain ACCURATE PHOTOMETRIC DATA because the unit has not yet been calibrated. However, as a RELATIVE measurement, these plots are still deadly accurate.

docter1.gif


docter2.gif


I will have to hook up a 17" screen even if there isn't room for it, because the way the software works, the physical size and resolution of the graphs is determined solely by the user's screen resolution. A larger screen will deliver better resolution for the two types of charts seen in this messages.

Importing these involves taking a full screen dump, copying it into a paint program, saving it as a BMP, zipping it up, putting to floppy, then doing the reverse on the other computer. Since I have Photoshop on this computer, I can then crop and save as .GIF for upload. It's a bit of a pain in the toilet muscle, but it isn't totally overwhelming.
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Let me find a flashlight with a LOT of nasty, horrible rings and do the same kind of graphs with... be back in an hour or so.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stingmon:
The victim was a Docter Aspherilux 4-AA plastic body flashl - er - torch.
smile.gif
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ummm, strickly speaking, it's a Taschenlampen, (from Germany).
wink.gif


The Prometric looks like a BEAUTIFUL *toy*. I notice it's set up next to a conveniently open mains powered computer case.
Mains powered !! Craig - we're not soon going to be lamenting "the late Stingmon" are we ? Call me a fussy old Health'n'Safety conscious light-freak ......

lightlover

Why has he got a picture of a mouldy month old pizza in the topmost shot ??
(I speak from experience of "lost" pizzas ......)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
Ummm, strickly speaking, it's a Taschenlampen, (from Germany).
wink.gif


The Prometric looks like a BEAUTIFUL *toy*. I notice it's set up next to a conveniently open mains powered computer case.
Mains powered
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's also quite complex... you wouldn't believe the steps needed to calibrate it for just one flashlight.
But calibrate I did, and the Princeton Tec Impact was the first "official" victim.
The plots are accurate (as the ones on this page are) and the photometric junk should also be within a few percent or so.

Space is a definite problem though.
I outlined the feet of both tripods with electrical tape on the carpet so I can set them back up - I have to move both out of the way before I can type or manipulate files on either computer, or take a calibration reading of the test sample with another meter.

That big cal light is 525 watts, and I don't see any filters for it. I have to wear sunglasses at night when that thing is on.
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Big set of instruments, tiny apartment. You figure it out.
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I may recalibrate the whole works to work at a shorter distance to the screen; maybe I can just squeeze it in and still be able to type and meter the test flashlights without having to move a tripod.

Wonder what light I should do next... hmmm...
I did promise someone I'd run the Photon Fusion through the thing. And that definitely calls for a closer-range setup at least for one of the tripods.
smile.gif


I'll be back a bit later with a couple of instrument pictures (not plots).

chow!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Importing these involves taking a full screen dump, copying it into a paint program, saving it as a BMP, zipping it up, putting to floppy, then doing the reverse on the other computer. Since I have Photoshop on this computer, I can then crop and save as .GIF for upload. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

gack! a $9k piece of hardware and that's the best they can do for saving output!??? we oughta be able to figure out a way to connect your two computers together if you're gonna do this a lot...

but on the positive side - those plots are great! how about a picture of the LS?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Artie Choke:
gack! a $9k piece of hardware and that's the best they can do for saving output!??? we oughta be able to figure out a way to connect your two computers together if you're gonna do this a lot...

but on the positive side - those plots are great! how about a picture of the LS?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It isn't their fault. One of my computers is connected to the net, but cannot run Win 98 and therefore cannot run the Prometric.

The other computer is not connected to the net, but can run the Prometric under win 98.

Since there's nothing to connect the two machines together, I do screen dumps & create BMPs of the screens on the Prometric computer, then use floppies to transfer the resulting BMP files from it to the my internet computer, then crop them with Photoshop and save them as GIFs to display on the net.

Fortunately, these 1.4 meg BMPs compress down to around 20K apiece with pkzip, so the floppy disk store & retrieve operations aren't terribly long.
smile.gif


Finally, there will not be a set done for the Arc LS prototype, because the beam configuration is irregular and the data would mislead people into thinking the production units will also be flawed this way, when in fact they will not.

I just finished doing the Photon Fusion, and I'm now manipulating the graphics to fit on my website. I might try some bare LEDs next.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Artie Choke:
craig,
get this software and you can convert to a gif directly - and skip the zip step:

irfanview

it's totally free. it will also crop and resize.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It still doesn't get rid of all the damn floppies.
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I have that program on the computer I use for image manipulation. There's some cutting & pasting and some text that needs to be put in too, so irfanview isn't quite enough.
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Photoshop is, however.

I appreciate the thought though.
 
