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Woohoo! I am now the proud owner of a Kenometer USB. Here's a quick little write-up on it.
I ordered and payed on April 18th, and my LPM was delivered May 21st, about a month later. I don't find this unacceptable, given the semi-custom, non-mass produced nature of the product, and the need to fill back orders. Ken was a hell of a nice guy to deal with. He answered all of questions and concerns promptly. I couldn't have asked for better customer service.
My meter was well-packed. It arrived sandwiched between a couple layers of foam padding. The meter itself was packed in an ESD protective baggie.
The meter itself is enclosed in a small project box, 3"x2"x1". The mini USB cable plugs into one end, and the other end has a port for the cable to the thermopile. The top of the meter has a small hole, to permit viewing of the status LED. The thermopile is a small 1.5" cube. All neccessary cables were included, of course.
Some pics;
As you can see, the meter is not without some minor cosmetic flaws. The hole for the thermopile cable is slightly off-round, and there are a few minor scratches. Frankly, this doesn't bother me at all. The meter works, and even a flawless project box isn't going to look too snappy. No worries.
The thermopile looks brand new. It has a very nice brushed anodized aluminum finish, and a satisfying heft.
A while back, we had some drama here on LPF when Ken sent out a prototype Pro meter as a stand-in, until the intended meter was completed. This raised some serious concerns over the quality of his builds. In order to dispell this, I obtained Ken's somewhat hesitant permission to open up my meter without voiding the warranty. Here's a couple of pics of her guts, as well as the included cable;
(might need two of those stickers to keep idle hands in check, Ken
)
As you can see, everything is properly heat-shrinked and isolated, and the soldering is well-done. I have no complaints. I think I have MarioMaster to thank for this. Nice, clean work. (I resisted the temptation to push the button in the middle,)
Now, in regards to the included software, Luminosity. In general, it is a nice little piece of software. All of the controls are fairly intuitive, and it does it's job admirably. The graphing function works well. There's no lag or time lapse in response; as soon as light hits the thermopile, you have your reading. Here's a screen shot of the software at work (this was also posted in my review of my Rayfoss greenie,)
It's reasonably pretty, and fully functional. I've noticed a few small glitches, though. Once, when I tried to connect my meter, I think the software was communicating with my external drive. A second attempt provided better results. Once, the program froze and needed to be shutdown in the task manager. Other than these small issues, the software is golden.
Overall, I'm not mad at this purchase at all. Very pleased
As with all things, there's room for improvement. In future incarations of the Kenometer, I wouldn't mind seeing an option for a nicer enclosure. Something with a little weight behind it, maybe. Brushed anodized aluminum to match the thermopile would be awesome, but expensive. Hell, I'd pay extra for it. The nice thing about a small(er) operation like this is that customization isn't too big a deal, since each piece is getting individual attention anyway.
As for the software, I could think of a few possible improvements. I'd like to see an option for multiple plots on a graph, for comparison purposes, as well as a minmize to tray option. A desktop gadget for Vista and 7 would be really cool. (I don't know if any of that is likely or even possible. What I know about programing could be inscribed on a diode pin with a dull sword. Big props to twhite828 for the software.)
Overall, I'm very pleased with both the meter and my interaction with Ken. Good product, good people:thanks:
Questions and comments welcome, of course.
I ordered and payed on April 18th, and my LPM was delivered May 21st, about a month later. I don't find this unacceptable, given the semi-custom, non-mass produced nature of the product, and the need to fill back orders. Ken was a hell of a nice guy to deal with. He answered all of questions and concerns promptly. I couldn't have asked for better customer service.
My meter was well-packed. It arrived sandwiched between a couple layers of foam padding. The meter itself was packed in an ESD protective baggie.
The meter itself is enclosed in a small project box, 3"x2"x1". The mini USB cable plugs into one end, and the other end has a port for the cable to the thermopile. The top of the meter has a small hole, to permit viewing of the status LED. The thermopile is a small 1.5" cube. All neccessary cables were included, of course.
Some pics;
As you can see, the meter is not without some minor cosmetic flaws. The hole for the thermopile cable is slightly off-round, and there are a few minor scratches. Frankly, this doesn't bother me at all. The meter works, and even a flawless project box isn't going to look too snappy. No worries.
The thermopile looks brand new. It has a very nice brushed anodized aluminum finish, and a satisfying heft.
A while back, we had some drama here on LPF when Ken sent out a prototype Pro meter as a stand-in, until the intended meter was completed. This raised some serious concerns over the quality of his builds. In order to dispell this, I obtained Ken's somewhat hesitant permission to open up my meter without voiding the warranty. Here's a couple of pics of her guts, as well as the included cable;
(might need two of those stickers to keep idle hands in check, Ken
)As you can see, everything is properly heat-shrinked and isolated, and the soldering is well-done. I have no complaints. I think I have MarioMaster to thank for this. Nice, clean work. (I resisted the temptation to push the button in the middle,)
Now, in regards to the included software, Luminosity. In general, it is a nice little piece of software. All of the controls are fairly intuitive, and it does it's job admirably. The graphing function works well. There's no lag or time lapse in response; as soon as light hits the thermopile, you have your reading. Here's a screen shot of the software at work (this was also posted in my review of my Rayfoss greenie,)
It's reasonably pretty, and fully functional. I've noticed a few small glitches, though. Once, when I tried to connect my meter, I think the software was communicating with my external drive. A second attempt provided better results. Once, the program froze and needed to be shutdown in the task manager. Other than these small issues, the software is golden.
Overall, I'm not mad at this purchase at all. Very pleased
As with all things, there's room for improvement. In future incarations of the Kenometer, I wouldn't mind seeing an option for a nicer enclosure. Something with a little weight behind it, maybe. Brushed anodized aluminum to match the thermopile would be awesome, but expensive. Hell, I'd pay extra for it. The nice thing about a small(er) operation like this is that customization isn't too big a deal, since each piece is getting individual attention anyway.
As for the software, I could think of a few possible improvements. I'd like to see an option for multiple plots on a graph, for comparison purposes, as well as a minmize to tray option. A desktop gadget for Vista and 7 would be really cool. (I don't know if any of that is likely or even possible. What I know about programing could be inscribed on a diode pin with a dull sword. Big props to twhite828 for the software.)
Overall, I'm very pleased with both the meter and my interaction with Ken. Good product, good people:thanks:
Questions and comments welcome, of course.
