Manual logging with the LI-180 Spectrometer

You can configure the LI-180 Spectrometer to log data manually.

Configuring manual logging

1. Turn on the LI-180 Spectrometer and perform the dark calibration.

2. In the main screen, press the down arrow to go to the second page, and select Logging.

   

3. Here you will see the configuration for automated logging.

   It includes the integration time (I-Time), logging interval, and start and end times. Tap on a value to change it.

   

4. You can tap on the gear icon to change the settings.

   Integration mode can be Auto or Manual mode. Integration time can only be changed if integration mode is set to manual. You can turn the beep on or off (but note that you cannot change it once logging has started, so choose wisely).

   

5. You can also change the Log mode from Time mode to Count mode.

   If you change it to Count mode, you will see a screen that looks like this when you go back to the logging page. You can configure it to log for a certain number of times, starting as soon as you press the log button. 

   

6. Whether you have the LI-180 configured for Time mode or Count mode, press the center icon at the bottom of the screen to start logging.

   The icon will turn orange and you can press it to stop logging. If it is configured for Count mode, it will begin logging immediately. If it is configured for Time mode and the start time has not been reached yet, the instrument will show “Waiting”.

   

7. Once the logging interval has ended, the center icon will turn blue again.

Downloading data

After logging data on your LI-180 Spectrometer, you can download it to a computer as a set of text files. You can follow these instructions to download data.

Data that has been logged manually will be in the main folder as two text files, one starting with “ESPD” and one starting with “uMOL”. You can drag and drop or copy files from the LI-180 to your computer.

The LOG text file contains each reading as a separate row. It contains variables such as PPFD (µmol/m²/s), PFD of various wavelength ranges (including custom ranges), various ratios, illuminance (lux), irradiance (W/m²), and raw readings for each wavelength.