Category: Geeks r Us
Any of you recommend what they call a light probe? Apparently you can point this wand thingy at a light source and it'll buzz.
I wished I'd known about these ages ago, but now I want. Is it true they'll buzz at an LED light? like on a board or a cable modem?
Really, so many many times I've had to guesss or, and since this site is teeming with bats, I'm sure someone else has done this, felt the LED light to try and see if it's gotten a bit warm.
Naturally due to the microvoltage that's about as precise as eye surgery with a chainsaw ... but is this thing thumb drive size?
I did a quick search on Amazon and came up with something like $60 and didn't bother to look any further now that I can crowdsource / ask the experts. but really? $60 for what amounts to a light-receiving sensor, a few resistors, the mechanism or circuit to vibrate or buzz (don't know if it's a motor / haptic or just an electomagnet to make a buzz) ... but that sounds a bit steep.
I realize it's the boutique industry they call blindness, but ...
If you know about these, if you've heard of people using them the way I am looking for, I'd appreciate any feedback. I never cease to be amazed by stuff I learn about being on here that I used to have to patch around for years either by trial and error or some other means. Guess it's all about gettin 'er done.
I should clarify. I've got a couple leads, one from Independent Living Aids called Pocket Lightprobe
, which sounds small enough for what I want and is about $23.
LumiTest from APH is usually about $75.
None of these sites have ratings like Amazon. Disappointing. Considering, based on this site, they could get responses ... though they may be disproportionately negative.
I used to use one at work, but that was a few years ago. The part that housed the battery was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and there was a thin cord with a pen-like probe on the end. I shared receptionist duties with a co-worker, and we held the probe against the little LED displays next to the buttons on the phone console to see what line was ringing in. However, I don't know the cost since the company purchased these devices, and they seemed to stop making them several years ago anyway. The kinds I've heard about recently don't have that skinny probe but seem to detect light over a much larger surface.
Sorry, I guess that wasn't any help to you, but that's all I know about light probes.
I have a keyring type light probe which I believe to be from Independent Living. Go for it.
Well if they will work for a PBX-style (corporate switchboard) set of phone lines, which are LED lights under plastic, they ought to read lights on electronics / boards. Since the website has no user reviews I'll have to call and ask I guess, see if you can make them zoom in on a single LED like that. The skinny wand sounds a great deal more precie. But hey, something's better than nothin' ...
Hey,
I have the keyring probe that others have mentioned, but I purchased it in the uk so even if I could find the link I'm guessing that it wouldn't be of much use. To answer your question though, this will do exactly what you want it to do. I have it in my computer repair type tool box and it's helped me out no end.
For example:
Checking the lights on routers / switches. It's quick enough that you can put it up against the activity led and listen to the light go on and off depending on how much data is passing through.
Checking motherboards to see if any power is getting to them. Most boards have a led someware so if I can't get it to power on outside of a case using the screw driver method, I tend to look for this led and go from there.
Seeing if a machine is outputting video or not. I used to be able to tell if there was video when I used a CRT because of the static, but the probe is just as good.
The same goes for diagnosing laptop problems - e.g. Very dark picture on screen, no picture at all, completely white screen* although you can't really tell if a screen is cracked using this method.
*You can't really get a good idea of colors at all using this, but I notice that you have a touch now, so if color is important, you can get a color identifyer - I use aidColors. What you can tell though is if one color is darker or brighter than another.
This can be useful if your not sure what a computer is doing. For example, if you move the probe around a screen and you hear more or less a constant pitch that is fairly low in comparison with other light sources with small amounts of higher pitch every now and again, you can be pretty sure that your someware pre windows. Windows login usually sounds pretty high all over, with small vairiations in pitch.
If you're going to use it to look at screens, to gage brightness of different parts, it needs to be pushed right against the screen although you don't have to be overly firm.
