I was able to make it work on W10 with the provided software from Maukka (BTW thanks again).
Please note that I had similar troubles with my expensiver luxmeter: after countless attempts I was able to make it work, but not 100% reliably on my W8.1 laptop. Usually I needed 10 minutes before being able to discharge the logs.
I tried once with my desktop with W10. Not only it did autoconnect to the software (a million year away from what I imagined could happen), but it works 100% reliably.
I believe the difference is in the bios and how the driver works with the motherboard. On my laptop, I found that everything that is not a pendrive thakes more cursing to work, compared to the widely compatible motherboard on the desktop I assembled.
Now I only use the desktop, and even for the GM1020 I won’t wase a second making it work on the laptop.
Now I will try to see how much difference is between a 20 and a 200$ luxmeter.
So now after some discussion, is this still a high-value option? Or is there a better model I should be looking at for ~$20?
It depends on what you want to do. There is no other budget alternative for a luxmeter with datalogger in that price range. I use this model since several months and i cant say anything bad about it. The thing with cheap luxmeter devices is that they are probably not as accurate compared to higher prices devices but that dosnt matter at all for runtime tests or ceiling bounce tests etc.. because you actually calibrate the device with your reference flashlight, it doesnt matter if it will show the true lux value @1m for example. I have three luxmeters and all show different lux values, sometimes 5k difference. For example luxmeter A shows 44k lux, the other one 39k lux. I think this device measure a bit to high but for runtime tests it doesnt matter. You have to deactivate the auto shutdown function.
I will be using it to measure throw numbers and probably make a sphere or PVC tube at some point for lumens. I don’t necessarily need the logging function. First priority is accuracy and consistency, but must be under $25
I’ve got two of these. They differ about 5-15% from each other depending on the brightness/cct/cri of the light used. Haven’t looked into it more though.
I will be using it to measure throw numbers and probably make a sphere or PVC tube at some point for lumens. I don't necessarily need the logging function. First priority is accuracy and consistency, but must be under $25
for a sphere its ok because you calibrate it with your reference light sources, so it doesnt matter if its off or not. Remember for a sphere you want a luxmeter with a separate sensor, not the one piece design like this one. If you dont need the logging function than you can buy any other budget luxmeter, i like this one
So you guys pretty well ironed out all the issues? Is this a viable option to use for runtime testing?
Also kinda curious how y’all go about your tests. I use my lumen tube and have a series of alarms set to manually collect data points. Gets pretty dang tedious; A data logger would be a huge step up.
What programs do you people use to create runtime graphs? Google spreadsheet seems to have some hiccups when I input thousands of numbers to it and do some math on them, so I’d like to have some better options.
counterfeit prolific chips.
use the driver supplied with the unit.its patched to run the counterfeit chip.
maukka wrote:
Just a heads up that I haven’t been able to get this meter to work on any of my Windows 10 machines. Even with the newer drivers downloaded from Profilic.
Someone please do review this. I don’t need accuracy to 4 decimal places, I just want to be in the ballpark about flashlight runtimes and light intensity. This might be the next thing on my “want” list.
Questions.
Does the entire light test have to be in a dark room? My tests might last 24 hours or more. This could be a problem because I don’t have a spare bedroom.
Can I set the time to log data? I might only want to log data once every 10 seconds.
you may be able to add piece of paper or other “diffuser” to the one that reads high..
fwiw, I “calibrated” the cap from a vitamin jar, to show 1 lumen Low with a ReyLight Tool. (with a couple of layers of paper under the cap),
with that calibration, I wondered how it would read on High so I tested 3 of my Lumintops w Nichia
the actual reading came in 6% below spec for the ReyLight on High
here is a Lumintop Tool w Nichia (on a Maratac body), it measured just 2% below spec
that same “calibration” produced almost exactly factory spec High on my Worm (spec is 80 lumens)
the largest variations imo are caused by differences in battery levels. there are also differences between the individual drivers in each light.
Notwithstanding the factors that cause inconsistency between specs and individual lights, I believe the “calibrated” diffuser is reasonably consistent at both low and high lumen levels.
Seems like for older revisions of PL2303 (and clones), the newer drivers will generate a “Code 10” Device cannot start error.
(My guess is that Prolific may be trying to make PL2303 clones “not work” with their drivers, although it would also affect older revisions of their own chipsets)
I have a PL2303 USB-to-serial adapter that doesn’t work with the latest drivers, but using the older driver specified above, it worked. Maybe similar scenario in your case.
