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Unihedron Sky Quality Meter (USB)

In stock
can be shipped within 1-2 days

£199.00
Price includes VAT, plus delivery


The Unihedron SQM-LU is the USB version of this popular Sky Quality Meter. It is supplied with a 5m USB cable for virtual plug and play operation.

Software supplied with the SQM-LU allows it to be easily configured. The free SQM Reader software provides realtime measurement of sky brightness.

Uses:

  • Find out how good the night or site REALLY is.
  • Compare the sky brightness at different sites quantitatively.
  • Document the evolution of light pollution in your area.
  • Set planetarium dome illumination to mimic the skies people are likely to experience elsewhere in the city.
  • Monitor sky brightness through the night, night-to-night, and year-to-year.
  • Determine which nights show the greatest promise for finding the 'faintest fuzzies'!
  • Calibrate the effect of sky brightness on qualitative measures such as the Bortle Scale.
  • Investigate how sky brightness correlates with the solar cycle and month-to-month sunspot activity.
  • Help provide local ground truth for future sky brightness prediction with the Clear Sky Clock.
  • CCD users can make a correlation between the SQM reading and when the background reaches a specific ADC level.

Features:

  • Sky brightness reported in visual magnitudes per square arcsecond.
  • Infrared blocking filter restricts measurement to visual bandpass.
  • Sensor temperature, model number, and serial number are provided.
  • Precision readings at even the darkest sites.
  • Field-upgradeable firmware
  • Open protocol document

Specifications:

  • USB 2.0 connectivity
  • Included applications for reading data in Java, C, Perl, Python.
  • The Half Width Half Maximum (HWHM) of the angular sensitivity is ~10°. The Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) is then ~20°. The sensitivity to a point source ~19° off-axis is a factor of 10 lower than on-axis. A point source ~20° and ~40° off-axis would register 3.0 and 5.0 magnitudes fainter, respectively.
  • Size 3.6" (91.44mm) x 2.6" (66.04mm) x 1.1" (27.94mm)
  • Maximum light sampling time: 80 seconds.
  • Minimum light sampling time: 1 seconds.
  • Specifications are subject to change without notice.
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