Does anyone here use a light meter?

[fkovalski]

Does anyone here in TDR land use a light meter? It might be more complex than those used by photographers (its an "Illuminometer FX-200). I have one that I borrowed from one of my consulting engineers that measures light levels in LUX and FOOTCANDLES in various ranges. My question is this: can the “light mic” sensor be pointed directly at the light source? I am getting funny reading all over the scale and am wondering if the sensor is getting “blinded” by too strong a light source. I am trying to measure light under a fueling station canopy at night for a design project on which I am working. I am not familiar with the device. There are no instructions and the engineer of I borrowed the meter is on holiday for a while. Any input is appreciated.

-frank

 

[cap-n-cray]

Frank,



I use an old General Electric light meter, type 213. I have had it for years. I used it to measure light in offices and warehouses. It measures in footcandles - color and cosine corrected with a scale for hectolux and has two settings. Switch up multiply readings by 10. It has no batteries and the top has a white translucent plastic rectangle (3/4" x 1 1/2") that measures the light. Pointing it at a light source does increase the reading but it gathers diffused light.



I know that you should not point a meter at the sun but a bright light source should not do anything unless it is for a long time and close. Hope this helps.



Cary

 

[Rman]

Does it have auto ranging? Our stuff measure in foot lamberts where i work. Perhaps it's stuck on a range and is just pegging it's scale. Our setup is both manual and auto ranging depending on what you're doing.