I was able to make it work on W10 with the provided software from Maukka (BTW thanks again).
Please note that I had similar troubles with my expensiver luxmeter: after countless attempts I was able to make it work, but not 100% reliably on my W8.1 laptop. Usually I needed 10 minutes before being able to discharge the logs.
I tried once with my desktop with W10. Not only it did autoconnect to the software (a million year away from what I imagined could happen), but it works 100% reliably.
I believe the difference is in the bios and how the driver works with the motherboard. On my laptop, I found that everything that is not a pendrive thakes more cursing to work, compared to the widely compatible motherboard on the desktop I assembled.
Now I only use the desktop, and even for the GM1020 I won’t wase a second making it work on the laptop.
Now I will try to see how much difference is between a 20 and a 200$ luxmeter.
Here are all my reviews on BLF
You guys using LuxLab or 3rd party?
luxlab
Here are all my reviews on BLF
So now after some discussion, is this still a high-value option? Or is there a better model I should be looking at for ~$20?
My Favorite Modded Lights: X6R, S8 , X2R , M6, SP03
Major Projects: Illuminated Tailcap, TripleDown/TripleStack Driver
It depends on what you want to do. There is no other budget alternative for a luxmeter with datalogger in that price range. I use this model since several months and i cant say anything bad about it. The thing with cheap luxmeter devices is that they are probably not as accurate compared to higher prices devices but that dosnt matter at all for runtime tests or ceiling bounce tests etc.. because you actually calibrate the device with your reference flashlight, it doesnt matter if it will show the true lux value @1m for example. I have three luxmeters and all show different lux values, sometimes 5k difference. For example luxmeter A shows 44k lux, the other one 39k lux. I think this device measure a bit to high but for runtime tests it doesnt matter. You have to deactivate the auto shutdown function.
I will be using it to measure throw numbers and probably make a sphere or PVC tube at some point for lumens. I don’t necessarily need the logging function. First priority is accuracy and consistency, but must be under $25
My Favorite Modded Lights: X6R, S8 , X2R , M6, SP03
Major Projects: Illuminated Tailcap, TripleDown/TripleStack Driver
I’ve got two of these. They differ about 5-15% from each other depending on the brightness/cct/cri of the light used. Haven’t looked into it more though.
So you guys pretty well ironed out all the issues? Is this a viable option to use for runtime testing?
Also kinda curious how y’all go about your tests. I use my lumen tube and have a series of alarms set to manually collect data points. Gets pretty dang tedious; A data logger would be a huge step up.
What programs do you people use to create runtime graphs? Google spreadsheet seems to have some hiccups when I input thousands of numbers to it and do some math on them, so I’d like to have some better options.
counterfeit prolific chips.
use the driver supplied with the unit.its patched to run the counterfeit chip.
Excel.
Here are all my reviews on BLF
Someone please do review this. I don’t need accuracy to 4 decimal places, I just want to be in the ballpark about flashlight runtimes and light intensity. This might be the next thing on my “want” list.
Questions.
Thanks!
you may be able to add piece of paper or other “diffuser” to the one that reads high..
fwiw, I “calibrated” the cap from a vitamin jar, to show 1 lumen Low with a ReyLight Tool. (with a couple of layers of paper under the cap),
with that calibration, I wondered how it would read on High so I tested 3 of my Lumintops w Nichia
the actual reading came in 6% below spec for the ReyLight on High
here is a Lumintop Tool w Nichia (on a Maratac body), it measured just 2% below spec
that same “calibration” produced almost exactly factory spec High on my Worm (spec is 80 lumens)
the largest variations imo are caused by differences in battery levels. there are also differences between the individual drivers in each light.
Notwithstanding the factors that cause inconsistency between specs and individual lights, I believe the “calibrated” diffuser is reasonably consistent at both low and high lumen levels.
Prolific serial-to-usb Code 10 error:
Have you tried using an older driver?
http://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/support/Knowledgebase/Article/View/92...
Seems like for older revisions of PL2303 (and clones), the newer drivers will generate a “Code 10” Device cannot start error.
(My guess is that Prolific may be trying to make PL2303 clones “not work” with their drivers, although it would also affect older revisions of their own chipsets)
I have a PL2303 USB-to-serial adapter that doesn’t work with the latest drivers, but using the older driver specified above, it worked. Maybe similar scenario in your case.
I was able to remedy the situation by using this:
http://www.ifamilysoftware.com/news37.html
With those hacked drivers all of my Prolific devices work just fine.
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