Review: ARGLPM Ophir

OK guys here is my review on the ARGLPM for the Ophir Setup. Let me first start by thanking Alex for allowing me to be the First to get a unit and put it though the ringer. I can tell you this is A great LPM, and i thoroughly enjoy having it and using it to meter and Graph my lasers. It's worlds apart from my previous LPM that was just a switch a volt panel and some 9v battery's. with my old setup you get what you have and that was all, no customization or anything cool like that, where as with the ARGLPM if there is a need for something and it just requires a little bit of coding it only takes about as long as it takes to write the code, because flashing the firmware with the arduino software is extremely fast and simple. Just for example Alex and i where talking about the meter and he had asked if i would like it to say my name on starts up and I told him if it wasn't any trouble that would be cool, so like 3 minutes later i get the code in the PM and all i have to do was copy and paste into the arduino software and flash it to the LPM and done, took me about 2 minutes from the time i got the code. After playing with is some more I noticed the back-light seamed to always start off at 100% power and i away found myself turning it down because it was so bright so i sent him a PM about possible changing that and a couple minutes later i got a new updated code with it set to start at 30% power. This is a great feature and makes this meter rise above the rest!!

Now lets talk a little about the data logging. This is also a great feature and I have to thank Trevor for his hard work and great software. The software is very easy to navigate and operate. With the ARGLPM the data logging works perfect, what you see on the meter is what shows up on the Graph. The nice thing about this software is that it is managed by a forum member that from what I've read and heard is very open to suggestions to help improve and make his software more user friendly which I just great!

Ok back to the meter. So I love the idea of being able to run this whole setup of a single 9v battery. I've only used 1 9v battery since I've got the unit it started at like 9.7v and is now getting to about 9v after say a hour or so of use. I've already ordered a 3x18650 battery holder and a lm7809 to drop the 12v to 9v. I plan on using 3 Panasonic ncr18650b 3400mAh cells, and Alex said with that setup i should be able to get around 24 hours of run time between charging which it great! Another thing I like about this unit is it's size. It is fairly small and skinny. I was able to modify an old 8mm video cassette tape case to fit the unit and the battery and plan to work on something from this idea. This idea would probably work well for you guys with the laserbee with no case. Also the screen has a nice size to it, it's not to big or to small and is easily readable as well as easy to capture video of the meter with a camera. The buttons on the meter are a bit small but that isn't a problem for me and doesn't affect the use of the meter at all. Another thing I like is that both the USB and power port for the meter are both on the same side which makes it nice if your are mounting this in a project box or something. So that's really all I can think of at this time of things I would like to cover in my review, so lets see some pictures and a short test.










Ok so here is a video of me using the datalogging software from Trevor.





Thanks guys for checking it out I hope you enjoy!

Hey awillis2589,
Nice review and a great idea to use an 8mm case! I am hoping to get my TEC unit when Alex gets them finalized, and if the board is the same size, I will use your idea unless you get the patent first (only kidding).

Great to see these up & running, they look like top notch units.

Well done.

WooHoo can't wait to get mine! Interesting idea with the tape case. Don't think I would have thought of that one. I'll have to talk to ARG about setting up mine. Think I'll take "Pete's ARGMeter" or LPM instead since "Andrew's" would be kind of weird Probably have him do the same 30% start too if that looks like a good %. Will get my Data one this week to mess with.
Are you still using the Ophir connector or did you solder wires on? Must be using the connector or a modified one otherwise you would have to unscrew the wires each time off the board.

I can't wait for mine.. I hate my wooden box enough not to post my Voltmeter Ophir on the forum anymore !! :crackup:

Updated with a short video will post one in a little while of it doing the data logging.

yeah this unit is definatly top notch. it's the first and only that i was willing to spend my money on and not build myself! as for my connector i made a new one from a 4 pin molex cable and it works a bit better then the OEM. i don't have any issues unplugging the Ophir cable from the back.

Sinner im sorry to hear you hate your Box. does it really look that bad?

Well how much are we talking about. I didn't see a price?

All that's over in the ARGLPM tread. do remember though all this is open source so you could build these for less and have even more savings if you shop around for components.

Well i kind of used a 4x4" box made of crap wood , and tried to cut the acrylic plates with a wood cutter and broke it.. So all the effort was down the drain and while i was at it the box became a little rough..

What i did was, no laughing please.. "carefully cut a 22x70mm section" of a strip board and placed the voltmeter panel there and kind of crammed everything in just to make that sucker work..

Well that's a temporary set up but i am kind of lazy these days so didnt got myself an aluminium case or custom stuff..

Glad you like the LPM, and thanks for reviewing it!

Pman said:

WooHoo can't wait to get mine! Interesting idea with the tape case. Don't think I would have thought of that one. I'll have to talk to ARG about setting up mine. Think I'll take "Pete's ARGMeter" or LPM instead since "Andrew's" would be kind of weird Probably have him do the same 30% start too if that looks like a good %. Will get my Data one this week to mess with.

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I think I'll set 30% back light to be the default, it works well in most situations except in extremely bright conditions. "Pete's ARGMeter" will definitely work I can do any two 16 character lines for the splash screen.

jander6442 said:

Well how much are we talking about. I didn't see a price?

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They are 85$ plus shipping. I haven't put up a B/S/T thread yet because I have ~20 person waiting list to work on before putting up a sale thread.
You can also build one yourself if you are versed with SMD soldering, the website with all the designs you need is in my signature.

I must ask, please hurry! :na:

The LPM is looking good. Thanks for the review !

sinner said:

I must ask, please hurry! :na:

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Will do I'm working on the Ophir ones for now.
I have two TEC ones, but they are being delayed until I get my calibration sources verified again.

How long will the ARGMeter run on a 9v (without powering the Ophir from it)?
Could just parallel some 9V (3) 18650 is some serious juice.
Sounds good ARG (Pete's ARGMeter and 30%).

You would have to run a lm7809 to drop voltage to 9v.

awillis2589 said:

You would have to run a lm7809 to drop voltage to 9v.

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Yup, for the Ophir edition anyway. They are designed to work at 9V (9V battery or wall wart) so if other cells are used it would be best to drop the voltage to 9V so that it functions as intended.

Pman said:

How long will the ARGMeter run on a 9v (without powering the Ophir from it)?
Could just parallel some 9V (3) 18650 is some serious juice.
Sounds good ARG (Pete's ARGMeter and 30%).

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I really have no idea how long it can run on a 9V, how much capacity does the average 9V battery have? :thinking:
That's one thing I hate about batteries in stores, they never list the capacity. Never made sense to me because it's required by law to list how much weight of flour is in a bag, how much milk is in a jug ect. but not with batteries.