How do you measure UVB???

In all fairness, I doubt we'll find anything better that is cheaper. Solarmeter's parent company manufacturers lab grade equipment. I keep holding out hope that one day my wife will let me spring for the pma2100 and sensors. But, it's one of those not holding my breath since it's nearly $4000 for just the pma2100 and pma2101 together :eek:. Then you have another 84 sensors to go collecting :unsure:.
 
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dshuld said:
In all fairness, I doubt we'll find anything better that is cheaper. Solarmeter's parent company manufacturers lab grade equipment. I keep holding out hope that one day my wife will let me spring for the pma2100 and sensors. But, it's one of those not holding my breath since it's nearly $4000 for just the pma2100 and pma2101 together :eek:. Then you have another 84 sensors to go collecting :unsure:.
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Oh its not that bad. You save like $30 a year per bulb with a meter. So with a 6 years of cham life, thats saving at least $200. Now just spread that out to 20 cages and it pays for itself :)

I went from changing T8's every six months to T5HO's every 24-36 months, based on meter readings.
 
nightanole said:
Oh its not that bad. You save like $30 a year per bulb with a meter. So with a 6 years of cham life, thats saving at least $200. Now just spread that out to 20 cages and it pays for itself :)

I went from changing T8's every six months to T5HO's every 24-36 months, based on meter readings.
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Lol, I know. I'm sure once the house is finished being done the way she wants it to look I can grab what ever "toys" I want. Right now she's looking at pma2100 price tag as that could be part of the kitchen remodel rolled up into a tiny little box that would rarely get used though :rolleyes:. it does look to be a pretty impressive little meter though so I'll keep drooling for now and make the mrs. happy :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:.
 
nightanole said:
Oh its not that bad. You save like $30 a year per bulb with a meter. So with a 6 years of cham life, thats saving at least $200. Now just spread that out to 20 cages and it pays for itself :)

I went from changing T8's every six months to T5HO's every 24-36 months, based on meter readings.
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Wow! Glad to hear that your T5HO's are lasting that long (and the meters are helping you out) because that is a lot of savings with that many cages. What brand bulbs are you buying, out of curiosity?
 
amfire125 said:
Wow! Glad to hear that your T5HO's are lasting that long (and the meters are helping you out) because that is a lot of savings with that many cages. What brand bulbs are you buying, out of curiosity?
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I stick with the arcadia UVB and zoomed ultra suns for the 6500k bulbs. The new zoomed UVB's should be the same quality.
 
Can any Solarmeter owner tell me the difference between the 6.5 and 6.5R? I looked at their web site and they suggested that if you have the 6.5R, you should also get the 6.2 to measure the decline over time of the bulb output. That's crazy, considering how much they cost. It sounded like they made the 6.5R provide a more convenient output value. But if they also tweaked the inputs sensitivity so it can provide a more convenient measure of Vitamin D3-generating UVB, but at the expense of providing an accurate measure of the health of the UVB bulb, that's not so good. I'd rather have a meter that provided raw microwatt/cm2 numbers which I can convert to UVI and then look up in a book whether they are good for my specific reptile.
 
pincorrect said:
Can any Solarmeter owner tell me the difference between the 6.5 and 6.5R? I looked at their web site and they suggested that if you have the 6.5R, you should also get the 6.2 to measure the decline over time of the bulb output. That's crazy, considering how much they cost. It sounded like they made the 6.5R provide a more convenient output value. But if they also tweaked the inputs sensitivity so it can provide a more convenient measure of Vitamin D3-generating UVB, but at the expense of providing an accurate measure of the health of the UVB bulb, that's not so good. I'd rather have a meter that provided raw microwatt/cm2 numbers which I can convert to UVI and then look up in a book whether they are good for my specific reptile.
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The 6.5R is a stock 6.5 with a pretty picture of a lizard on it, and a sticker at the top for quick references to ferguson zones.

6.2 is for the sun tan booth. Its mostly sensitive to skin/cancer damaging deep UVB. It is not very sensitive to high uvb/uva. On top of that it can be "tricked" by UVC (the non terrestrial nasty stuff that was in the first gen reptile cfls that caused eye damage). So your 6.2 could measure 40, and you think you are perfect, but in reality its reading nasty stuff. Leave the 6.2 for what it is intended for, checking for artificial light.

The 6.5 is for measuring the D3 production zone of UVB, and UVA. it gives a combined output as a UV index. This is the metric used for exposing animals to natural light.

And no you can not directly convert UVI to microwatts. It changes during the day/season/location just like color temperature. the "rule of thumb" is 35-40:1 for the conversion. The UV index is not a dumbed down version of microwatt/cm2 for TV weather stations.


Yes im kind of a nerd about this...
 
Thanks for that useful info. So I guess I should ignore the advice on Solarmeter's web site to also get a 6.2 to measure the lifespan of the bulbs (somebody has to pay for those stickers!) and just get either a 6.5 or a 6.5R. Then I will just use the change in UVI over time to gauge when to replace a worn UVB bulb.
 
amfire125 said:
Being a physics nerd helps me in this department, so I hope some of this helps you guys interpret the light lingo. I also can't resist being an ex-teacher.

UVI stands for UV index, and that's what the solarmeters show you on the screen. The meter shows you an index of UV light (the UV part of the light spectrum) that is being shown in the area you're measuring. This usually includes both UVB and UVA light, which are just two sections of that UV spectrum of light. We all know our chams really need the UVB part to prevent MBD, but obviously they'd love total sunshine that includes the entire light spectrum. So the solarmeter gives you a piece of information and you can use that to figure out how much UVB light (the more specific part of the UV spectrum) is being shown down on that spot you're measuring. The unit "µW/cm²" is micro watts per square cm, so it's just how much wattage of UVB per square cm are being shown down on that area.

https://www.solarmeter.com/model65r.html This page has a chart (whether or not it's reliable - who knows....). According to it a panther chameleon should have 1.1-3.0 UVI in the basking area and a veiled chameleon should have 2.9-7.4 UVI. They're in zones, so using that as well if I used a solarmeter for my veiled cham I'd err on the side of keeping it closer to 3, maybe a max of 3.5 UVI at the basking area.

I don't think there is another option to measure UVB light other than a solarmeter, especially in a cham's enclosure. Personally, and based on my physics background I'm skeptical of the solarmeters, but I'm sure others can attest more to their reliability.

Again, because I can't help myself... here's a cool article explaining a lot of the physics and biology connection of the lighting for reptiles. Sorry if I'm being obnoxious at this point. I just really love this stuff! http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Reptile-Lighting-Information/
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Not obnoxious -- insanely helpful. You must have been a great teacher -- I've been looking through UVI info all morning and this made sense!
 
I think the best way, since this has been bumped.

Would be to using dimming ballast and matching the UVI, to the UVI of a average seasonal day. So the UV goes up and back down through the day. May lead to more natural behaviors. Not cheap, not easy, but would be neat.
 
I will always agree that anything we can do to mimic the specific cham species' natural environment will always be optimal. I also understand when people don't go to more drastic measures because it becomes a slippery slope opening up the conversation of how far do we go to re-creating an entire ecosystem in our human homes for these creatures. It's difficult, and fun! I definitely got into this for the fun of science and caring for these advanced animals. Even my close friends and family who understand my nerdiness were hesitant about my "pet" decision, but when I start to explain that it can be more of a hobby because of all the details involved and the science involved, they start to understand. :)

And thank you @AnamCara !
 
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