Testing... ripped out the 13" monitor and put in a 17". The software scales & details according to the user's screen size (how bizarre)...

test30.gif

this is the iso from the Docter.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous:
I notice it's set up next to a conveniently open mains powered computer case.
Mains powered [/i]
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I had to open it up to install a PCI video capture board... then I tore off the front because the CD-ROM wouldn't read the software CD-R, so I pulled the older CD-ROM drive out of this computer and it worked.
But it isn't shaped the same as the old one, so now it looks all weird inside there.

While I had it open, I also tore out the two green LEDs and replaced them with a 470nm blue and a 445nm blue. :)

nublu1.jpg


As you can see, all that's left to do is replace the cover for the zip drive & the two blanks, and she'll be good as new... except for that funny looking inset CD-ROM drive. The original looks like it was custom made for Gateway, and only fits properly in their systems.
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Oh, and the two shiny new blue LEDs.
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The brighter of the two is the drive activity light (this is the Nichia 470nm), while the power-on light is a deep, violetish blue 445nm Cree part.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stingmon:
Testing... ripped out the 13" monitor and put in a 17". The software scales & details according to the user's screen size (how bizarre)...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Does the Software have the ability to make the vertical axis with a logarithmic scale (yes, I know, you missed that part at school)?
This is much more according to eye's response.

And second, does it have an integrating function?
Of course the data will also come out as a bunch of numbers. It should be easy to do the integrating there.

But first go to sleep !
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
Does the Software have the ability to make the vertical axis with a logarithmic scale (yes, I know, you missed that part at school)?
This is much more according to eye's response.!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Not that I've found. The system has a linear response, and the graphs it produces are all linear as well.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
And second, does it have an integrating function?
Of course the data will also come out as a bunch of numbers. It should be easy to do the integrating there.!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Integrate into what?
What would I use a pile of numbers for when the program does all the graphing?


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
But first go to sleep !<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was up until around 4 yesterday morning futzing with the thing. Later in the morning I learned a couple of new options and re-did all of my current test subjects to show the changes.

This is the instrument itself.
prom1.jpg


I'll have to take my hands off the thing for a few days though... the annual inspections are Monday, and the place is a wreck.
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stingmon:

(logarithmic scale) Not that I've found. The system has a linear response, and the graphs it produces are all linear as well.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thats a pity. So it has to be done afterwards (importing the numbers into another software, maybe a spread sheet).

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Integrate into what?
What would I use a pile of numbers for when the program does all the graphing?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

To get the luminous flux in the observed area. And therefore, could you give us a rough translation of your x and y axis length parameter into degrees (angle)?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I'll have to take my hands off the thing for a few days though... the annual inspections are Monday, and the place is a wreck. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Whatever annual inspection is, it sounds bureaucratic and therefore horrible...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
To get the luminous flux in the observed area. And therefore, could you give us a rough translation of your x and y axis length parameter into degrees (angle)?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think under some conditions, the software can label some of its plots in degrees instead of inches.

hlmp0001.gif

This one is the spatial distribution curve from a newer Agilent LED, somewhat overdriven as one might do in a flashlight.
It would normally output probably 25-28cd for the central few degrees where one would be most likely to stick a light meter.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PeLu:
Whatever annual inspection is, it sounds bureaucratic and therefore horrible...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's invasive and disruptive. A group of Seattle Housing Authority people comes in and inspects your housekeeping. If you fail their inspection, you get a warning letter and 10 days to correct. And if you fail when they come back to re-inspect, you get evicted.

I've failed these things for having a dirty glass in the sink and a wheelchair tire mark on the floor by the door (they record this chickensh!t stuff on the inspection form and put it in your record). A few years ago I failed one because there was a rust stain in the commode. A little Whink took care of that, but it's the principal of the whole thing.
One year, they even summoned their $120 an hour electrician because they thought I had too many wires running behind a desk.
The electrician correctly explained to the inspectors that most of what they were seeing was "small signal wiring" and that "the tenant knows what he's doing" and that the rat's nest of wire was nothing to be concerned about. They never bothered me about that again.

It's not exactly a white glove test, but it seems to come damn close sometimes.
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Pelu,

The spatial distro chart *can* be made into a log chart, but as far as I can tell, none of the others.

I'll see what happens when I re-chart a couple of the existing files using the logarithmic scale. (Looks *terrible* unless the illumination at the edges is zero or very near zero; a condition found only when testing a laser so far.)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Same chart, done Pelu's way, just like Burger King.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey, that's not 'my way', that's more or less usual (do not want to argue about what is usual) for optical measurements .-)

If you set the scale and, more importnat, the bottom line, according, you will get a more 'pleasing' hill.

Besides that: These diagrams are great!
What's the maximum angle you can get with it?

And as you have an average function, integarting is already done and it is easy to convert the average luminous intensity into luminous flux (what most of us are interested in).

(If nobody has already done it, I will do it in the evening (local time) as I have to leave no to go underground.)
 
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