> On Feb 28, 4:36 pm, Mycoloteur gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>

>> On Feb 22, 5:44 pm,BudBurnerhotmail.com> wrote:

>

>>> On Feb 22, 4:11 pm, Mycoloteur gmail.com> wrote:

>

>>>> On Feb 21, 5:33 pm,BudBurnerhotmail.com> wrote:

>

>>>>> I can actually see this scenario happening:

>

>>>>> Stoner #1: "Dude! Check out my new LED grow lights!". (Tips
>>>>> light sideways and into friend's face).
>>>>> Stoner #2: "Whoa bro! Holyfuk those are bright! Why the funky
>>>>> colors?" (Blinking eyes rapidly).
>>>>> Stoner #1: "Careful dude, you just ran into the wall! The door
>>>>> is over here!"
>>>>> Stoner #2: "Ow! Damn dude, that hurt! Oh, wow, if I close my
>>>>> eyes now everything is green!"
>>>>> Woof! Yip!
>>>>> Stoner #1: "Whoa dude, you just fell over my dog!"

>

>>>> No doubt about it. People need to be educated same as they did with
>>>> personal lasers.

>

>>>>> Seriously though, it is a concern and I really don't think
>>>>> putting a hood or shade on it would help much because of the viewing
>>>>> angle pretty much corresponding to exactly the right angle for any
>>>>> kind of lighting fixture used for growing. ~110 degrees dispersion
>>>>> angle is pretty much what one wants, so this is really a plus not
>>>>> having to shade at all but have the unshaded/reflectorless light
>>>>> shining directly on the plants and not being blocked and effectively
>>>>> wasted.

>

>>>> Yeah that was my point.

>

>>>>> I've never seen a surface mount device of this power level
>>>>> before so I am only guessing at this point how bright it will actually
>>>>> be but I've already seen some of the LED light bars used on police
>>>>> cars and ambulances and those are damn bright with the domed T 1 3/4
>>>>> package size.

>

>>>> Yeah, even the not so bright ones are bright enough to temporarily
>>>> blind you.

>

>>>>> I can theoretically pack them as close together as the machine
>>>>> can place them, and that would be somewhere around 2.5 mm. separation.
>>>>> I'm doing one single strip with 6 of the blue devices and 11 of the

>

>>>> I am betting they will not need to be very close.

>

>>>>> red to test them and the number of LED's of each color just worked out
>>>>> to the maximum number of each color that I could run with a 24 volt
>>>>> supply. I am using a SMT 1n4001 rectifier in series with the current
>>>>> limiting resistor for the string; the rectifier diode is just a
>>>>> convenient way of getting rid of about .7 volts I'd otherwise need to
>>>>> drop with the resistor. Less to drop means lower dissipation and a
>>>>> smaller resistor; I am using twice the wattage rating to keep them
>>>>> running cool.

>

>>>> Good good. How cosmic.

>

>>>>> The actual "production" panel will have a ratio of 3 red
>>>>> LED's to every blue LED due to the way the actual energy level of the
>>>>> particular color of light works out. Red, being a lower frequency,
>>>>> comes packed with less energetic photons than their blue counterparts,
>>>>> hence the ratio is not going to be 1:1 like I had originally thought
>>>>> but will be 3:1 to come closest to equalizing things.

>

>>>> Yeah, but I am not sure you actually want that ratio in the end.
>>>> Either way, I would go by peak or late peak summer sunlight ratios if
>>>> anything. (I so need a new light meter that does par.)

>

>>>> Ideally you want to be able to vary the ratio over the course of life
>>>> from blue dominant to red dominant. Linearly would be nice, but any
>>>> mechanism to do it is better than none.

>

>>>>> In the back of my mind is the maximum current pulse vs duration
>>>>> graph on the datasheet; I can pulse them with over half an amp in
>>>>> about a 10%% duty cycle and not only make them appear twice as bright
>>>>> as they already are but the higher current in pulse mode makes the
>>>>> devices go wider in spectral half power bandwidth (over 30
>>>>> nanometers!). The resistors run cooler too with the 10%% duty cycle.
>>>>> The pulsing of the LED's make them appear so much brighter to our eyes
>>>>> because we cannot see the individual pulses when they are at a fast
>>>>> rate. I think 5 ms long pulses every 50 ms is going to be the upper
>>>>> limit. My theory is that the plant, organic like our retina, cannot
>>>>> tell that the light is pulsing and will perceive it as being brighter
>>>>> too. I will soon have a way to either confirm or debunk the theory!

