Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, have you tried that UV meter through a window with direct sun? I'm just curious. Everyone says that the glass blocks all UV. Also, just outside in the shade? I remember reading that the MV lamps are about equivilent to UV outside in the shade.
Thanks!
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Phrynosoma.Com

Well, I will have to give it a try.It does not have a UVA/B reading.I did try it at verious times throughout the day.It did register higher in the sun,7ish and when cloudy 4ish.It also said to use it to test for instance sun glasses.I did, on a 50 dollar pair, it went from a 7 to a 3.I will try it tommorow through some glass, see if it changes readings.Isn't it only UVB that glass blocks.I was wondering if it might be a light meter? And have nothing to do With UVA/B.But in the meters defense, i can put it under one light and get zip,even right next to the bulb (floresent,%7 UVB to boot).Under another,next to the bulb (basking) I get a 6 plus. My daughter checked her light with it and said ,"dad, they wouldn't sell a light that says its UVB without being true",yea ok.When I was researching stuff on supplements etc, I found a post of a guy that inquired about that spray from, is it 4-paws, he was asking a factory rep about the item, her response, "people will buy anything, as long as we put a pict of "their" reptile on it".Which to me says its nothing but snake Oil.Oh yea, and that was after I bought a bottle of it!!Never more,scott.

Well, I took the meter to work with me,sun was in and out at home.If I held it outside for instance it read 4,in the truck(tinted slightly, on the dash) 2. Stood outside ,5, in a glass jar,5.Don't see any difference the glass made.Will try outside again tomorrow,for instance in an aquarium,I notice the tempered glass is sorta "greenish", if you look at it just right.Held near bald head "OFF SCALE" .talk to you guys later.scott.

This type of meter is not going to give you an accurate representation for purposes with reptiles. I think you have a UV "index" meter, which is giving you a number based on the total spectrum. UVA, B, & C.
You need a meter that will read UVA & B seperately and give you the reading in microwatts/cm2 if you want to keep track of what your reptiles are getting by reptile lighting industry standards. There are many on the market, but will cost a little more than the UV index meter.
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

I can agree to that to some degree, but it does give you some representation of energy emitted from a bulb, and it's not expensive.It makes me wonder, when I check a bulb and get "no" reading from it.The flor really adds to the light in the tank, but not any reading on the meter,zip.It does allow me to measure to some degree the energy level where the lizards bask.For instance, the basking at 20 or so inches is 2,closer obviously it goes up.I know its temp your seeking from a basking bulb, but its some measurement.I don't believe its "worthless".
OK OK , give me a minute to put on the new flak vest I bought on ebay.

Remember , with me, it's always personal , even if you don't want it to be!!!

LOL, you have that flak vest on yet? I was just going to say you'll burn out your meter pointing it at the chrome dome. Be carefull man!
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Phrynosoma.Com

left two-five-zero, drop one-zero-zero...shot out! shot over stand by for incoming rounds, danger close, over.

OK, lets take this apart. I understand you don't think your meter is "worthless". I didn't say it was "worthless". I said it "is not going to give you an accurate representation for purposes with reptiles."

To disagree with that statement, is to disagree with facts and not understand the nature of the electromagnetic spectrum. I know this bores some people to tears, but if your going to mess with this kind of stuff....meters and UV lights and taking "readings"...then one must really understand what it is you want to measure. And why measure something at all if you don't want to do it accurately? Isn't that what a measure is for?

I agree that it does "give you some representation of energy emitted from a bulb". It does indeed.....but WHAT ENERGY is the question....not "some representation" of an unknown energy! For $%*@ sake man! If we just went on "energy level" radiated alone without defining what energy level is really important....then I could say the most powerful halogen is better than a fluorescent tube, because it radiates more of some energy!

Your meter may have it's worth. But I wouldn't say it's better than nothing when judging reptile lights. This sort of meter could be worse than nothing by giving you readings that confuse the issue...making you think you are getting better than you are, or making you think a light is safe when it is not.

There are GREAT UV lights out there on the market you could buy. Lets say you bought one and stuck that UV index meter under it to get a reading. Lets say the meter says your getting 7 or 8 under the basking side. That's pretty good, huh? Just like mid-day in the summertime down in Arizona, right? You would think that was a pretty good light. But what if the percentage of that spectrum the meter was basing this reading on was; 10%UVA, 20% UVB, and 70% UVC? You've mistakenly bought a UVC sterilization light which after only a short time of exposure will doom him to a slow painful death from radiation tissue damage.

Some measure is not good enough. A meter like this that reads "some" measure could tell you anything.

Now maybe you won't be unfortunate enough to make the mistake of buying a light that radiates in the wrong spectrum. But confirming the spectrum and checking that radiation with a specifically defined measure is the whole point! And in the reptile husbandry field the only specific band of UV frequencies which are important are UVA ( 320 to 400 nm ) & UVB ( 280 to 320 nm ). And the most commonly accepted industry measure of their energy is the microwatt/cm2.

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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

BTW...why did you need a flak vest off ebay? You goin' to help that guy out there in the woods?
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246