The probe on mine doesn't stick out at all - infact it's indented slightly. Its a bit hard to explain but I'm sure you'll be able to find where it is. Battery life is pretty good - I've had mine for just over a year I think and I haven't had to change it yet; it usually gets used 3 or 4 times a week to give you an idea. The battery is pretty easy to change unlike some other blind products. I don't know the propper name for the battery but it feels like the cmos battery that you'd find on a motherboard.
The one bad (Or good depending on what you want to do) point is that for the sort of things that you'll be using it for - e.g. Small leds, you need to pretty much give the probe line of sight to the led. As in, if you waved the probe around a circuit board looking for a light, it wouldn't increase in pitch gradually in relation to how near you were to the led - the increase will be very sudden.
One nice touch is that it makes a slightly different sound depending on if your looking at electronic light or sunlight.
As you can tell, I'm more into computers than electronics, but essentially we're both wanting to look at leds and it works great for that.
Hth.
Sounds really good: So the pitch of the probe's sound corresponds with light spectra, then? A Windows screen has (relatively speaking) bright colors.
Thanks for the description. And yes, usually when least convenient, I end up working on the occasional machine. Not for work anymore, I'm a programmer these days but still.
Anyway, thanks. This site, zoo though it may be at times, is quite a resource. This isn't the sort of thing you can just go to the local electronics store, ask about, and expect any sort of intelligent response. So, many thanks.
Just an update:
Got my light probe this past Friday, went with the recommendation for the PocketLightProbe from Independent Living Aids. So, now I can independently check lights on a battery, cable modem, or anything else electronic. Already used it with great success several times.
thanks for the recommendation, guys.Works nicely / does what it says it does.
Becky, I have one of those light probes you mentioned, with the pensil type wand, and the unit that looks like a transistor radio. My wand recently shorted out though, and I'm absolutely heartbroken. I don't think I can find a replacement. I think the unit was made by Origon Scientific, though I can't be sure. I sure will miss it.
Don't know if this is focused enough for you computer guys, but the light detector app for the iphone / ipod touch works really well and is only 99 cents. I've used it to check LED lights on different gizmos and it works fine for me. Totally understand that a wand type thing would be more preferable for tech stuff but just throwing this out there for anyone looking for a basic light detector on the cheap.
I want one that I can use to see if a sighted person left the lights on. In the winter, it's easy. Just check the switch. But in the summer, if the fan is turned on, they could have just turned the light off with the chain and the switch would still be up. Also, I'd like to check when lights go bad so that I can replace them.
Just google Independent Living Aids Pocket Lightprobe and you'll get it. It's a small square thing attaches to your keychain, it cost me all of 30 bucks including shipping if I remember right. I don't know exactly how it's powered, if the light itself is used to make it buzz or what.
But when you get it, you slide back this shutter on the top and press the button that functions like a dead-man switch, you let go it shuts off. Just move the device around, at least that's what I do, in a patter near where your lights are supposed to be and it will wirk.
If you want to ensure the LED is the thing making the light go off, what I do is cup my hand over it, like lighting a cigarette in the rain, or trying to get a pipe started in the wind.
Anyway let me know if you have trouble. It is one piece, no cord, it goes with you wherever your keys are at.
But will it be able to see lights on the ceiling, since they won't be close to it?
Yes, in fact I have not yet fully experimented to see precisely how much light it gets from what, but yes, it sees light no matter the source.
If you want to know if someone left a light on pull it out, you needn't even aim it and just press on the button. Now the closer you are to the light, you hear the pitch increase. Of course blinking lights make blinking sound.
But it is precisely because it does capture light from the sun or any other source around you that it can be good to cup your hand over it when you want to check the status of one or more LED lights on a device. Even a screen emits light so you would know if the screen was black or lit.
I just realised another use for this. When I charge my electronic cigarette, they say it's done when the light is green. But, of course, i have no way of knowing whether it's even on let alone green. I'm not sure what colour it is when I first plug it in, but is there any way that I can learn if it's at least darker or lighter with this probe? I have a colour identifier but have never tried it on light and am not sure whether it comes from the end of the battery or from the actual charger.
Just listen when you first plug it in, then as it changes the sound may change. You'll have to mess with it and verify the results.