DIY PAR Meter Wand

[Townes_Van_Camp]

oh okay i know what those are. what about the type of blade to cut the acrylic? would it be similar to a blade i would use for say, metal?

Yes, if you are going to do it with a jig saw use a fine tooth metal blade.

 

[Bret]

and for filing could i use like, a Dremel? or is that not strong enough?

For final shaping after rough cutting with the jig saw, you could use a dremel with a sanding bit on it. use fairly coarse grit (80) to get the shape about where you want it, then you can move up to 120 grit or so to finish it off. Be carful not to sand your fingers!

 

[Bret]

Is that a sq 420 with a lightning adapter?

its just a usb to mini usb adapter so I can connect to my windows tablet.

 

[Bret]

OH wow i can use a jig saw to cut acrylic?

Also, you definitely do not need to use 3/4" thick acrylic. I actually planned to use 3/8" but the 3/4" scrap is what they had. 3/8" or 1/2" would probably be the best choice.

 

[laverda]

download the app photone. its a par meter.

I d own loaded app but see no way to use it as a par meter. :-(

 

[Lylelovett]

This was my recent DIY wand for my Apogee PAR meter...

I bought this algae scraper wand for $16:

The orientation of the screw on the sensor was such that if I wanted the cable to facing the wand so I could wrap it up the handle, which I did want, so I had to offset the sensor to the side of the wand head.

I glued all of the plastic mounting brackets together that are used to secure the blade that come with the wand, again in order to place the sensor on the wand oriented the way I wanted it. Essentially this gave me more space on the wand head.

By this point the entire head of the wand is a little bit thicker than the length of the sensor mounting screw. So I drilled a very shallow countersunk hole for the head of the screw, then the regular hole as normal.

Then I mounted the sensor.

$16. Done. Love it.

 

[Lylelovett]

 

[Gtinnel]

I just bought a fiberglass driveway marker from lowes for less than $4 and 3d printed a holder for it (which probably only cost a few cents).

 

[Lylelovett]

I just bought a fiberglass driveway marker from lowes for less than $4 and 3d printed a holder for it (which probably only cost a few cents).

That's a nice one! Much more elegant than mine. And orange!

 

[Gtinnel]

That's a nice one! Much more elegant than mine. And orange!

When I buy filament I usually just buy whatever color is cheapest on Amazon at the time, last time happened to be orange. My par meter is the one for the apex so the orange matches the theme. I just printed an image from thingiverse and screwed it onto the fiberglass rod. I do wish it would allow the protective cap to sit all the way down on the sensor though.

 

[robo_reef]

When I buy filament I usually just buy whatever color is cheapest on Amazon at the time, last time happened to be orange. My par meter is the one for the apex so the orange matches the theme. I just printed an image from thingiverse and screwed it onto the fiberglass rod. I do wish it would allow the protective cap to sit all the way down on the sensor though.

Would you mind sharing the design?

 

[Gtinnel]

Would you mind sharing the design?

Here is the part I printed

Apogee Par Meter Mount by holdthecoffee

Instead of buying the apogee wand (which is 60-70 dollars), you can print this out to hold your par meter. When printing the main holder, I would recommend adding a support for the print. Without the support, the print might tip over mid print due to the 45 degree angle causing torque. You can...

www.thingiverse.com

I attached it to one of these fiberglass rods from lowes that I cut to the length I wanted.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-48-in-Orange-Reflective-Rod/3025196

 

[robo_reef]

Here is the part I printed

Apogee Par Meter Mount by holdthecoffee

Instead of buying the apogee wand (which is 60-70 dollars), you can print this out to hold your par meter. When printing the main holder, I would recommend adding a support for the print. Without the support, the print might tip over mid print due to the 45 degree angle causing torque. You can...

www.thingiverse.com

I attached it to one of these fiberglass rods from lowes that I cut to the length I wanted.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hillman-48-in-Orange-Reflective-Rod/3025196

Wonderful, thank you!

 

[Tangdora]

Was actually just about to post my dyi till i saw this thread. Had the same thought as gtinnel. Went to HD and grabbed a maker rod. Noticed it was exactly 3/8 inch thick so I just ended up using a 3/8 water line elbow and street elbow to creat the swivel. Plugged right together Then drilled a hole at the base to attach the probe.

 

[Gtinnel]

Was actually just about to post my dyi till i saw this thread. Had the same thought as gtinnel. Went to HD and grabbed a maker rod. Noticed it was exactly 3/8 inch thick so I just ended up using a 3/8 water line elbow and street elbow to creat the swivel. Plugged right together Then drilled a hole at the base to attach the probe.

It’s crazy to me that people will pay $80 for a stick that they will rarely ever use to hold their sensor that they will also rarely ever use.
I also saw someone who did a diy wand by taking a piece of pvc pipe and heating the end so that they could flatten it and bend it at an angle. Then they just drilled a hole for the screw. It wasn’t pretty but it was absolutely functional.

 

[mfinn]

My diy wands.