>

>>>> Good question. I would not want to have to bet either way. Still, I
>>>> would not be surprised if they preferred pulsed for a number of
>>>> reasons.

>

>>>>> Sorry about the lengthy posts, but I feel this is of interest
>>>>> to all indoor ganja growers.

>

>>>> Not at all. Thanks for sharing.

>

>>>>> Any little unused space could potentially
>>>>> become a garden of herbal delights, places we'd never have been able
>>>>> to even consider before! A little Afghanica under the kitchen sink, or
>>>>> perhaps some Coon Creek Creeper in the broom closet? Or maybe some
>>>>> Northern Lights behind the home entertainment center cabinet?
>>>>> BudBurner

>

>>>> Indeed! That's what I have been thinking for a while now. Each
>>>> separate chamber, individually addressable and computer managed..

>

>>>> :-)

>

>>>> Love and Light

>

>>> I really liked the idea of the computer control. That would
>>> integrate my grow journal where I take voluminous notes on what I
>>> observe daily in my garden to the grow light hours and how far one was
>>> skewing the red/blue ratio. The more one can document, the better the
>>> grow can be. Each strain I have seems to have it's own personality and
>>> needs, and by logging everything we get a good shot at zeroing in on
>>> it's nutrient and light needs as it grows and matures; the nutes to
>>> give and when to give (or when and what to with-hold). I think it is
>>> so important to keep as much of a grow journal as possible to help
>>> advance the growing art. Computer control will so much aid in this,
>>> linking control with database and history.
>>> I transposed the decimal point just a little on the pulse
>>> width/duty cycle! Using .5 mSec wide pulses every 10 mSec is the upper
>>> limit in pulse mode. My bad. Very bad, in fact, as 50 mSec pulses
>>> would have assured the nearly immediate destruction of the LED.
>>> I'm having a bit of trouble with the samples through my usual
>>> supply house, so I asked the folks we deal with in China if they would
>>> look at the chosen LED specs and see if someone over there makes
>>> something comparable. The Lumex ones are a bit pricey anyway, but they
>>> really would be the ideal choice of what I've seen through the usual
>>> distributors. I should hear back in a few days.
>>> I did find out I have a choice of 90 degree or 120 degree half
>>> power dispersion angle, and I am sticking with the 120 degree as it
>>> should be the optimal spread for the panel size. After looking at a
>>> CAD drawing in 3D of the dispersion angles and how the cluster of
>>> devices are either compressed or expanded, I see that a good spacing
>>> would actually be far more than what I had thought originally by
>>> packing them tight. Uniformity occurs more then 20 mm apart and I am
>>> still playing with the minicandellas per cm results of moving the
>>> simulated device centers further apart. I figure it will eventually
>>> end up in a trade-off between uniformity and practicality. More
>>> modeling to continue Monday.
>>> Right now, it's time for a session with the glass bong and the
>>> AK-47 from last season, with a chilled beer or two. Weekend!!!
>>> BudBurner

>

>> Its interesting how close your descriptions here are to what I have
>> been imagining for a few months now.

>

>> You were talking about your journal, its so important to track that
>> stuff if you really want to learn. Like you said, different strains
>> have their own personalities as well.

>

>> I want to be able to control/track things like tds, oxygen, co2, temp,
>> humidity, plant height and other variables automatically as well as
>> controlling the spectral balance and daylength.

>

>> With that data in a computer, I can extract all kinds of knowledge
>> just by running reports and permutating the variables.

>

>> YAY!!!

>

>> Love and Light

>
> I try to keep as detailed of records as I can. I have been
> doing it primarily like one would any kind of journal or diary, also
> including the outdoor weather such as temperature, humidity and
> barometric pressure as well as phases/position of the moon
> and such things as solar flares and sun spots. Plus, all of the other
> pertinant stuff like ferts, watering schedule, light cycle on/off
> times etc. gets kept as does my comments and ramblings. :-)
> BudBurner